Baby Care

What does feeding mean for a child?

He/she knows more than you think. The child as any person has the instinct of hunger. If he/she is chronically malnourished, he/she will shout, demanding more milk. Believe him/her and talk to the doctor. If he/she does not drink his/her usual portion, do not insist.
Consider that he/she wakes up because he/she is hungry. He avidly catches teat (or dummy) with his/her mouth. Sucking is a serious work for the child. He may even sweat of an effort. If you take away dummy before he/she is satisfied, he/she will indignantly shout. When he/she drinks as much milk as he/she needs, he/she will fall asleep again. Even while sleeping, he/she makes sucking movements, as if he/she is fed. All this constitutes the fact that food is the main joy in his/her life. He/she gets the first view of the life from the environment in which he/she is fed. The first presentation about the people he/she receives from the person who feeds him/her.
If mother constantly insist that the child drinks more milk than he/she wants, he/she will gradually lose his/her appetite. He/she will try to avoid this, sleeping more than before or will protest. If he/she continues in this way, his/her joyful curiosity of life will disappear, as he thinks to himself: “Life is a struggle. These people do not give me rest. I must fight to defend myself”.
So, do not make your child eat more than he/she wants. Let food be a pleasure for him/her and then he/she will feelthat you are his/her friend. This is very important for the development of his/her self-confidence and cheerfulness, which are very important in the first year of life.
The instinct of sucking. Newborn sucks vigorously for two reasons. First, he/she is hungry, and second, he likes sucking. If you feed him/her enough, but do not give him/her an opportunity to satisfy the demand of sucking, he/she will suck his/her fist or thumb, or clothing.
During the first days after birth, children are losing weight.
Some parents are overly concerned about this phenomenon. It seems unnatural and dangerous to them. They also hear about dehydration in the case of dramatic weight loss. Do not worry. If such a thing happens, the newborn immediately can recover by drinking some water.