Is the child hungry? He needs to be fed urgently!
Paradoxically, most often adults, or more precisely parents, suffer from eating disorders. They have an unhealthy attitude towards food, psychological problems associated with food, and do not understand when they are really hungry. Unfortunately, adults who do not have a culture of food consumption instill a similar attitude in their own children.
How does this happen in everyday life? You can turn to a simple life example.
The girl lives in a family that barely has enough money for food. Sweets and fruits are bought only for holidays. As an adult and having her own family, she tries to make up for lost time. As if wanting to compensate for her own childhood, in which there was no tasty food, she buys a bunch of sweets for her offspring and can feed him, not paying attention to the weight gain. It is possible that in this way the woman will show her love, believing that subsequently the child will be sincerely grateful for such an attitude. The worst thing is that such cases are not isolated. History remembers many examples when adults, whose childhood was during the war years, tried to cook as much as possible in order to prevent the child from starving.
It is worthwhile to carefully analyze your own behavior in order to eliminate such mistakes. Is there a transference of the behavior of their parents onto the child or a desire to compensate for aspects that were not sufficient during their own childhood? You should not be fanatical about the issue of food absorption, since constant overeating can cause no less harm than monotony in your daily diet. Many nutritionists believe that it is better to undereat than to overeat, since excess food can cause not only excess weight, but also apathy, lack of initiative, and be complicated by diseases that are caused by the load on the child’s body.
Are they born with gastronomic preferences?
Observations of my own children allowed me to come to the conclusion that every little person from birth has his own tastes and preferences in food, his own relationship with it. This may be an unscientific opinion, but it seems to me that a person is born with a penchant for certain foods and an aversion to others, and at each new stage of life, his gastronomic preferences can change, sometimes in the diametrically opposite direction.
For example, since childhood I adored meat, fried, pungently smelling... Many years have passed, and now I am a vegetarian, I can do just fine without meat, moreover, I don’t want it, my previously favorite smell of cooking kebabs almost makes me sick, and at the market in the meat aisles I fall into a semi-fainting state. Meanwhile, my daughter couldn’t stand soups, and now she can’t live a day without them, she couldn’t stand buckwheat porridge - now she eats it with pleasure.
Why doesn't the child want to eat?
If you look at this problem objectively, you can understand that a person experiencing real hunger will never demonstrate a refusal to absorb food. Absolutely any specialist will say that the structure of the biological rhythm is special, and therefore a child can demonstrate an excellent appetite today, and tomorrow no longer show such a strong desire to absorb food. The day after tomorrow this process may not be strong enough.
To deal with this problem, you need to realize that the body itself provides regulation of physiological needs. This allows you not to suffer from excess weight, getting the necessary amount of calories from food in order to gain an optimal supply of energy and feel good well-being. You can give the example of a child who got sick. He spends all the time in bed, may feel discomfort, his body does not need a large amount of food. During this period, the doctor will recommend not torturing the baby by trying to push food into him, persuading him to eat it all without leaving a trace.
Another example might be a skinny baby who eats too much (as the parents believe), but his body type remains the same. What reason? You need to carefully monitor your own child. It is possible that he behaves actively and enjoys games that require movement. The baby's free time is occupied by dancing and the desire to explore the world around him. This allows us to say that the food absorbed by the child’s body is processed into energy, which he strives to expend. It `s naturally. The baby does not need to deposit calories that will accumulate on the hips, cheeks, and stomach. The baby can be called absolutely healthy. He has no worms, no hormonal imbalances. Therefore, parents and loved ones need not worry.
There are certain circumstances during which it is worth paying close attention to the child’s behavior:
- A sudden reduction in the portions of food the child chooses. He may refuse food and rapidly lose weight;
- There is pale skin, inactivity, apathy and lethargy in the child;
- Refusal of favorite foods and delicacies that he previously preferred;
- An exhausted or haggard appearance in a child.
This allows us to say that if a child has a sudden decrease in appetite, but is in his usual cheerful state, active and has no complaints, he should be left alone. As soon as he feels hungry, he immediately asks for food; it cannot be any other way.
Absorption of food is a natural need of the body. The primary instincts of self-preservation are hunger and thirst. If you do not feed the child on time, he will immediately begin to cry and scream, not calming down until he receives food. The baby’s body understands perfectly well at what hours and in what quantity it should eat.
From plump to skinny
Overprotection as the chosen style of raising a child can result not only in problems with excess weight. Often patients of psychologists and nutritionists are people suffering from anorexia, as well as eating disorders. With what it can be connected?
A child who is diligently fed by his parents soon grows up and begins to attend school. It is unlikely that his peers and other children will begin to be touched by his excess weight. The student will be subjected to ridicule and bullying, and it will be difficult for him to complete assignments in physical education lessons. He will begin to believe that food is primarily a problem with weight, because of which he is unable to build harmonious relationships with others, and there are health problems.
As long as a person remains in the family circle, it will be difficult for him to change his eating habits. As soon as he finishes school, grows up, and is able to escape from the excessive care of his parents, he may be able to change the culture of food consumption. Often a person undergoes a radical transformation and barely loses weight, which allows him to enjoy compliments and positive feedback from acquaintances and friends. The negative experiences he had as a child can motivate him to lose weight.
It can be understood that in this situation the blame lies on the shoulders of the parents. In this case, mother and grandmother. The specialist’s work should be carried out with all family members. In order to avoid a repetition of the situation, it is necessary to express to women the idea that the beloved child’s problems arose due to the need to finish everything that was put on the plate.
“How can you not force him to eat? He won’t eat anything on his own!” — close people who show sincere concern about the fate of the child can express a similar opinion. Even if the baby refuses to eat at first, after some time he will still ask for food or take the food himself. The most important thing is that there is no temptation to eat only sweets, and, therefore, it is necessary to remove them from free access.
Are you afraid that your child will not eat anything at all? Don't worry. The baby's body will tell you when to eat. He will definitely eat as soon as he feels hungry.
According to needs
Perhaps the most important thing is the child’s psychological contact with the person caring for him: it is important to see exactly the child’s needs, and not just your ideas about proper nutrition. One baby eats often and little by little, another - often and a lot, the third - rarely, but for a long time, and a sensitive mother will always adapt to the child, and will not force the child to adapt to herself
Therefore, now mothers feed their children “on a schedule” less and less often, preferring to feed “on demand”, adapting to the needs of their child, and not the average correct one, which is written about in books. If a young child refuses to eat (or vomits during force-feeding), the psychologist will see this symptom as a refusal of life. Food, mother, life are components of one line. That is why so much depends on the behavior of the mother and her attitude towards the process of feeding the child.
How to feed a child correctly?
Some will say that experts suggest not feeding children at all, guided by a permissive parenting style. These recommendations do not mean that the child has the right to do whatever he wants, including eating whatever he likes.
Absorption of food is an important need that exists in every person, including children. It is worth making sure that your diet is balanced. The baby must receive all the micronutrients and calories from food in order to grow up healthy, active and happy. At the same time, proper nutrition does not mean overeating. A dinner that is too heavy can be harmful to the body, will not contribute to a full night's sleep and will cause real harm to the digestive system.
Adults should show true wisdom and prudence in matters relating to the nutrition of their own child. You should be guided by an objective opinion, and not try to feed the child from the heart, forcing him to eat a double portion of food, because of which the baby will not be able to move.
If your child has whims and does not want to eat prepared foods, you can try feeding him something else, but no less healthy. It is possible that from the same products it will be possible to prepare other dishes that will impress the baby that he will really love them. These whims should not be considered unreasonable. Even if you are tired from a busy day at work, you can always show your imagination and consider the cooking process a true creativity, in which you can also involve your child.
In addition, you can somehow decorate the food that is served on the table. Believe me, any child will want to try, and most likely eat, fully prepared food.
To summarize, I would like to say that you should not force your child to finish his food. This can lead to both excess weight and problems that only a psychologist can help solve. It is best to give the baby the right to decide for himself how much food he can eat. You don’t need to think that by feeding your child you can show him your love. There are many other ways that will not lead to metabolic disorders.
Food is life
The baby, unfortunately, cannot explain in words to his parents how he feels and what hurts.
However, a lot of important processes happen to the baby, which will subsequently affect his entire life, so you need to pay special attention to them. When a psychologist works with a baby, he always observes his breathing, the cleanliness of his skin and his feeding habits.
These three indicators reflect the child’s psychological well-being.
If we talk about the very beginning of development, then the baby always has nutrition in utero, he does not know the feeling of hunger
At birth, many uncomfortable phenomena appear, including that very unpleasant, incomprehensible, frightening hunger! Therefore, it is important for the child’s well-being that hunger is kept to a minimum. “I wanted to eat - and food appeared! This means that these people need me, they love me, life is a great thing!” - this is how a baby feels when his mother feeds him after birth
The child becomes attached and trusts the one who feeds him. Remember the phrase that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? Psychologically the process is identical. We are disposed towards those who try to give us what we need (that is, feed), and we get angry at those who deny us.
Of course, the best nutrition for a child is mother's breast milk. A lot of factors are involved in this rather intimate process: touch, smell, verbal communication, affection, tenderness. Perhaps one of the main differences between breastfeeding and bottle feeding is the greater degree of freedom and independence of the child from the feeding process itself; he quickly sees the response from the breast and can build a “relationship” with it. In breastfeeding, the baby is active, can experiment and see the response, while milk flows from a bottle without much effort. In the process of feeding from the breast, the baby enjoys, relaxes and calms down. This is why children love pacifiers so much. It should be noted that this process is so strongly fixed in our psyche that most adults also calm down well while eating, and in the future this can lead to overeating and excess weight.
