• First, find out whether you will be responsible for providing all food and beverages. Many centers provide snacks, but you may still need to plan for meals.


• Ask the daycare provider or teacher about the schedule for meals and snacks. Plan on adequate food for a feeding every two to three hours of time spent there.


• A child who is in daycare for anywhere from four to seven hours should have enough food to meet one-third of his nutritional needs: at least one meal and one snack.


• A child in daycare eight hours or more should have enough food to meet half of her nutritional needs: at least one meal and two snacks, but more reasonably, two meals and one or two snacks.

• Plan each feeding as a small meal; use the foods that you would use at mealtimes for snacks.


• Be sure to provide a variety of foods from different food groups (consult the Food Guide Pyramid).


• Include foods of different texture. Having a mix of crisp, chewy, and smooth foods makes eating more interesting.


• At first you'll want to provide foods that are familiar to your child, but later on you can add new foods, too.

• Pack foods separately in small plastic containers or plastic bags. You also can recycle used baby-food jars.


• Try to cut foods in finger feeding-sized pieces so the daycare worker won't have to.


• Prepackaged foods can be convenient, but they usually cost more than foods you can prepare yourself. Also note that some packaged meals have very high levels of added salt and provide little nutrition.


• If you want or need to use prepackaged food, try meals that have lower salt and fat contents (such as Healthy Choice) or commercial baby food ("stage 3" is comparable in texture to table food).

• Newborn and Infant Child Care


• Feeding Your Baby


• Toddler and Preschool Daycare


• Feeding Your Toddler or Preschooler

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