How much is enough?

The amounts are small at every age, and her stop signal, not the bowl, tells you she has had enough.

Two spoons gone, and someone at home is watching the bowl. The amounts are smaller than the house expects at every age, and what settles it is her own stop signal rather than the katori.

1Energy matters as much as the amount

How much she eats is only half the answer, because how much energy is packed into it matters just as much. The amounts below assume food that is energy-dense, and the everyday test for that is a meal thick enough to stay on the spoon when you tilt it (IAP). A thin katori of dal water or rice water fills her up without giving her that energy.

2Why her own signal is the better check

The guidance gives a range for her band, not one number. The check is her stop signal: mouth closed, head turned away. While she is growing well and her weight is checked, reading that signal is what the guidance asks (WHO), because it supports her regulating her own intake, enough and not too much. A weight that is not tracking is a question for her doctor, not the katori.

3Some days she barely touches it

A barely touched katori is normal at every age, not only at the start. Is she teething, is she coming down with something, is she just growing differently this month? Whichever it is, the same thing stays true. She will eat more on some days and less on others, because children eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full (AAP, NHS). A finished plate was never the goal, and what she needs can be met kindly, without a fight over the bowl.

When to check with her doctor: What tells you is her weight at her checks (IAP, NHM), not a number of days. If it is not keeping up, or you are worried before then, see her doctor rather than waiting it out.

4How much at each age

At her next meal, offer her band's amount from NHM's 250ml katori. Let her stop when she is done. IAP's amounts are averages, not targets.

Never force her to finish, use a screen to empty the bowl, or compare her with another baby (IAP, NHM, NHS). A small eater is not a failing one.

If she is not breastfeeding, IAP adds 1-2 meals a day to her band's amounts, plus 1-2 cups of formula, or milk once she is one.

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