When it comes to [baby eating], I believe many parents will frown, coax them to eat and chase them. Parents, grandparents and grandparents often can’t handle the problem of baby eating together. Feeding the baby every day is enough for the whole family to worry about.
How can the baby eat by himself? Today, Ding Ma shared a mother’s experience with her parents to see how she let the three boys in the family eat by themselves.
Let the baby eat [secret weapon]
I live in New Zealand and am the mother of three mixed-race boys.
Two weeks ago, I took Er Bao and Xiao Bao to the library (the library has a special children’s play area). I met two grandparents from China, and their granddaughter was almost three years old.
Knowing that I have three boys aged six, three and less than ten months old, the grandmother said sympathetically, “yo, then you are tired.” She pointed to Er Bao, “who fed this morning? I guess it was because she needed to feed her granddaughter, and she felt that I must give priority to feeding Xiao Bao, so no one would feed Er Bao.
I said: [He eats by himself. Not only him, but also this small one eats by himself.]
Of course, the old man was extremely surprised: [ah? Is it a deal? ]
Of course! In fact, as long as parents are ready, every baby can eat by himself.
In the past, in restaurants and parties, I often saw many Western children sitting there quietly around the age of one to grab their own food. Once I was envious of this and wondered if they had special talent in what, because many children in China still had to be fed by their parents even when they were four or five years old.
It was not until I had children that I gradually realized that all normal children could actually do this.
With the gradual development of children’s bodies, Muscle strength and control of the body have improved greatly, and they can’t wait to grab something to eat by themselves. Pediatricians also suggest that babies should try to eat by hand at 8-12 months, spoon at 13-15 months or so, and eat with tools more skillfully after 18 months.
At the same time, this kind of self-eating exercise can not only promote the baby’s hand-eye coordination and fine movement development, but also make the baby more confident and independent.
And my [secret weapon] for my baby to eat by himself is to measure finger food and baby dining chair.
How do you make food by measuring your fingers in one bite?
In fact, there are many ingredients that can be made into [measuring finger food in one bite]. Parents may as well use their brains to think about it when preparing food for their babies. However, whether it is what ingredients, the following two points need to be kept in mind:
1. Food size
The so-called bite quantity is the size that the baby can safely eat in one bite. You can choose foods with the right natural size (such as peas and chickpeas), or cut large pieces of food into pieces with the right size.
2. Choice of food
The so-called finger food, is to let the baby can use the hand to hold the food to eat, at the same time should pay attention to choose the appropriate texture of food materials, and maintain the appropriate temperature. Food is best kept at room temperature, texture is not too hard, slightly soft but can be cut into pieces.
I often make finger food for my baby with the following types of ingredients:
- Vegetables: peas, chickpeas, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, avocados and leafy vegetables can be chopped up and used for omelets, which can then be made into finger food. Fruits: bananas, kiwi fruit, peaches, watermelons, seedless oranges, seedless grapes, etc. Others: chicken, fish, eggs, salt-free dried bean curd, light cheese, boiled short macaroni (preferably whole wheat), whole wheat bread, etc.
This is the lunch I made for Xiao Bao. Clockwise from the upper left corner is: boiled chickpeas (salt-free canned), fried eggs and spinach, seedless oranges, roasted cheese and whole wheat toast, which is nutritious and delicious.
How to choose the baby dining chair?
In addition to food, our parents also need to prepare a safe dining chair for their babies in advance.
At present, there are many styles of baby dining chairs on the market to choose from. Parents can choose a high-quality one within the scope permitted by the budget, which is simple in design and easy to operate. This investment is really worth it and is the first step to liberate parents and grandparents.
When choosing the baby dining chair, you can start with the following details:
- The design of safety buckle (belt) must be safe and convenient. The dinner plate should be easy to disassemble and firm. There must be anti-skid columns; Adjust the height of the seat to see if it is stable and whether the adjustment process is smooth. The cushion should be comfortable, solid and easy to clean. If you choose a dining chair with wheels, be sure to determine whether the wheels have locking function. Check the stability of the dining chair. You can shake the seat to see if the base is firm enough. Check whether there are some sharp corners, small holes or gaps and other potential safety hazards; Check whether the parts are easy to fall off to prevent the baby from inhaling or eating by mistake.
The function of safe dining chair is not only to provide a fixed place for the baby to eat, but also to ensure that he does not move when eating, which can reduce a lot of burdens for parents. Moreover, the baby on the dining chair is also convenient for him to eat by himself, which can not only exercise the grasping ability, but also cultivate self-care interest and help the baby develop good dining habits.
Finally, I would like to talk about the problem of tidying up. An important reason why many parents must feed their babies, Even if the baby eats by himself, he will make the food all over his face, all over the table and all over the floor, but this is the necessary stage for the baby to develop. After a period of time, the baby will gradually learn to eat by himself, and he can also pay attention not to make the food everywhere.
Parents feed their babies, Although to a certain extent, it saves time for cleaning, but the baby can’t learn to eat by himself. In the long run, it doesn’t necessarily save things. Parents should not spend all their energy on feeding and play a protracted war on the baby’s eating. It is better to try to let go and let them eat freely and learn to eat by themselves early.
As for cleaning up [the mess], let the vacuum cleaner and washing machine help.
Prepare a dining chair and a bite of finger food at room temperature, and the baby can eat it by himself. Parents should supervise it properly nearby.