What Is Your Infant Telling You About Feeding?
Data suggest that normally growing, healthy infants are able to self regulate their feeding behavior. This means they “know” when they are hungry and when they are full.
The ways infants communicate this and how parents and caregivers respond may impact the infant’s later nutrition and weight. Dr. Eric Hodges, a post-doctoral fellow at the
USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) is studying this issue. His paper was recently selected as the “Best Paper-Early Career” by the International Society
for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA).
For the study, both breastfeeding and formula feeding mothers of 3, 6, or 12 month-old infants were asked how they decided when to feed their infant and how
they knew when the infant had eaten enough.
Some mothers focused on a schedule while others focused on infant behaviors to help them decide when to feed. In addition, some mothers appeared to be better
“listeners,” picking up on more subtle cues than others who depended on more intense cues. Fussiness and crying were mentioned as hunger cues for all infants;
additional behaviors most often mentioned for the younger infants included increased sucking and mouthing. Other behaviors of older infants included reaching
for or pointing at the breast, bottle or food.
Mothers responded to a number of cues for determining when to stop feeding.
- Detaching from the nipple
- Stopping
- Refusing to eat more
- Spitting food
- Fussiness
- Turning/Pulling away
- Closing their mouth
As the infant developed, the cues tended to become more purposeful social cues.
Although this research is ongoing, Dr. Hodges reminds mothers to “trust” their infant and respond to his/her cues. When parents overfeed at an early age they may
limit their child’s ability to self regulate intake as they grow older.
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