Infant Foods Provided

Proper introduction of nutritious foods starting around six months is crucial for supporting infant physical and cognitive development and establishing long-term eating habits.

The best practices (per GO NAPSACC) and the related resources in this section focus on how child care providers can ensure that the foods they are feeding infants in their care are nutrient-dense and designed to support infants’ rapid growth. Infants also begin developing taste preferences at this stage, and the foods caretakers provide can have a big impact on what children become used to or crave as they grow.

Best Practice

The resources in this category are the same for the following three GO NAPSACC best practice goals:

  • "When cereal or formula is purchased for infants, it is always iron-rich."
  • "When mashed or pureed meats or vegetables are purchased or prepared by the program, these foods rarely or never contain added salt."
  • "Baby food desserts that contain added sugar are rarely or never purchased for infants."

Resources

Feeding Infants and Young Toddlers

Summary: Basic guides to achieving nutrition standards while honoring cultural preferences. Resources available to support 10 communities/languages: African, Black, Caribbean (ABC), Latine/Mexican American, Chinese and Vietnamese, South Asian, and Middle Eastern.

Source: National Association of County and City Health Officials

Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments

Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the social emotional assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.

Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)

Infant and Toddler Nutrition

Summary: Resources for families and providers that are CACFP operators. Find guidelines, training slides, worksheets/handouts, videos, and even an interactive training game.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service

Sample Infant Cycle Menu

Summary: A sample cycle menu for infants, 6 months to 11 months old, to help plan program calendars with creditable recipes that meet CACFP guidelines.

Source: Child and Adult Care Food Program