How to know if your little one is getting enough food
It’s really difficult to know exactly how much food a baby should have on any given day or any given mealtime. All babies are different and their appetite is affected by a huge variety of different things. For example, they might be ill, tired, teething, unsettled, out of routine or going through a growth spurt or a developmental leap. All of these things can affect how much food your baby needs to eat on a particular day. This makes it very difficult as a parent to know exactly what to offer and when to stop feeding your baby.
Learn their cues
Rather than focusing on the quantity of food that you offer, it’s a good idea to start to become familiar with the signs that your baby is hungry and full, so that you can learn to respond to their individual hunger and fullness cues as a sign of them having enough to eat. We’re not in their bodies so we can’t know how hungry they are or when they’re full. We need to listen to visible and external cues to know when they’ve had enough. In the same way a newborn baby will know exactly when they’re hungry and when they’re full and will communicate it through crying, your little one can tell you when they’ve had enough food by pushing it away, stopping eating or refusing to eat anymore.
Know the responsibilities
It can be helpful to understand the roles/responsibilities in feeding. By using a tool called The Divison of Responsibility we can understand the different roles involved in feeding, and this can be hugely beneficial in your feeding and weaning journey.
Your roles in feeding
Choose and prepare the food
Provide regular meals and snacks
Make eating times pleasant
Step-by-step, show your child by example how to behave at family mealtime
Be considerate of your child’s lack of food experience without catering to likes and dislikes
Not let your child have food or beverages (except for water) between meal and snack times
Let your child grow into the body that is right for them
Your child’s role in feeding
Eat
Eat the amount they need
Learn to eat the food they enjoy
Grow predictably in the way that is right for them
Learn to behave well at mealtime
Remember
Every baby is different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to feeding. Try not to put pressure on yourself and enjoy this new, exciting journey with them. You really are doing an amazing job 💖
