Avoid nighttime stuffing.
Cereals are often advised as fillers,
something to feed your baby to lengthen the intervals between breastfeeding or
bottles and to encourage baby to sleep through the night. Not only does this
filler fallacy seldom work, it may create problems in appetite control at an
early age, thus contributing to eventual obesity. Baby may need other forms of
interaction between bottle-feedings, not just to be filled up. Remember that
milk, either breast or formula, is still the most important nutrition at this
stage. Avoid the urge to fill your baby up with solids before bedtime in a
desperate hope that baby will sleep through the night. As tired parents, it is
easy to consider this temptation. Controlled studies have shown, however, that
infants who are fed solids before bedtime donot sleep through the night any
sooner than infants who do not get the before-bed stuffing.
Encourage self-feeding.
Around six months babies begin to
develop two exciting skills that, when perfected, will make feeding much
easier: the ability to sit up well in a high chair or on your lap and the
ability to reach for food in front of them. Some babies simply hate having food
come at them on a spoon and resist solids until you figure out that Mr. Independent
wants to do it himself. Place a bit of mashed banana within grabbing distance
on his table or high-chair tray. Around six months babies pounce on anything of
interest placed in front of them. You will notice your baby capture this
enticing material in his fist and gradually zero in on his mouth. By nine to
ten months baby will be using his thumb and index finger to pick up small
tidbits. In the beginning states of finding his mouth, bay may have more misses
than hits, resulting in much of the food being splattered over his cheeks or on
the floor, As one mother of a messy self-feeder put it, "The floor has a
more balance diet than my baby does." It helps to remember that at this
stage baby doesn't need the solid food -- feeding is still in the explore category.
Get the messy feeder to clean up his act. To keep baby from
grabbing the spoon, sending the contents flying, give him something to hold on
to, another spoon or even a toy. Don't punish him for making a mess or wanting
to be part of the action. If you are really intent on getting something into
your baby, gently hold both his hands in your free hand while you "chat
him up" or even sign his favorite ditty to distract him from wanting to
"help" too much. Expect baby to treat solids as toys. He's feeding his
intellect while you are more intent on feeding his body. Don't fret! Your
breast milk has all the nutritional bases covered. You can afford to let baby
have his science lesson. When the flinging and spitting escalate, simply take
the food away. When he's really hungry, instinct will take over, and he'll
realize the food will do wonders to satisfy that big empty spot in his tummy.
Help your baby develop an interest in solids.
Capitalize on a
new social skill that develops between six and nine months -- baby's desire to
mimic the actions of her caregivers. Let your baby watch you eat and enjoy
food. Teach by example: Prepare a small amount of infant food, such as rice
cereal or mashed bananas, and take a bite yourself as you exclaim,
"Ummmmmm gooooood!" Some babies at this age are somewhat reluctant to
try anything new. Take a few bites of any new food yourself. Let baby catch the
spirit by watching you enjoy this new food.
Rotate foods.
Infants become bored with too much of the same
food. Expect your baby to refuse previous favorites periodically. Take this as
a sign that baby needs more variety in the menu.
Avoid mixed foods.
Introduce single foods rather than several
foods mixed together. In case baby is allergic to or dislikes a food, offering
a single food makes it easier to identify the culprit. Once you know certain
foods are OK, you can combine them in one meal. In fact, a little dollop of
fruit on the tip of a spoonful of meat or vegetables can sometimes get the less
favored taste past the sentry.
Pass on the salt; skip the sugar. Parents, you are the taste
makers of the next generation. If your infant grows up accustomed to sweetened
and salted foods, it may be difficult to kick this taste later on.
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