The first 1,000 days of life is a time of rapid growth and development. In fact, there is no other time of life where growth is as rapid as during the first 1,000 days. At just 16 days after conception, the neural tube (what will become our child’s brain and spine) forms. ² Four weeks into pregnancy, your baby’s brain as an estimated 10,000 cells, but by the 24th week of pregnancy, it contains 10 billion cells. ² After your baby is born, their brain continues to grow and develop rapidly. Throughout early childhood, a child’s brain creates more than 1 million new synapses–the connections that allow brain cells to communicate with one another–every second. ² This rate is faster than any other time in a life. ² But it is not just your little one’s brain that is growing rapidly during the first 1,000 days of life. Most infants triple their birthweight and grow to be 1.5 times their birth length by their first birthday.

This is why proper nutrition is so important, because it is quite literally the fuel that is driving this early development. Proper nutrition fuels the growth and development of the brain allowing children to improve their cognitive abilities, enhance their motor skills, and undergo social-emotional development. ¹ Not only does a mother’s and child’s nutrition throughout the first 1,000 days affect how the child grows and develops in the early years, it also shapes the child’s own risk for obesity and chronic diseases as an adult and can impact the health of their own offspring later in life. ¹ That means that how you eat during pregnancy and how your child eats during infancy & toddlerhood can impact your grandchild’s health. No pressure!

Once you take into account that infants and toddlers have small stomachs (about ¼ the size of adults’), you start the realize the importance of making sure each meal and snack is packed with nutrients. Each nutrient plays such an important role in supporting the rapid growth and development of the first 1,000 days. However, protein, iron, zinc, iodine, and omega-3 fatty acids are all crucial during this time to support children’s brain development. ¹ Not getting enough of these nutrients can be detrimental. Iron deficiency early in life, for example, has been shown to impair children’s learning ability and social-emotional behavior and increase the risk of anxiety and depression later in life. ¹

In order to make sure that your child is getting the nutrients they need to grow and thrive, it is important to establish healthy eating habits early on. Once your child is developmentally ready (typically around 6 months of age), you can start offering complementary foods in addition to continuing to offer your child breastmilk and/or iron-fortified infant formula. While infant rice cereal is a popular first food, it is important that this is not the primary food for your little one. This is not only because of the arsenic and heavy metal levels found in many infant rice cereals, but also because it is important infants are safely exposed to a variety of flavors and textures, iron-rich foods, and commonly allergic foods early on. ^3-4

 In order to fuel growth and development, toddlers need to eat a variety of foods, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein-rich foods, and unsweetened dairy products, while limiting the amount of added sugar, sodium, and saturated fats.¹ Eating a balanced diet ensures that young children get the nutrients they need during the first 1,000 days.

The first 1,000 days is a time of rapid growth and development, where proper nutrition plays an important role in the health and well-being of little ones not only today but as they grow up. This is why we think seeds are a great addition to you and your little one’s diet. Seeds are only packed with nutrients, but are also tiny allowing them to fit in your little one’s belly, even when they don’t have a big appetite.

At Tiny Sprouts Foods, we especially love our Tiny Sprouts Organic Hemp Hearts for the first 1,000 days because 1 tbsp provides toddlers with so much critical nutrition. 

Our hemp hearts undergo a special Gentle Processing^TM, which is a revolutionary green technology that works to ensure nutrition stays just the way nature intended – no chemicals, solvents or excessive heat is applied. Our hemp hearts also undergo a 5-Step Safety Log reduction for pathogens and full heavy metal testing. This method ensures we  are offering the safest, tastiest, and most nutritious hemp hearts on the market safe for your most precious little ones!

You can add our hemp hearts to any of your little one’s foods from as early as 6 months when they are starting solids. Mix them into their favorite baby food puree or sprinkle onto scrambled eggs, oatmeal, or yogurt; the options are truly endless.

Our milled seed boosters are also packed with nutrients just like our hemp hearts! All of our milled seed boosters are high in fiber and loaded with vitamin D and probiotics to support overall health and well-being from the gut to the brain. Like our hemp hearts, our milled seed boosters are super easy to mix into any baby food puree for an easy nutrient boost. They are also great for coating slippery foods, such as bananas and avocados, for baby-led weaning.

You can check out our full range of Organic Superseed Boosters here. They are the perfect daily addition to supporting the growth and development of 1000 days of your little one’s life. We also have some great recipes using all of our different seeds, which you can access at www.tinysproutsfoods.com/recipes.