The Low Stress Way of Feeding Your Kid
- by Chelsea Edwards, RDN, LD
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in Family
Do you ever wonder what is the best way to feed your child? It's easy to feel overwhelmed with all the information available around nutrition, but throw in a child and it seems everyone has an opinion.
We have the ability to listen to our hunger and fullness signals when we're born--that's why a baby will turn his head or spit out food when fed more than he wants. It's also why your toddler may refuse a meal even when you think she should be hungry. Somewhere around age 3-5 we start being influenced by outside factors--things like a daycare teacher encouraging our kid to eat all of their food or a parent applying pressure to "just try it" or coercing kids into eating everything on their plate. This teaches us to not trust our body.
The Division of Responsibility developed by Ellyn Satter, is the gold standard when it comes to feeding your child according to pediatric dietitians. With the Division of Responsibility, the parent decides what to provide the child, when to provide it and where to provide it. The child decides how much and whether they eat. When done correctly, this leads to a low stress food environment for both parent and child.
Many parents fear implementing this process because they are afraid their child just won't eat, but they will. Be patient, don't apply pressure and make meal times pleasant. When introducing new foods, pair them with familiar foods your child has liked in the past. Additionally, we can't expect our kids to eat foods we aren't willing to eat. Meal time should be a pleasant experience for all, so model appropriate behavior around food and meal time so your child can learn.
Looking at nutrition as a big picture rather than one day at a time can also be helpful for parents. Typically, a child's preferences and intake balance out over time so they easily meet their needs. While it can take 20+ exposures to a food for a child to accept it, we must continue to offer these foods so our child can get used to the idea of it. This also helps the provider to ensure the child gets a wide variety of foods and nutrients.
Not sure how to feed your child? Need to work on your relationship with food? Give me a call at 256-258-7777 x 107 or email me at chelsea@thebalancedlifellc.com so we can begin working together!
