Meal Pattern Minute: Serving Pancakes to Infants

Pancakes are a great soft food for young ones who are adjusting to solid foods or dealing with teething. But did you know that there are rules surrounding the serving of pancakes to infants who are 6 to 11 months old? Our nutrition education specialist, Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD, is here to fill you in on the details in this Meal Pattern Minute.

After you've watched the video, here are some additional things to remember about this flexibility, which you can find in the Crediting Handbook for the CACFP:

• Minimum creditable amounts of components do not apply to the infant meal pattern.
• The only grains that are creditable for breakfast, lunch & supper in the infant meal pattern for ages 6 months through 11 months are infant cereals, which must be iron-fortified. Infants age 6 to 11 months may also be served meat, fish, poultry, whole egg, cooked dry beans, cooked dry peas, cheese, cottage cheese or yogurt in the breakfast, lunch & supper meal patterns.
• For snacks, infants age 6 to 11 months may be served slice bread, crackers, infant cereal or ready-to-eat breakfast cereal.

For more information on serving infants in the CACFP, check out these resources:

• NCA PDF: Stages of Infant Development
• NCA PDF: Sample Infant Menu
• USDA PDF: Feeding Infants in the CACFP
• On-Demand Webinar: Baby Steps: Ounce Equivalents for Grains and Infants
• On-Demand Webinar: Feeding Infants Guide Explored
• On-Demand Webinar: Feeding Infants: What, When and How
• USDA Webinar: Feeding Infants: Starting with Solids

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