In 25 years of my paediatric practice across two continents, the most amazing things that I find is our brain and how it can be trained to do anything.
I have years of success in teaching mothers, on ‘How to feed their babies’. None of these mothers, that I trained, came back and said “my child does not eat”. Their babies had normal weight for height and usually feed themselves.
AND what is the most common complain of mothers who come for second opinion to my practice? YEAH, it is “my child does not eat “
For small babies, when we introduce solid food I would normally advice moms to follow baby’s cues about when he/she might be full. STOP right there , don’t rush or coax that extra bite in !!!!
It is about training the brain of that baby, to respect the stomach cues. When reinforced, this baby as adult will not overeat. They are very aware of when the stomach is full.
VERSUS a baby, whose mother thought that baby has not eaten enough ( subjective to her own hunger) and continues to coax that extra food in that baby even when he /she is refusing. “Maternal love and overfilled tummy, yeah I like it .” Not only will this baby develop emotional eating but learn to ignore his or her own SATIETY. This results in overeating and usually these babies struggle with their weights, later on in life.