Dear parents, have your babies learned to eat by themselves?
When it comes to the baby eating, almost every family has a history of feeding and bitterness. In order to let the baby eat a good meal, parents really ran out of methods, hugging and feeding, coaxing and feeding, chasing and feeding... Almost every day, the "you chase me" feeding war is staged! The baby is upset, and the parents are even more tired!
The main reason is that the golden period for babies to practice eating on their own is missed! Therefore, Gu Mommy suggests that parents must grasp the golden period of the baby's independent eating, and cultivate the good habit of eating independently!
What is the golden period for babies to eat independently?
After the baby is 6 months old, the hand-eye coordination ability develops rapidly, the desire for independence becomes strong, most babies will enter the golden period of independent eating around 8-10 months, of course, the specific time may also "vary from baby to baby", parents can help judge according to these three signals:
Seeing a spoon or food in an adult's hand and wanting to reach out and grab it;
Shake your head to avoid or shoot away the food handed by the adult;
Imitate the chewing action of adults when eating.
If the baby has the above actions, this means that the baby wants to eat independently The critical period has arrived, parents should respect the baby's nature, spread their hands, and let the baby try to eat on his own!
How to cultivate the good habit of eating independently for your baby?
Independent eating requires a high degree of coordination of the baby's hands, eyes and mouth, and is also accompanied by the cooperation of multiple sets of muscles in the upper body, which are coordinated and coordinated by the brain. Therefore, in order to let the baby get better growth and development, parents must cultivate the good habit of eating independently.
1. Relax your heart and let the baby come by himself
At this stage when the baby eats independently, there may be many scenes that make parents collapse, such as rice paste on the face, food falling all over the table, soup spilled all over the body, and food residue on both hands... However, this is a phenomenon that the baby must experience in growth and development, so please parents less intervention, more patience, not too anxious, do not stop, give the baby more time, let go and let the baby come by himself!
2. Prepare bibs and safe dining chairs
Bib and safe dining chair are also indispensable tools for exercising the baby to eat independently, bib can effectively prevent food spillage, greatly reducing the frequency of parents washing and wiping the floor; the safe dining chair is to ensure that the baby does not move when eating, and will also give the baby a sense of ritual of eating, help the baby gradually establish the concept of eating, and cultivate the good habit of eating independently!
3. Prepare spoons and finger foods for the baby
Exercise the baby to eat by themselves is the need to gradually "level", at this time the baby always wants to do it themselves, Gu Mommy suggests that parents prepare spoons and finger food for the baby, if the baby is interested in tableware, give the spoon, if the TA wants to grab food, prepare some easy-to-chew finger food for ta to exercise the baby's grasping ability.
What should I do if I miss the golden period of my baby's independent meal?
For babies who have missed the golden period of independent eating, and want them to learn to eat on their own, Gu Mommy suggests that parents can try these methods:
1, from now on to strengthen the training, let the baby eat by himself, the baby wants to eat what he wants to give him;
2, parents do a good job, eat seriously in front of the baby without procrastination, cheer up the baby;
3, stipulate a good meal time, outdated and not wait, let the baby pay attention to the matter of eating;
4, the family eats at the same table to create a pleasant dining atmosphere for the baby.
Of course, parents should also remember that in the issue of exercising the baby to eat, there is no need to be too real, the rules must be, simple.