A hugely important part of J's day is eating. He takes well over 40 minutes to eat each meal. This is great as I feel that he's learning to listen to his body, feed himself, and develop a healthy relationship with food.
There is a learning curve when it comes to J knowing how to feed himself. It can be tricky and frustrating for him. To assist in this learning, we provide him with an opportunity to be independently successful if he is hungry separate from meal time.
MONTESSORI-STYLE SNACK
While he does not know how to pour himself water, I do place his hands in the appropriate position on his pitcher. We pour the water together and he drinks from the cup by himself, something we taught him very early on. (It's a shot glass! We bought a package of 6 at IK.EA and they are the perfect child-sized drinking glasses). I also leave some food on the table for him to come and go, eating as he pleases.
By providing him this independence, I am already watching his abilities and confidence soar. He does not have to scream and beg for food, leaving little room for poor attachment to eating. This is our goal.
He then practices standing to burn off some calories. C'mon walking before the first birthday! Only 3 weeks to go...
Do you provide any opportunities for your child
to eat & drink independently?
Have any success stories you wish to share?
3 comments:
aw presh! meal times take forever here too. as they get older I swear they get longer!
I don't know if you have done this already or not, but I tagged you in a survey thing about yourself.
http://denveradventures.blogspot.com/2012/03/11-things.html
I love this!! I keep two stools in the kitchen - one that acts as a table and the other as a chair - where I keep little snacks (usually veggies) that my daughter can nibble on if she is hungry outside of mealtime. She loves the independence! I had never thought about allowing her the opportunity to learn how to pour her own water from a pitcher though; I'll have to give that a shot =)
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