Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

600 ALICE CALLAHAN, PHD, HEATHER LEONARD, MED, RDN, AND TAMBERLY POWELL, MS, RDN
start solid foods, it’s important that caregivers use a responsive feeding approach. Responsive
feeding is grounded in 3 steps: 2
• The child signals hunger and satiety. This may occur through vocalizations (e.g.,
crying, talking), actions (e.g., pointing at food, or turning away when full), and facial
expressions.
• The caregiver recognizes the cues and responds promptly and appropriately.
For example, if the baby seems hungry, he or she is offered food promptly. If the
baby turns his or her head or pushes away the breast, bottle, or an offered bite of
food, the caregiver does not pressure the baby to eat more.
• The child experiences a predictable response to his or her signals.
With breastfeeding, responsive feeding simply means feeding the baby when he or she
signals hunger, and the baby usually turns away, spits out the nipple, or falls asleep when
full. With bottle-feeding, whether feeding breast milk or formula in a bottle, it’s a little
trickier. It’s human nature to want the baby to finish the bottle that you’ve prepared, but
a responsive feeding approach means that you let the baby decide when he or she has
had enough. Pressure to eat more can cause the baby to grow too fast in infancy, which
is correlated with becoming overweight or obese later in childhood. When feeding solid
foods, the same responsive feeding principles apply, although solids should be offered at
predictable meal- and snack-times to avoid constant grazing throughout the day. If babies
are offered appropriate, nutrient-dense foods, and fed responsively, parents generally don’t
need to worry about serving sizes or amounts eaten. They can trust that their babies will eat
what they need. 2