The best time for babies to learn to eat

Generally, you can try to add some complementary foods to your baby at 6 months old. In addition, babies at 8 months old can eat with a spoon by themselves. If you want your baby to develop good eating habits, you should cultivate your baby well at 8 months old. First of all, you need to understand your baby's mentality when eating. Don't feed him forcefully, otherwise it will make him feel bored. Also, remember to praise your child more.

1. Master the sensitive period

Children will encounter many sensitive periods during their growth process, such as the sensitive period of property ownership awareness, the sensitive period of self-awareness, the sensitive period of language, etc. The so-called sensitive period means that during a certain period of time, there will be some strong natural behaviors, and they will pay special attention to and be obsessed with a certain aspect of life.

There is also a sensitive period for eating independently, which usually occurs around 8 months. The manifestation is that when feeding, the baby likes to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth, or use his hands to grab the rice and put it in his mouth. At this time, the baby cannot put the spoon into his mouth very well, and the food is usually spilled everywhere, from head to toe. Many parents or elderly people think it is dirty, and every time the baby makes a mess. Eating a meal is like a war, and they spend a long time wiping and washing. At the same time, they also think that the child is not full, so they choose to feed the baby and then control the baby's behavior of "grabbing" food.

Indeed, feeding your child at this time is the easiest, and you can let your child eat as much as you want. However, such a simple and crude approach will make your child miss the sensitive period of eating independently, and in fact, you are depriving your child of the right to eat alone!

Therefore, when the child's sensitive period of independent eating comes, you must "let it go". Compared with the child developing good eating habits, it really doesn't matter if it's a little dirty or tiring now. If you are worried that the baby will not be full, you can choose to feed him part of it first, and then let him eat by himself. Furthermore, eating independently can greatly stimulate brain development and hand-eye coordination.

Chasing after your baby to be fed is the most important factor that prevents the baby from eating independently! If this happens, be sure to stop it in time. At the same time, don't always think that the child will be hungry because he eats less. In fact, even adults should not eat too much if they want to be healthy and live longer. As the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little. What's more, children's digestive systems are not fully developed. If you skip one or two meals occasionally, you will definitely not starve. Even adults sometimes have no appetite for food, right?

In addition to chasing after your child to eat, you must also avoid feeding your child while watching TV or playing with toys. You must cultivate your child's habit of focusing on eating. In addition, you should not overly indulge your child. For example, if you make fried tomatoes and your child doesn’t want to eat them, you should not immediately say, “Baby, you don’t want to eat them? Then grandma will make you something else!” This behavior is teaching your child to be picky about food!

① It is recommended to choose a dining chair for your baby. Basically, you can eat complementary foods and meals in the dining chair once you can sit independently. As long as you eat, whether it is fruit, complementary foods, or regular meals, make sure to finish it in the dining chair. This is very helpful for cultivating good eating habits for children.

② When the baby first uses a spoon to eat, it is very difficult to put the rice into his mouth smoothly. If he fails for a long time, many children may lose confidence in themselves and give up trying to eat independently. Therefore, it is recommended to choose good tableware. You can choose a spoon with an elbow, which is very convenient for the baby to use and easier to put the rice into his mouth. Only after experiencing success will the baby love to eat by himself.

③Choose a baby bowl with grab-ears to make it easier for your baby to hold. I do not recommend using suction cup baby bowls. If you are worried about scalding your baby, just let the bowl dry until it is at a suitable temperature before bringing it to your baby. This is also safe. Babies cannot move suction cup bowls around at will. In fact, it will greatly restrict the baby's eating behavior. Over time, it will also reduce the baby's interest in eating. In addition to feeding the baby with a spoon, drinking soup or porridge directly from the bowl is also a very important training (of course, the process is terrible).

4. Understand food raw materials

When buying groceries and cooking, it is recommended to teach your baby the names of various vegetables using real objects instead of just looking at pictures. It is also not just about the difference between green vegetables and meat. It is also best to let your baby witness the process of various vegetables becoming food, which can also stimulate your baby's interest in food.

In fact, if you want your children to eat delicious food, it is not the parents who are fighting with their children, but the parents themselves. It depends on whether they can stick to their principles and whether they can be ruthless.