Making Every Mealtime Effective and Fun

Making Every Mealtime Effective and Fun

by Margaret Gaia 

As your kids grow older, you will realize that they need more nutrition that can support their daily activities. But there is no need for you to rush in feeding them solid foods. You should create a gradual transition from only liquids and soft foods to solids.

Since they will eventually graduate from breast milk and formula milk alone, slowly introduce solid foods to them as they reach seventh or eighth month. Solid food will definitely give them sustenance especially with all the developments they are going through. But, because your kids’ intestines are not that stretchable at an early stage, parents should not force them in eating solids before they reach sixth or seventh month.

On the other hand, when it is already time to feed them solids, be extra careful. Apart from the fact that kids cannot digest solid foods immediately, they might also acquire food allergies. 

In nailing the mealtime problems usually faced by parents, here are some dos and don’ts.

Do create a mealtime schedule. This will help your kids determine if it is already time to eat or not. This can also encourage them to wait for the time and eat more.

Do feed them solids slowly. When the proper time of feeding them solids arrive, feed them slowly. Slowly does not only refer to procedure every mealtime but also to the interval of the type of meal. Try to feed them one solid food continuously for several days to help your kid recognize the food. It will also help the parents to verify if your kids have food allergies. Since kids are still sensitive and new to solid foods, better consult your pediatrician if you observed something different from your children.

Do give them nutritious solids fit for their age. Parents must be knowledgeable of the corresponding foods with the kids’ age. Your pediatrician can give you a list but for the record, you may follow this:

• Four to five months: generally milk (breastfed or bottle-fed) but parents can already introduce spoons of cereals. Cereals are considered to be the very first solid that you should feed your baby
• Six to seven months: generally cereals with milk but parents can already feed them by mashed potatoes, pumpkins, and other nutritional vegetables. Just mash the solids first before feeding them to help the kids digest. Plus, you may also start feeding them fruits a month after you introduced vegetables. This is to be able to differentiate and. But this should still be done gradually.
• Eight to nine months: while you can still continue feeding the kids milk, because this stage requires more energy from the kids, you can already engage them in a larger amount of solids. However, make sure that the kids will not choke due to huge chunks of food.
• Ten to twelve months: by this time, you will observe that your kids’ meal type and schedule will somehow resemble your own meal kinds and time. It is also vital to introduce many types of food to your kids to give them options. With this, they can also be encouraged to eat especially if there is a variety of meal and if the cuts are cute and colorful. Apart from that, after this period, it is advisable to wean your child from milk. Although there is no specified time for weaning, it is preferred that your child quits breastfeeding or bottle feeding before they reach one year old. But, this does not mean that they should stop taking in milk. They can still drink from cups but of course, with solids.
• Twelve months and beyond: at this point, you can already feed your kids more solids. Nevertheless, parents should still be prudent in feeding their kids. Do not give them something so hard to digest or to chew.

Do present the food in a creative way. Because kids are very choosy when it comes to food, you may invite them to eat by cutting the vegetables in nice shapes. You may also present foods with a variety of colors because it can entice them more.

Do not feed them with junk. Do not feed them with junk foods or carbonated drinks. At an early age, try to introduce only milk, water, and naturally acquired juices. This will help your kids remain healthy.

With the help of these guidelines, each parent’s uncertainties in terms of feeding will surely lessen. In addition, it can also create a good food options and give more nutrition to your beloved kids.