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Healthy Eating Patterns in Babies

Babies start learning eating patterns with their very first bite of food. It’s important to establish healthy eating patterns when your child is a baby so that this habit continues into adulthood. Healthy eating is a habit that is learned and by age 3, most of your child’s eating behavior has been established so it’s important to start early.

1. The most important step is to be a good role model. Babies and toddlers learn by mimicking their parents. If you say “yuck” to healthy food, 9 times out of 10 so will your child. Your child will accept fruits and vegetables more easily if you show a positive response to those foods.
2. Encourage your child to drink water.  It’s essential to the body’s development and when consumed several times a day when the child is young, it will become a habit. This goes along with mimicking, if you drink lots of water, your child will learn to ask for it as well.
3. Let your baby play with food. Educate your child on fruits and vegetables. They come in so many different shapes and colors which is fascinating to a baby. Let them hold them and learn the colors. When feeding it to them, explain how healthy foods will make them grow big and strong. Take them to the market and farms to see the different kinds of produce.
4. Remember variety is the key. Keep trying different things until you find the ones your child loves. Freshness is also key, the taste is more tempting to baby.
5. Don’t overly force the foods on your baby but don’t give up on something either. Their tastes are changing daily and they are learning different textures. Give it some time for the healthy patterns to develop.
6. Make meal time a social event and encourage everyone in the family to eat the same kinds of foods as baby. A bowl of grapes, bananas and apples that the whole family snacks on makes for a tempting snack for a baby.

By encouraging independence in your child and allowing choices among healthy options, children learn to make healthy eating decisions.  Teach them moderation with sweets and processed foods. By being a good role model and starting early with your baby, you can help to establish healthy eating patterns that they will follow into adulthood.