By 12 months you'll have noticed a steady progression to a more grown-up pattern of eating, with meals interspersed with snacks and/or drinks of milk. This way your toddler will be well on his way to eating with the family.

For your toddler, you'll need to make sure you offer all the necessary nutrients and calories that his body needs to support healthy growth and weight gain. You can best do this by eating a good variety of foods yourself.

Right from the time your child is ready to sit up with you at the dinner table, he'll start to feel a sense of belonging - of being a part of something special and important in his life. Of course, your baby's table manners won't quite match up to everyone else's, but he'll really enjoy eating with you.

It will help if you can keep mealtimes to a fixed time - your toddler's attention span is not great at this age and he cannot be expected to sit endlessly. The important thing is that your toddler is beginning to eat independently for the first time while also learning how to be social.

Help from Heinz

Independence is starting to show itself, and your little one is eager to do things on his own, like walking and feeding himself.

Heinz Stage 4 foods for toddlers have been specifically designed for your toddler to encourage chewing skills and to help ease the transition to regular family foods. Heinz Toddler^® Meals and Heinz^® Little Kids™ foods are age-appropriate mini-portions of the kinds of foods that your family is eating.