Posted on 15. Feb, 2015 by in Infant
This may be quite a problem even before the age of a year. It comes about because the baby is less ravenous for food, and more interested in all kinds of new activities, like climbing, handling the spoon, messing in the food, tipping the cup upside down, dropping things on the floor.
Fooling around at meals is a sign that children are growing up and that parents are sometimes more keen about children eating than the children are. This behavior is inconvenient and irritating, and can lead to feeding problems, too. You don’t have to put up with it. Children climb and play when they’re partly or completely satisfied, not when they’re really hungry. So whenever they lose interest in food, you can assume they’ve had enough, let them down from the chair, and take the food away.
It’s right to be firm, but you don’t need to get mad. If they immediately whimper for the meal, as if to say they didn’t mean they weren’t hungry, give them one more chance. But if they show no regret, don’t try to give them the meal again right away. If they get extra hungry between meals, give them a little more than usual for their snack, or give them the next regular meal early. If you always stop the meal casually when they lose interest, they will do their part by paying attention when they are hungry.
This doesn’t mean that you should expect perfect table manners from a toddler. Babies around a year old have a powerful urge to dip their fingers into the vegetable, to squeeze a little cereal in their hands, and to stir a drop of milk around on the tray. This isn’t fooling. They may be opening their mouths eagerly for food at the same time. Babies need to experiment with the feel of food. But if they try to turn the dish over, hold it down firmly. If they insist, keep it out of reach for a while or end the meal.