Six Things You Should Do When Feeding Your Child

I started giving solid food to Alisha when she was 1 year old. But she had soft food like rice porridge and other cereals in a box when she was 5 months.

For parents, complementary feeding is about ensuring that your baby gets adequate nutrition to grow and develop well whereas, for Alisha and your baby, it is an incredible adventure of new tastes, textures and smells (not to mention the amazing discovery of what happens when food is thrown onto the floor and spit out from her mouth!). However, continue to offer your baby a well-balanced variety of foods as you prepare her to one day join the rest of the family at the dining table:

Here are 6 basic things you should when you feed your child:

1. Mess de-stress Be realistic

You cannot expect your baby to eat without making a huge mess, can you? After all, her motor and chewing skills are not fully developed yet. Simply line the floor with newspapers or an old bed sheet. The sheet can be washed and used again for the next mealtime.

2.Spoons & fingers

Encourage your child to eat with a spoon. However, if she is not too keen, let her use her fingers. Just be sure her fingers are clean. Alternatively, you can offer her finger foods from about 8 months onwards in addition to her cereal meal. When your child reaches 1 year old, he/she always wants to try to feed herself with the spoon. You should allow this otherwise she would be screaming.

3. Colourful plates, bowls & cutlery

A colourful, non-breakable plastic spoon will be more appealing to your baby than a plain one. So use attractive, baby-friendly bowls, plates, spoons and cups to make mealtimes more interesting.

4. Serve foods creatively

Foods that look the same can be boring.
Present them in different ways: you can cut bread, fruits or vegetables into various shapes and sizes, or serve fresh fruits as juices.

5. The high chair

Use a baby high chair with a rim around the edge of the tray so that food does not fall onto the floor. It should also have a restraining strap or bar to keep your baby from slipping down between the tray and the seat. Whenever you go to shopping center, she will always love to sit in the baby chair while eating.

6. Keep calm at all times

If your baby does not seem to be enjoying her food, do not worry and do not force her. Learning to eat takes time and practice, so be patient. Do not expect her to be able to eat like older children. Alisha is fussy sometimes, so we have to divert her attention and try to feed her while she is entertained.

You may wonder if your baby is getting enough food since most of it ends up on the floor. You need not be overly concerned if she is still being breastfed as breast milk provides her with most of the nutrients she needs. However, do be persistent in getting some food into your baby – while allowing baby to feed herself, you can ensure she gets some food into her little tummy by spooning food into her mouth yourself. Though we, mothers suffer breast sore sometimes.

Here are some products for your baby: