Thoughts on feeding at
BCCC
 Feedings should be quality times where children’s
needs are met by loving social interactions with
adults.
 Attachments are formed through feeding so we
strive to have educators feed the same babies and
sit with the same children at their tables.
 In this atmosphere, infants and children eat at their
own pace, with autonomy to indicate their desires
and their intuitive sense of when their bodies are
satisfied.
Feeding interactions include
the principles of caregiving
 Infants and children are respected and offered an
environment that recognizes their needs.
 Feeding and eating times are peaceful and
pleasurable.
 Educators respect the need for attachment
throughout the day to reduce stress in each child.
The infants, children, and educators share quality
time (paying attention to each other) during
feeding.
Culture influences feeding
routines
 The ways adults eat inform the approach to
children’s early eating experiences (messy,
independent, etc.).
 Often our ideas and traditions are connected with
strong feelings that impact how we react to and
approach children’s eating.
 Our Center’s culture is to be emotionally available to
the child in an attached relationship. We deepen our
relationships through feeding, dressing, and bodily
care.
Initial Feeding Relationships:
Infants
 Infants are quietly and attentively held for their
bottles, emphasizing that the person who is feeding
is as important as the food.
 As infants move toward solid food, they are held in a
lap as an extension of the warm nurturance they feel
when bottle fed.
 Lap feeding offers a continued attached relationship
that maintains the child’s ability to focus on
relationships and eating rather than on managing
the stress of separation.
Developing feeding relationships:
Young Toddlers
 Toddlers sit at the table when they can get in and
out of a seated position independently. They sit in
the same seat each day with a familiar primary
caregiver to build a predictable routine.
 A calm atmosphere guides mealtimes with an
attentive adult.
 Initial conversations about the present situation will
include objects and activities associated with
mealtime but will move to more social topics as they
become older.
Developing feeding relationships:
Older Toddlers
 Mealtime is an important relationship-building event
between children as well as with educators.
 This age group loves to move so educators
determine expectations around eating: sitting,
socializing, and requesting food.
 We work to guide children with positive messages
around eating (“I can offer you more food when you
are sitting”), as well as to keep children socially
connected through conversation during mealtime.
Preschool children and
independent eating
 Because eating is a group experience in preschool,
an educator sits nearby and joins in eating and
conversing during meal time.
 Preschool children sit at the same place each day so
that mealtime is predictable.
 In order to support their focus on eating, educators
will move to a song during the end of the meal.
Choice and eating
 Too much choice can be overwhelming for young
children. We offer simple snacks in bowls to children
to offer some choice but release the stress of too
many choices.
 Because children imitate each other, they will often
try a new food once if they see others eating it.
 We put some of each item from their lunch boxes on
their plate at lunch. By doing this, they have the
lunch that was packed in front of them.
How to manage choice at
home
 Parents could consider the components of the meal
and decide which ones their child will have at a
particular meal: vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins,
sweets.
 When a parent decides which foods will be offered
at the meal, it may be easier to offer each of the
foods, rather than to have a child finish one food in
order to have another.
 Parents offer only the foods they want their child to
eat and decide when the meal takes place. Children
decide if they want to at that time and how much
they wish to eat.
How to ensure that children
eat enough
 Children are in tune with their bodies’ needs when
they feel an attachment to their educator and are in
a calm space.
 Children who are calm will determine if they are
hungry or not. We do not coerce them into
“finishing food” and we allow them to eat what they
need.
 When assessing how much a child eats, consider
how much is eaten over the period of a week rather
than during a meal.
Food preferences change
over time
 Infants will have a wide range of foods that interest
them.
 As children approach 2 years old, they may begin to
choose not to eat some foods.
 This may continue until they have a selection of food
they “like” by 3 and 4 years old.
 By continuing to serve nutrient-rich foods, even a
picky eater will eat well when food is offered.
Conclusion
 Feeding and eating is an on-going discussion for
some families and their children.
 We work with each family to determine their
individual concerns and desires for their child.
 We see our role as nurturing deep, connected
relationships with children that will support their
emotional and physical growth. Mealtime is one
occasion for us to do this.
References
 Gonzalez–Mena, J. (2004). Infants, toddlers, and
caregivers. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
 Hammond, R. A. (2009). Respecting babies: A new
look at Magda Gerber’s approach. Washington, D.C.:
Zero to Three.