Posted on 15. Feb, 2015 by in Infant
Somewhere around a year old, babies are apt to change their feelings about food. They become choosier and less hungry. This is not surprising. If they kept on eating and gaining the way they did when they were little babies, they’d turn into mountains. Now they seem to feel that they have time to look the meal over and ask themselves, “What looks good today and what doesn’t?” What a contrast to their behavior at eight months! In those days they felt starved when mealtime came around. They’d whimper pathetically while their parent tied the bib, and lean forward for every bite. It wouldn’t matter much what was served. They were too hungry to care.
There are other reasons, aside from not being so hungry, that make them choosy. They’re beginning to realize, “I’m a separate person with ideas of my own,” so they become definite in their dislikes of a food that they were doubtful about before. Their memory is getting better, too. They probably realize, “The meals here are served up pretty regularly, and they stay around long enough for me to get what I want.” Also, teething often takes away a child’s appetite, especially when the first molars are on their way. He may eat only half his usual amount for days, or he may occasionally refuse an entire meal.
Finally, and perhaps most important, there is the fact that appetite naturally varies from day to day and from week to week. We grown-ups know that one day we grab a big glass of tomato juice and another day split pea soup looks better. It is the same way with children and babies. But the reason you don’t see this variation more often in infants under a year is that most of the time they are too hungry to turn anything down.