Fostering Intuitive Eating
Fostering Intuitive Eating
Simply put, intuitive eating means trusting your body’s innate ability to know when you are hungry and when you are full. As adults, there are many outside factors impacting how easily we can listen to our bodies, but babies are born naturally and perfectly intuitive! Most healthy babies, will eat when they're hungry, and stop when they're full. This might look like a breastfed baby that is cluster feeding through the night, a toddler that doesn’t finish their dinner, or a child that asks for more (…and more…and more) berries at breakfast! As parents, it is normal to worry about your child’s intake, but when you try to control how much they eat, you may interfere with their natural instinct to eat intuitively. Instead of worrying about exactly how much food your children are taking in, it can be helpful to focus on their relationship with food and practice positive eating behaviours.
The division of responsibility(DOR) is a method of feeding infants and children developed by feeding expert, Ellyn Satter. When following the DOR, you are setting roles for both you and your children when it comes to feeding/eating. Your role as a parent is to control what, when, and where they eat, and let your child determine “if” and “how much” they eat.
From the very beginning, you've determined what to feed your child but they've had the autonomy to choose when, if, and how much they consume. As they begin to eat more solid foods and establish regular eating habits, you'll start to assume the role of deciding when your toddler will have meals and snacks during the day. This transition isn't always smooth, as toddlers may prefer to snack throughout the day, and be too full for family meals!
Sticking to your roles can drastically improve your child’s mealtime behaviour (and decrease your stress level!) As difficult as it may be at times, try to trust that your child will not starve themselves. If they don’t want to eat a meal, the best thing to do is let them skip it! It is within their role to decide “if”, and “how much”, even if sometimes that means eating nothing! Does this mean sending your child to bed hungry? Not at all! You are in charge of what and when, so you can offer a snack that they like an hour later, or offer the meal again, whatever works for your family.
If your child leaves the table without eating and immediately wants a snack, it is within your role to say “not right now, snack time is in an hour”. If your child says “I don’t want chicken I want grilled cheese”, it is within your role to say “Todays’ dinner is chicken, you don’t have to eat it but we wont be making anything else right now”. If this sounds a bit strict, there's no need to be worry! You can always incorporate a food that your child enjoys into the meal, and no matter what, you can offer a favoured snack shortly afterward. Children who have control over "when" and "what" they eat are more prone to develop picky eating habits, skip family meals in favour of alternatives, or snack excessively!
By sticking to your roles, you are removing the pressure from yourself to get your child to eat, to prepare numerous meals, and to micromanage their intake. You are also taking pressure off of your child, which helps build a healthy relationship with food, keeps mealtimes peaceful, and fosters intuitive eating.By managing the “when” and the “what,” you can guarantee that your child is provided with a variety of enjoyable and nutritious foods, all while respecting their natural internal cues.
