Paced Feeding
As parents, we all want to raise strong, healthy children who gladly eat healthy, nourishing food without any struggles. However, it is not always like that, and every child individual varying tastes, wishes and needs. So what can we do to provide our infants healthy eating habits? The secret is paced feeding.
The focus is on the how – how we serve food, how we offer it, how we treat our infant during mealtime. Studies in the infant nutrition field show that parents’ attitude and attention to feeding have a great effect on the eating habits that infants adopt, the nutritional preferences they develop, their weight gain rate and ability to maintain a normal weight later in life.
The principles of paced feeding
After we finish feeding our infant using the paced bottle feeding, it is possible and important to proceed to the next stage, of laying down healthy habits for infants who have just started to taste food, while being attentive to their needs and wishes.
This is a feeding form that is based on our relationship with our infant. It is feeding based on the understanding that infants are not helpless creatures whom we must induce to eat, but individuals, with wishes and an ability to identify and express their physical and emotional needs.
And what does this actually mean? It means that we must develop a respectful relationship with our infants, be attentive to them and try to understand what they want to tell us, even without words. And even if we do not understand them right away, it is fine. We should just continue trying.
We can watch out for the signs:
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Restlessness and discomfort
May be a sign of hunger.
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Hands in the mouth or an attempt to suck the hands
May be a sign of hunger.
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Turning the head back
May be a sign of satiety.
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Closing the mouth
May be a sign of satiety.
Even if infants do not want to taste or eat a certain food, we can trust them that this is the right thing for them at present. We should not get disappointed or try to convince them to taste it, but just continue to offer it again on the next occasions. We should remember that it takes a long time to learn to eat diverse food and it takes a lot of patience on our part. We can do it by continuing to serve the foods we believe our infants need repeatedly, but let them have the last word. At this stage, we can put our concerns aside. Later in the article we will tell you when it is advised to consult a medical professional.
The ten steps of paced feeding
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1Comfortable, upright sitting
Put your infant comfortably on the dining chair with support for the feet or hold your infant in your arms. It is advised not to feed them on a trampoline or beanbag.
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2Eye contact
Feeding face to face, looking into the infant's eyes and smiling, contributes to a sense of closeness and calm and allows us to respond quickly to any signal or sign by our infant.
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3Feed calmly
Feed the infant in a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere, at a slow, attentive pace.
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4Golden time
Mealtime is a wonderful time to strengthen our bond, closeness and relationship with our infant. This way our infant will learn that mealtime is pleasant and rewarding.
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5Consistency
Make sure to have orderly meals at fixed times to the extent possible, with consistent, recurring exposure to healthy and diverse foods.
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6Listen out for signs
Feed according to your infant’s signals of hunger and satiety. If you are not sure what the signals of hunger and satiety are, you should consult a nutritionist, to whom you can show mealtime videos that you can watch together to learn.
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7Feed using a suitable spoon
It is recommended to use a flat silicone spoon. Place a little food on its tip and bring it close to your infant’s mouth. If he or she opens the mouth, gently put the tip of the teaspoon into it and allow the infant to control the amount of food he or she scoops up. It is better not to push the spoon to the palate at the roof of the mouths with the intent to help. If the infant does not open the mouth, wait a little and try again, gently. If the infant continues to refuse, he or she probably is not hungry anymore and you can end the meal. This is the time to remember and that infants’ wonderful regulating mechanism allows them to know when they have eaten enough.
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8Patience
Learning to eat is a long process consisting of many stages, and sometimes the onlooker can feel that it is like "playing with food". It is important to remember that all stages are important, even critical, for learning and developing. Give infants time to learn comfortably and freely experience with food, without intervention or any sense of disappointment if they eat "just a little".
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9Respect refusals
If you see that your infant signals reluctance to eat, or if it seems your infant is not hungry anymore, do not insist. Stubbornness may lead infants to eat less and develop a negative attitude towards food and mealtimes.
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10Do not forget to breathe
The eating learning process is long and continues throughout the child’s first years. Every infant has a different pace and different preferences. Let infants have a sense of control and progress without pressure, worry or disappointment. If necessary, you can seek professional advice.
You can and should seek advice
If you feel that you are unable to understand the signs your infant makes, you know know that Family Care Centers (Tipat Halav) have nutritionists who specialize just in this. You are invited to ask your nurse where there is a nutritionist and book an appointment.
It is advised to seek advice when your infant:
- Eats very little.
- Refuses to eat often.
- Cries when seated in the dining chair.
- Compels you to use tricks to get him or her to eat.
- Looks uninterested in food.
You can call and consult Family Care Center nurses at the hotline: *5400 extension 9.