Feeding problems?

TanD

Hi everyone

I feel like a bit of an intruder, I'm not a parent, but I'm doing a course and one of the questions is what would I, as a teacher, do to help children with feeding problems? Would anybody have any advice? I have a few ideas but thought I would see if you have any opinions...

Much appreciated!
Thanks

Ickle Magoo

Hi there!

We have one child who used to strike and graze. We try to keep things as fun as possible - shapes and faces in the food, getting them to help prepare & cook, whomever finishes their veggies first gets to pick that night's stories, etc. There are only really three things kids have any control over; toileting, sleeping and eating - and I think that's why those are the issues that cause the biggest problems for parents.

In terms of feed strikes and fussy eating, if we try not to get too hung up on every mouthful a child is eating, the likelihood is any eating issues caused by power or control struggles will resolve itself. Once the focus is taken off the eating and the tension is removed from meal times, the child will loose the control factor. Anyone worried about the volume or variety of food their child consumes should write a food diary, usually it's quite surprising what the wee tikes can put away without it seeming enough to survive on!

We've all heard stories from friends and relatives of children that survived on nothing but apples or raisins for two years - they usually do grow out of it so I think keeping calm and trying not to make an issue out of it is the biggest help - not easy to do when your child is in the first centile & refusing everything but water!

TanD

Thanks so much for your response, that's a great help, so definately will be able to answer the question in my assignment!