Practice feeding the baby on demand instead of straining the baby to eat

Children eating on demand instead of stuffing are factors that help children form appropriate eating habits, be disciplined and avoid obesity. The following notes will help you feed your baby according to their needs appropriately.

The amount of food that a child eats is of primary concern for parents. Most parents feel that their child eats less than they need. Toddlers are still learning about the world around them and eating habits are one of the things that they need to learn. Forcing children to eat accidentally will make them form a bad habit in the future. On-demand feeding is the best way you can help your baby.

Why need to feed children according to their own needs?

Each child's hunger level is not the same. Some children can determine their own level of hunger while others cannot. This is the same as hitting developmental milestones in infants. Some children can crawl from 6 - 7 months, others know how to crawl at 8-9 months, others cannot crawl and walk.

Likewise, each child will react differently to new foods and, more importantly, need to know how hungry they are and learn how to eat according to their needs. If you force your child to eat a lot, you can interrupt this process and your baby will develop a habit of overeating from an early age. This will lead to obesity. Ideally, you should recognize the child's signs through the child's expressions when eating.

When babies are hungry: Babies and toddlers often act like crying, opening their mouth, taking a spoon into their mouth ...

When they are full: Children will have symptoms such as eating very slowly, moving their head away from food, closing their mouth, spitting food, playing with leftovers ...

Here are a few signs of how babies and toddlers feel when they eat. Many parents force their child to eat more even when the child shows signs of fullness. This is a bad practice that you should quit immediately.

Some other eating habits you should teach to make your child eat according to their needs

Avoid “negotiating” with children: When a child is throwing away foods that they don't like, you can try to negotiate with them by bribing them. This is not a good habit, because it leads the child to think that a nutritious food is punishment and the reward (dessert or candy) is better than this one. Don't negotiate with children. Give your child these foods, maybe just a few. Of course, you can encourage your child to eat a variety of other foods.

Eat meals with family at least once a day: Toddlers and young children often imitate and learn from adults. So when at home, give your child a comfortable space. This also applies to eating and drinking. Prepare your child for a place at the dinner table and during meals to include healthy foods for them such as fruits and vegetables. This encourages children to eat more healthy foods from an early age and helps them to have a positive attitude toward these foods. This is probably the starting point of forming good habits.

Avoid sweets or chips: Sweets, chips, or soft drinks should not be offered to children. These foods do not provide any nutrients for children. Not only that, it also kills the "appetite". And more importantly, it provides an unnecessary amount of calories and salt to the child's body. This can cause a number of dangerous diseases such as heart disease, diabetes in adolescence later.

Avoid watching TV while eating: Some parents have a habit of letting their children watch TV and videos while eating. You should quit this habit as quickly as possible. Watching TV while eating can make your child gain weight.

In these ways, you can help your child form some good eating habits from a young age. In the beginning it can be a bit difficult, but these will bring a lot of benefits in the future when your child eats according to their needs.