Responsive Feeding: Building Healthy Eating Habits
This blog was written by Laura Sawers, a pediatric speech, language, and feeding therapist who is passionate about supporting infants and children with feeding and swallowing difficulties.She cares for families in acute care, community clinic, and home settings. In this post she provides tips and resources for families who are combining breast and bottle feeding.
Click here and here to learn more about Laura.
Note: These are general tips not intended to replace medical advice and may need to be individualized based on your family’s feeding goals and your baby’s feeding needs. Speak with your doctor, lactation consultant, or feeding therapist to develop your feeding plan.
Feeding your child is a big part of the caregiver-child relationship, building connection as you provide the nutrition they need to learn and grow. Ensuring your child receives enough nutrition can feel overwhelming. It’s normal to feel worry and frustration with infant feeding and mealtime challenges.
Choosing responsive feeding can help reduce mealtime frustrations and build healthy eating habits. In responsive feeding the caregiver’s role is to provide and the child’s role is to decide whether and how much they are eating. This is a shift from how many of us grew up and can take practice. When you plan to be responsive you can focus on connection during mealtimes.
Responsive Feeding with your Infant
Responsive feeding with your infant means responding in a prompt and loving way when your baby shows you they are hungry or full. The caregiver is responsible for what is offered, and the infant decides how much they eat.
Although your baby isn’t talking yet, they communicate with you in many different ways.
o Hunger signals may include: stirring, opening their mouth, turning their head, rooting, stretching, bringing their hands to their mouth. As you get to know your baby you will learn which cries mean they are hungry and when they may need other kinds of comfort.
o Fullness signals may include: closing lips, turning away, no longer latching, less sucking, falls asleep. Let your baby stop eating when they show signs they are full.
Feed your baby on-demand. It’s okay if the amount your baby eats varies between feeds. Consider the volume over the course of a whole day vs single feeds.
Make sure you and your baby are comfortable and reduce distractions.
Some caregivers may be unfamiliar with responsive feeding. Consider having a handout available to share with other caregivers who are feeding your baby.
RESOURCE: Responsive Feeding for Infants handout
Responsive Feeding when Starting Solids
The caregiver’s role is still what is being offered, and is also becoming when and where food is offered. Your baby is responsible for whether and how much they will eat.
Introducing solids is a wonderful time to practice your responsive feeding relationship. Milk or formula is still your baby’s number one source of nutrition. As your baby starts to require complementary nutrition from food, the amount of food required is quite small in the early stage. During this time the main focus with solids can be providing positive experiences and opportunities to practice eating skills.
Your baby will show you when they are ready to start solids. Readiness for solids looks like: holding up their head and sitting on their own, showing interest in your food, and losing their tongue thrust reflex. These signs usually begin around 6 months.
As your baby gets older you can start to build mealtime routines. A regular feeding schedule can reduce mealtime stress and makes it more likely that your child will be hungry for their meal.
Hunger signals may look like following food with their eyes, leaning towards the food, and opening their mouth.
Fullness cues may include spitting out food, pushing food away, fidgeting more, turning away from their food. Let your child stop eating when they show signs they are full.
Feed your baby at family mealtimes.
Allow your child to explore their food with touch, taste, and smell. This can get messy!
RESOURCE: Responsive Feeding 6-12 months handout
Responsive Feeding with your Toddler
The caregiver’s role is still what, when, and where food is offered. Your toddler is responsible for whether and how much they will eat. Your child is learning to self-regulate their food intake.
Expect your toddler to say no to food, even foods that they previously ate. This is normal. Respecting your child’s cues helps them learn their hunger and fullness cues, and to build positive feelings about food and mealtimes.
Continue to offer your child a variety of foods without pressure to try them. It can take many exposures for a child to accept a new food.
Offer one or two familiar foods at each mealtime along with a new food.
To limit waste, offer small amounts of new foods.
Limit distractions at mealtimes. Distractions like screens can limit your child’s ability to pay attention to their body’s cues.
Keep a regular mealtime/snack schedule and avoid letting your child graze. Grazing between meals can reduce hunger cues and interest at mealtimes.
One Last Thing
A feeding therapist can help you build your responsive feeding approach, provide individualized strategies for your family, and assess your baby’s eating/feeding skills.