7 Magic Tricks to Encourage Self-Feeding in Children

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Are we parents failing to teach Self-feeding in kids?

Are you worried about kids not willing to self-feed even after they are grown up?

Just relax as you are not alone

It is a common struggle we face as parents in our parenting journey.

We can learn something new from other’s mistakes and implement it in our strategies and be successful.

Like most moms, I too failed when I tried self-feeding my little girl.

Since I never wanted her to be in hunger, insisted on force-feeding.

Because of it I skipped following self-feeding in her routine.

Therefore it became quite challenging as she grows up.

I am still making changes in her food habits and slowly making her get the practice of self-feeding.

I wanted to share those hacks here, as it will be helpful for many parents facing the same situation.

If you are planning to start self-feeding, you can avoid the common mistakes all parents make.

Or if in the middle, some hacks will enlighten you to ease you tackle self-feeding in your children.

I admire those parents who decide to self-feed the kid as a toddler, and never give up in between,

and finally achieve success by raising independent self-feeding kids.

What is Self-feeding?

Self -feeding is a ability of the kids to eat their food without any assistance.

Enormous benefits are there when the child starts self-feeding.

Some of them are enhancement in their Fine motor skills and sensory skills development.

Self-feeding can be quite a challenging phase of parenting

Right from the toddler to grown-up kids, many changes take place in the food habits.

Therefore self-feeding becomes a difficult task in some children, while it is easy to adapt in some.

Let us look into

- 7 Magic tricks for self-feeding
- Myths about Self-Feeding

7 Magic tricks for self-feeding

1.Set an Eating area:

Allocating a place for eating plays a significant role in self-feeding may be a child’s high chair or dining table or on the floor of a living room.
Setting an area for eating is necessary as the kid understands the purpose of the place.
A baby chair can be worthwhile if we are starting the weaning for our infants.
An eating area for a child helps the child eat food without any distraction.

2.Dedicate a regular mealtime:

Setting up a mealtime is crucial, as practicing in their routine supports them to have food without skipping.
They can have a clear idea of what to eat and what not to, at a particular time when followed consistently.
Mealtime helps the kid eating a healthy meal at a particular time, instead of having junk food or other foods that make them full skipping the meal.
Maintaining a regular mealtime helps to keep the duration of food served on track, as we can have a precise idea of kid’s hunger and serve food accordingly.

3.Modify expectation:

The responsibility of Self-feeding should be from both parents and the child.
The mistake done by me was, when my kid was not eating, I forget to encourage self-feeding and start giving her food by myself.
When we start encouraging self-feeding in the children, the first thing we need to consider from our side is lots of patience.
The kids may complete the given bowl in one day, or if they are ready to have 2 or 3 spoons the other day, that is ok.
As the kid needs some time to understand, their tummy needs and satisfy them.

4.Warm welcome for Food preparation

Involving kids in food preparation helps the kid to get interested in food.
Small chores that a child could do like cleaning greens, washing vegetables, sorting the vegetables in a basket, make them feel happy and engaged.
Scooping, pouring, squeezing activities that they do at this time helps the kid in developing fine motor skills.
Cooking food involving kids, as they help us in doing a simple task can provoke them in tasting the food when they sense the aroma and texture of the food.

5.Transition task

The transitioning of the task as kids grow helps them understand the necessity of doing certain chores at a particular time.
Encouraging the kid to carry prepared foods to the table, placing plates and tumblers helps them to gain confidence and self-respect in doing the task.
Allow them to serve food to their plate when the child is above two years, as they can take responsibility for their food.
On finishing the food, involving kids in clearing plates, small utensils to the sink to be washed, making the table clean, helps them understand that mealtime is over.

6.Embrace family time

Embraced family time makes the bonding of family and child stronger.
It is not about placing the food before the child and moving to complete the chores left.
Even though the child self feeds never leave the child or toddler alone as they might face a problem of choking or gagging sometimes
Involving ourselves in the present moment while having food with the child, talks about the food color, texture, taste, their activities in the day, aids their interest in having food.
It helps the child learn how to eat the dishes by observing the adults around the table, supports them in learning table manners, etc.

7.Self feeding in children

The cutlery of their size needs to be focused (I use child-sized plates, a tumbler, and a spoon to help her have food on her own).
Minimizing the distraction while having food is more crucial (screen time, toys, books).
Let them decide the quantity of food they wish to eat.
The kids eating food with a spoon or hand let it be their choice, show once the eating style but never keep insisting it as they might get irritated to take food.
Be ready to accept the mess they make while self-feeding.
The mess made while having food can be managed by tying a bib, placing a sheet or a newspaper around the food served to the kid.
Let them take their own time to explore people around them and adapt their style of eating.

Myths about Self-Feeding:

Parents blamed for picky eating children
Fill their tummy even when the kids are not hungry.
Children should not be allowed to play with food.
Parents must be a good cooks.
Children should never skip any meal.
Children will not eat when they are allowed to self-feed.
Insist on force-feeding when they are not ready to eat.

Self Feeding in children requires courage from parents in trusting the child and allowing them to feed independently irrespective of the quantity they eat or mess they make around.

It helps to boost the confidence in kids to understand the needs of their bodies.

If you are new to my blog, I am Asha, mom of a 4-year-old baby girl, where I write articles on parenting, homeschooling, and motherhood.

Here is another blog post you will find interesting,5 tips to make Potty learning Easy, 16 Simple ways for Montessori at Home.

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