As parents, it is our most natural right to want our children to be fed in the best possible way and to grow up healthy. Unfortunately, some children are born with an appetite, while others do not. There are even mothers who are obsessed with this situation.
In this article, I would like to talk about the most common examples of attitude errors related to feeding.
In some families, we see that the child who does not have a large appetite is put under extreme pressure to eat. In such cases, it is lived as if “life consists of just finishing the food on the plate”. Unfortunately, a picture of a mother and/or caregiver running after the child with a bowl of food and begging him to eat is not uncommon. It should be emphasized that this style is not suitable at all. Such a feeding attitude invites a child who already has a low appetite to behave stubbornly and not eat at all.
The things to be emphasized regarding eating attitudes can be summarized as follows:
-A child can sit at the family table from the age of 9 months. He can eat with a spoon, albeit clumsily.
– Let your child have three main meals and two or three snacks.
-Take care to put your child at the family table every time. Create a menu that you think will be as nutritious as it is nutritious. Switch to lumpy foods on time. From the age of 10 months, give up your habit of pureeing EVERYTHING through the blender.
-Do not force him to eat. Avoid making him feel that his eating is something very important to you. Don’t bargain about food and don’t get stubborn.
-Give up the habit of chewing and gnawing the bread or cookie in your hand on time.
-Introduce different alternatives that can provide eating variety in one or two meals a day.
-Mostly make him try to eat himself and learn about it. Avoid mouth feeding as much as possible. Do not react to food spilled or spilled on the floor.
-After everyone’s food is finished, wait for another 10 minutes, if they don’t eat, say you’ll get their plate. After the time is up, take the plate without insisting and without pretending to be spoiled.
– If he hasn’t eaten enough, refuse requests such as junk food and snacks that come right after the meal time. Express that you cannot prepare or serve anything special except fruit until the next meal time. Offer the option to eat a few servings of fruit until the next meal time.
– When it’s time for the next meal, offer the food he likes and don’t be persistent again.
– Offer alternatives such as chocolate, dessert, snacks after those meals if they eat their main meals. But don’t make the presentation of these foods a matter of bargaining.
-Do not obsess over his eating, do not obsessively calculate what he eats, do not reflect on him by making his eating a vital issue for you. Do not run after him with the spoon and plate in your hand.
-Let him get the habit of eating sitting down, not walking around.
-Encourage them to have a habit of eating nutritious, healthy and varied foods.
If you implement all of these in the right place and with determination, your child’s feeding times will cease to be a burden for you and will become an enjoyable activity.
Let’s not forget that “a hungry child must eat”. Being comfortable and consistent in this matter will ensure that he eats healthy and develops healthy. A healthy feeding and feeding ritual will strengthen the bond of love between you and ensure that parent-child bonding matures in the most healthy way.
Assist. Assoc. Dr. Neslim G. Doksat
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
