When we manage to plan and put into practice routines that our baby begins to get used to and that finally everything is expected to go well and within normality, a situation arises: why doesn't my baby want to eat as usual? And then we start to question if we are doing something wrong, if after all our baby starts to reject some types of food, if we are going to have to start the feeding process all over again or, in a more extreme context, we don't know what else to do. This can cause distress and anxiety for some parents.
Before anything else, we have to understand that this is a common situation and that there is a possible solution. For this, we bring you another conversation with nutritionist Tânia Tinoco to understand what we can do when our baby doesn't feel the need to eat.
One of the biggest difficulties parents face is mealtimes when their children are already at pre-school age, because the children are not hungry or they don't like a certain food. Stress at this moment doesn't help parents to solve this situation as it will be felt by children and will not help at all.
Our guest points out some factors that we should pay attention to in order to try to avoid at least this type of situation.
First of all, see if we are offering the right amount to our child - after a growth peak, the tendency to eat more starts to decrease and we have to respect these quantities. Forcing your child to eat will not be beneficial and could lead to problems such as obesity.
In second place, we should respect the time between meals. If children stay with grandparents, friends or other relatives, it can sometimes damage that routine which was already usual and different situations can change it. Routines are essential and it is necessary to explain this to people.
Third, nutritionist Tânia Tinoco says that food should be, or at least try to be, as appealing as possible - there should be a variety of foods at mealtimes, otherwise the child may become tired and start to reject eating the same types of food over and over again. Make healthy dishes exciting and appealing for the child.
In the fourth place, to be able to camouflage this feeling of stress at mealtimes, but rather to make it a moment of sharing, of all of us eating together and doing so in a constant and routine way.
Fifth, the meal should be a normal everyday activity for the child. Offering a reward, such as a sweet, can lead to an association of this moment with something that will have a reward afterwards. The meal is part of the routine.
One aspect mentioned is when babies are in the phase of growing their teeth. Sometimes they have difficulty chewing, which can cause a rejection of food. Their mouths are more sensitive and it becomes more complicated for the child to digest food.
She also points out that meal replacement can create habits and if the child is not hungry at a certain meal time, we should wait for the next meal time. The child will not be hungry and will not be affected by this.
These are some tips given by the nutritionist Tânia Tinoco, who we thank once again for this conversation and sharing these suggestions.
You can also watch the video to get some more useful tips for this situation.
The video is available on Wedoble's Facebook page —https://fb.watch/lqmIQpCqLw/
What about you? Have you ever been in this kind of situation? What have you done to solve this problem? We want to know your experiences or if you are going through this difficulty. We hope you have enjoyed and that these suggestions have been helpful.
