A Child is what he Eats

During a child’s first year of age, certain morphologic changes and important behavioral changes occur in the child, in part due to their quick growth as well as in the way they eat. For some this implies emotional and behavioral imbalance that get resolved with time. In a few months a child’s eating habits changes completely, going from drinking breast milk or formula to the eating system of the adults. Between the ages of four to six months, a baby starts to eat vegetable soups and light fruit juices that are watered down. These changes can be somewhat difficult depending on the child, since personal tastes differ. In fact there are babies that have problems adapting from breast milk to drinking from a bottle. It is obvious that these problems arise due to the change in the flavor. On the other hand there are babies that go from the nipple to eating from a teaspoon whether it be by the choice of the parents or if the pediatrician suggested it. It is advisable to adopt this system in children that are lazy when it comes to meal times, because if they are bottle fed, they will reject their mother’s nipple, since they need to make more of an effort to suck, while many adapt well to a teaspoon. It is important though to follow the indications the pediatrician gives. Another thing that is important is to pay attention to the likes and preferences of our children. Without imposing it on them, at first it is important to introduce them to the different types of food they will need to eat. And if there is one they really do not like, don’t insist on having them eat it, but rather substitute it for another that has similar nutritional characteristics. It is also important to educate the child in a way so he or she can develop pleasant sensations to the foods. The sense of taste is taught in parallel to sensibility in the generalized sense. Generally the pediatrician suggests to feed a child semi chopped foods when the child is nine or ten months of age. However, this depends on each pediatrician, and of course, on how the child adapts to these types of foods. It is a difficult period, as children tend to become irritable due to the pain caused by their teeth that are growing. But in many cases giving the child something solid in which the child can sink his or her teeth into can help to relieve the pain. In these cases, it is convenient to give the child something they can put into their mouths. If it is a piece of bread or a cookie, make sure to be very careful as a child can easily choke on these.