15-month-old children: Nutrition and dental care

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Dang Huy Toan - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Nha Trang International Hospital

At the age of 15 months, babies will have important development steps, perfect both physically and psychologically. In order for 15-month-old children to develop cognitive, motor and language skills, parents need to pay more careful attention to nutritional, oral and psycho-emotional care for their children.

1. What do 15-month-olds know?

1.1 Physical development A 15-month-old baby has an average weight in the range of 9.5 - 10.8 kg provided that the child is provided with all the necessary nutrients from the diet. So what can a 15-month-old do? Baby can perform many actions such as:
Stand up, sit up without support; Walk slowly and steadily on your own, sometimes with adult help; Pick up toys and objects with your own hands, hold them firmly in your hand; Try putting food, objects that the baby sees in the mouth; Imitate the actions of adults; Learn to use the 5 senses of smell, hearing, sight, touch, and speaking and associate them with each other. At this stage, the baby's digestive system continues to be perfected in parallel with the teething process. Normally, children will have 11 teeth by the time they are 15 months old and will continue to have 20 baby teeth by the time they are 25-30 months old.
However, there are still cases where a 15-month-old baby can't walk yet. Conditions for a baby to walk include a strong enough skeleton, normal muscles and brain development. However, depending on the condition of each baby, the time to walk can vary from the time the child is 10-18 months old. So, when your baby is 15 years old and still can't walk, that's still a normal state. Only after 20-22 months of age but the baby can't walk, parents need to take the child for examination, intervention and treatment.
1.2 Emotional and communicative development 15-month-olds develop a variety of skills for interacting with the environment, including communication skills and emotional development. What do 15-month-olds know how to do? These are:
Smiling, identifying people familiar to you; Explore, try new things; Know what you like and don't like; Resentful, irritable if having to share toys; Likes to be the center of all attention; Know how to hug and kiss parents, relatives Can recognize themselves in the mirror.

1.3 Development of cognitive and language abilities At the age of 15 months, children can practice saying single words such as ma, ba, grandma,... In this stage, children's cognitive and linguistic abilities Fast-growing, baby is more independent and ready to participate in conversations. Baby can:
Recognize emotions in the voice of the person talking to him: Happy, sad or upset, angry; Capturing the meaning of words based on guidance from parents and relatives; Understand the meaning of the word “no”; Basic understanding of what my parents talk to me even though I can't answer it fluently. However, there are also cases where a 15-month-old baby can't speak yet. When this situation is encountered, parents should not be too worried because each child has a unique development pace, so sometimes it has to reach the age of 2 to speak fluently. If the child has not actively used natural language but can babble in monosyllabic words or has some awareness of the parents' words, parents can wait more and guide and encourage the child more. than.
In case the baby can't speak, accompanied by some unusual expressions such as no response to surrounding sounds, not using gestures on a regular basis, difficulty understanding simple requests, not being excited When communicating with parents, ... then parents should take their children to a doctor because they may have problems with hearing, nerves and cognitive abilities.

2. Nutritional care for 15-month-old children

2.1 What should a 15 month old baby eat? Children aged 15 months should eat the following foods:
Vegetables: Parents can give their children more cooked vegetables, tubers and fruits such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach,... These vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals, good for the baby's development; Milk and dairy products: Including breast milk, powdered milk, yogurt, whey, cheese,... to supplement iron, calcium and many other nutrients for the baby; Protein-rich dishes: Eggs, beef, pork, chicken, soybeans,... to provide energy and nourish strong muscles for the baby; Fruits: Children should eat more fruits such as apples, oranges, bananas,... with reasonable portions; Rice and cereals: 15-month-old babies can eat soft, crushed rice. Besides, parents should let their children eat more pho, noodles, etc., which are soft stewed, cut into small pieces. 2.2 How many meals a day should a 15-month-old child eat? A 15-month-old baby has a need of about 1000 calories per day, and needs to be built up a serving size equal to 1/4 of an adult's serving size. Children will eat 3 main meals and 2-3 snacks per day. In snacks, children should eat vegetables, fruits, dairy products,...
2.3 Notes when taking care of children's nutrition Diverse dishes and presentation to stimulate the baby's excitement when eating; Let children eat based on their own taste and appetite instead of forcing them to eat everything that parents prepare; Children should not eat large pieces of food to avoid choking, choking, ... and psychological effects that make them afraid to eat; Meals should take place in a quiet place, children should not walk or run while eating; Have children sit in high chairs at the same height as adults' tables so that the whole family can communicate while eating; Let your baby feed himself to perfect his skills and help him realize when he is full; Nuts or fruit with seeds should not be given to a 15-month-old baby if the seeds have not been removed, hard candy, popcorn, chewing gum, hot dogs, etc. to avoid choking, choking accidents, etc. suffocate the baby.

3. Dental care for 15-month-old children

Dental care for children is extremely important to help them have healthy baby teeth, which is the premise for future permanent teeth. At the same time, daily oral hygiene also helps children maintain a good habit later. Some important notes include:
Children should drink milk, fruit juice, ... with a cup instead of a bottle to prevent tooth decay; Drink fruit juices containing vitamin C in appropriate amounts, encourage children to drink filtered water; Brush children's teeth after meals and before going to bed with a soft brush for children under 2 years old to prevent tooth decay; Periodically take your baby to the dentist; In some cases, your doctor may recommend giving your child more fluoride. 15-month-old children need a scientific diet, appropriate dental care for their rapid development both physically and mentally.
In addition, parents should also apply some methods to change habits and improve nutrition to support the child's teeth to develop better.
Besides, parents also need to supplement their children with essential micro-minerals such as zinc, lysine, chromium, selenium, vitamin B1, ... to fully meet the nutritional needs of children. The addition of these essential vitamins also supports digestion, enhances nutrient absorption, improves anorexia, and helps children eat well. Parents can simultaneously apply dietary supplements and functional foods derived from nature for easy absorption. The most important thing is that improving your baby's symptoms often takes a long time. The combination of many types of functional foods at the same time or continuously changing many types in a short time can cause the baby's digestive system not to adapt and completely not good. Therefore, parents must be really patient with their children and regularly visit the website vimec.com to update useful baby care information.