Page 118 - MHF-FeedingMinds-final.indd
P. 118
Vitamin Supplements 109
●● offering finger foods from early weaning parents should be advised not to panic; the infant
might just need more experience to cope easily
●● no distractions such as TV or toys so that the with that texture. If an infant gags or coughs
infant can concentrate on eating frequently, families may need further assessment
from a speech and language therapist.
●● use bibs/cloths/plastic sheets/newspaper to
‘contain’ mess so that it can be cleaned up at the Food Safety
end of the meal.
Preventing choking
Following infant cues
Infants must never be left unattended with foods
Infants can regulate their calorie needs if allowed or drinks as they can easily choke. Tragic cases of
to. When happy to eat more food, infants will: choking do occur and having infants seated and
in a calm atmosphere at all times when eating is a
●● open their mouth to accept a spoon of food safeguard against this. Cutting finger foods into
short lengths rather than round pieces will also
●● pick up food and put it in their mouth reduce the risk. Soft round foods such as cherry
themselves. tomatoes and grapes should be cut in half.
When they have had enough, infants will: Hygiene
●● keep their mouths shut when food is offered ●● Bottles and teats for formula milks should
always be sterilized.
●● turn their head away from food offered
●● Plates, bowls, drinking cups and cutlery do not
●● put their hand in front of their mouth need to be sterilized but should be scrupulously
clean.
●● push away a spoon, bowl or plate
●● Freshly cooked food can be stored for up to
●● hold foods in their mouth and refuse to swallow 24 hours in the fridge.
●● spit out food repeatedly ●● Food for infants should be reheated until piping
hot right through and then cooled before
●● cry, shout or scream feeding. Food should not be reheated more than
once.
●● try to climb out of their high chair
●● Frozen food should be thawed in the fridge.
●● gag or retch. Thawed frozen food should not be refrozen.
When offered a new taste, infants may show ●● Eggs, meat, fish and shellfish should all be well
surprise and be reluctant to take more at that meal. cooked right through.
However, if new tastes are offered repeatedly
infants will usually learn to like that taste as they Foods to limit and avoid
become more familiar with it. Parents often give up
offering new foods if they perceive that their infant Foods that should be limited and/or avoided are
does not like that food. However, this narrows listed in Table 4.2.6.
down the range of foods the infant has the
opportunity to learn to like. By persevering in Vitamin Supplements
offering small tastes of a new food every few days
the infant will have the opportunity to learn to like The Department of Health (1994) recommends
that food (Birch 1998, Maier et al. 2007). that all infants begin a vitamin A and D
supplement:
Gagging and coughing
When infants are learning to manage new textures
they may gag or cough back food that needs more
chewing. This is part of the learning process and
