Adapting menus for babies and toddlers

​​​​​​​Services should use the main service menu for babies and toddlers, where possible.

After 12 months, toddlers can eat from the main service menu. There may be some small changes needed. Offer foods that need munching and chewing but cut food into bite-sized pieces.

Services must:

• offer foods suited to babies and toddlers when in their care
• cook extra food to provide to babies and toddlers
• offer the right texture food for each baby’s development
• remove foods that could cause choking.

How to adapt a meal

Main service menu example: Beef and vegetable curry

• For babies starting solids:
• serve ingredients separately
  
• beef puree and separate pureed vegetables.
• For babies developing eating skills:
• provide a suitable texture
  
• meal may be mashed or cut into bite-sized pieces.
• For toddlers:
  • make sure that all vegetables are soft
    
  • remove or change the texture of foods that can cause choking.
    

Sometimes, services may need to plan a different main meal or snack. For example, if the main service menu includes dried fruit, replace with cooked fruit that is blended, mashed or cut up. If carrots and hummus are on the main service menu, replace this with steamed carrot sticks with hummus.