Nurturing Intuitive Eaters: Parenting Tips for Food Awareness

I think first and foremost, it's important to recognize that when babies are born, they're intuitive eaters. They cry when they're hungry and then you feed them and you see them stop eating when they're full. They, you know, if you're breastfeeding, they're going to take what they need. If you're feeding a bottle, they stop if they're full or they cry for more because they're hungry. And us as the parents, we're the ones influencing that understanding of hunger, fullness. If we're forcing more, right? I think of when we spoon feed little ones, if we are wanting to finish the jar or even getting to the point of childhood and saying, like, you need to take three more bites, right? That's teaching them. You're not listening to your body when your body's full. Now, of course there's distractions. That's a whole nother thing. But truthfully, you know, us as the parents, we're the ones kind of interrupting that intuitive process. And along the same lines, we are also influencing their opinions about food.