Baby eating is a big problem. When the baby is very young, parents always feed them. As the child gradually grows up, the baby can start eating by themselves. However, many parents always feel that the baby is still young and are unwilling to let the baby eat by themselves, so they will always start feeding the baby by hand. So what are the hazards of feeding children, and how should babies learn to eat on their own?
The hazards of feeding children
Feeding is not only reflected in real behavior, but also extends to various aspects of a child's life and learning. Over time, the child's expected functions gradually deteriorate, and their independent development and innate learning and exploration abilities are also restrained.
Babies over one year old already have a desire to eat independently, and parents should shift from being the main guide to being supportive, encouraging and assisting them in helping their babies eat, making them feel the joy of eating, and enjoying the delicious food together with adults. If parents still feed their babies at this time, it will inevitably bring varying degrees of harm to the babies.
Physiological effects
1. Causing insufficient chewing function, affecting digestion and absorption.
Eating too quickly and not being able to chew food thoroughly can not only increase the burden on the baby's gastrointestinal tract, but also affect the normal development of teeth, facial muscle exercise, and even have a certain degree of impact on the child's future appearance.
2. Affects the establishment of movement balance and hand eye coordination ability.
Autonomous eating requires the coordination and cooperation of hands, mouth, and eyes. Feeding by parents will deprive children of a good opportunity to train their balance and hand eye coordination skills.
3. Affects appetite control, making children more likely to be overweight.
Overfeeding may cause the child's stomach to swell, leading to childhood obesity.
Psychological impact
1. Causing children to lose focus and enjoyment of eating.
When feeding, children are prone to lack of concentration, such as looking around, running around from their eating positions, playing with toys, watching TV, etc. Parents' urging and coercion can also bring varying degrees of psychological pressure to children, making them feel that eating is a burden, a compulsive task, and can easily trigger anorexia or picky eating.
2. Causing children to lack self-service ability and independence.
Children believe that eating is not their own business, but something that will make their parents happy. Not eating can be used as a threat to their parents. This abnormal behavior can lead to cognitive errors in children, and can also easily develop bad habits such as dependence, laziness, low life ability, irresponsibility, and fear of difficulties.
3. Continuing into daily life and learning, restraining children's independent development.
Children who are accustomed to feeding will also rely on their parents for everything in the future, such as asking them to help with problem sets, homework, organizing books and desks, and making various tutoring plans. Parents satisfy their own needs for care, but stifle their children's innate learning and exploration abilities. Over time, the child's expected functions gradually deteriorate. Self directed eating: How to eat is up to the child! Self directed eating: How to eat is up to the child! Self directed eating: How to eat is up to the child! Self directed eating: How to eat is up to the child!
The golden period for babies to eat independently
Feeding during infancy plays an important role in shaping a person's appetite and dietary habits. To ensure the healthy growth of children, mothers should cultivate their babies to eat independently from an early age.
The so-called golden period refers to the average time period for most children's development, which is just a suggestion and cannot be blindly copied; Every child is a special individual, with different stages of development. Mothers should choose personalized feeding timing based on their child's development. To cultivate babies to eat independently, mothers need to observe carefully and be patient.
1. Sprout period: 10 months
After 10 months, the baby begins to show a strong interest in tableware.
Babies over 10 months old always want to do it themselves and enjoy playing with utensils. Moreover, every time they are fed, they like to snatch the utensils from their hands. This is a good time to train babies to eat on their own. The independent choice of food and self eating is a sign of early personality formation in babies, and it is very helpful for exercising coordination and independence.
2. Golden period: 12-18 months
After a child reaches the age of one, it is the actual induction period for them to eat their own food, and the period between 12 and 18 months can be regarded as the "golden induction period"; Because during this period, the child's hand eye coordination ability develops rapidly, and if given appropriate guidance, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Let the child try on their own:
At this point, the baby is likely to spill food all over the floor as a result. Some mothers love cleanliness and are afraid that their children won't have enough to eat. They don't want their babies to make everything dirty and messy, so they often angrily stop their babies from doing so. Little do they know that doing so actually stifles the baby's ability to learn to eat independently. Over time, the baby will think that eating is a passive acceptance process and has nothing to do with themselves.
When the following phenomena occur, mothers can start teaching their babies how to eat:
Babies like to hold rice in their hands while eating;
I already know how to drink water from a cup;
When the rice in the spoon is about to fall, the baby will take the initiative to lick the spoon.
3. Baby 12-15 months old
1. Baby loves to grab rice by hand
One year old babies often like to grab their food with their hands, and many parents will try their best to correct this "unruly" behavior. However, the process of one year old babies grabbing food by hand is a pleasure for them. Learning to "eat" for babies is essentially a cultivation of interest, which is no different from reading or playing, because by holding and grabbing food with your hands, you can grasp the shape and characteristics of the food. You should know that there is actually no food that children don't like to eat, it just depends on the frequency of contact. Only by repeatedly "touching" food with their own hands can they become more familiar with it and be less likely to be picky in the future.
2. Try eating with a spoon
Around the age of one, babies will enjoy eating with adults at the table. They should not be deprived of their rights just because they are afraid of causing trouble. They can use a small dish to serve various dishes that suit them, and let them feed themselves with their hands or spoons to their heart's content, even if they eat a mess.
3. Children hate restraints
The most intolerable thing for a baby around 1 year old is when their mother tightly ties their hands and feeds them spoon by spoon. This poses a great threat to the development of a baby's life skills and the establishment of their self-esteem, leading to resistance or refusal to eat.
4. Baby 1 and a half to 2 years old
1. Improved control and coordination abilities
At 18 months, babies have better control and can easily put food into their mouths when they want to eat, and it seems more comical when they fill the house with food. Although he occasionally tilts the spoon and spills food when eating, he is still able to fill the spoon with food and put it into his mouth in a coordinated manner.
2. The process of a baby holding a spoon
The ability of children to eat independently gradually increases with the development of their hands and oral function. The method of holding tableware also evolved from using the palm, fingers, and finally to using three fingers like an adult. The action of delivering food to the entrance also starts from parallel delivery, at a 45 ° angle, and finally develops to an angle below 45 °.
3. Can independently finish some food
As the baby's hands-on ability improves, you can try to let them independently finish a portion of the food. For example, when there is not much food left in the bowl, allowing the baby to eat the remaining food by themselves and form a bond with the Buddha will surely help transport wealth and ensure safety! If the baby is able to complete independently, give positive encouragement, which will give the baby a sense of achievement and help cultivate self-confidence.
5. Consolidation period: 2-3 years old
1. I'm even more restless during meals
A 2-year-old baby should already be able to eat on their own, but it is almost impossible to expect them to sit down and eat well with the whole family. He will definitely keep tinkering, and when his mother gets annoyed, she might as well feed him herself. This is also one of the reasons why many babies are "forced" to learn how to eat on their own until they start kindergarten.
2. Sometimes I refuse to eat by myself
After the baby can eat on their own, sometimes they may refuse to eat on their own. At this time, don't overly accommodate them and tell them that eating is their own business. It's embarrassing to let others feed them. Enable him to establish a sense and concept of independence and glory. This way, when the baby starts kindergarten, they don't have to worry about eating on their own.
If your baby has grown up and started eating on their own, as a parent, it is important to actively guide them and not reject their growth performance. It is essential for mothers to teach their baby how to eat on their own as soon as possible, as there are many benefits to eating on their own as soon as possible.
