[blparent] tips on feeding a baby

[tagriru]

Hi Bernadetta,
I'll try some time to hold him on my lap and see  how it's going to go.
My little boy's  granma says that I'd need put a spoon not under his tongue 
but on it, so he can take a food. It really looks like I put a spoon in his 
mouth and reposition a spoon on his tongue. And I need to change his 
clothing each feeding, because if  even a bib covers his chest, his face is 
all covered with sticky cereal so I need to wash it.And  when I wash it, 
his clothes gets wet  under his chin anyway and a bib doesn't help to 
prevent water getting under. And his sleeves may also be dirty, but I roll 
them up though. It's kinda easier when he wares a t-shirt.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bernadetta" <bernadetta_pracon at samobile.net>
To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [blparent] tips on feeding a baby


> Hi Tatyana,
> First of all, don't worry, this is a frustrating issue for most blind 
> parents. I remember I was there myself. Everyone has methods that work 
> well for them, but here's what worked best for me.
> I sat my baby in my lap, holding him with one arm, and with the same hand, 
> I'd find his chin and put the bowl under it. Then with the other hand, I 
> used the spoon to gauge exactly where his mouth was in proximity to the 
> bowl and I was able to feed him fairly accurately that way.
> Keep in mind that most babies dont' take in a lot of solids at that age 
> anyway, and even sighted parents can't help but dirty their kids' faces a 
> lot of the time.
> I'd also put a plastic bib over him during the solid feedings. They're 
> much easier to clean than the cloth bibs, and they're usually much bigger. 
> You can get them at Ikea, if not at any other store.
> One other reassuring thing is that your baby will learn to adapt to your 
> blindness even before he knows it's there. So he'll open his mouth when 
> he's ready to receive the next spoonful soon enough, if he's not already 
> doing that. By the time my son was six months old, he  would find the 
> spoon I held out to him with his mouth, so I didnt' have to do all the 
> work. Soon after, he would actually delight in helping me guide the spoon 
> into his mouth. It made him happy, and caused less of a mess for me. He 
> also learned not to make a mess with his food. I know this may seem a bit 
> unorthadox to most parents, but my partner and I taught him not to touch 
> his food with his hands unless he was going to take it and put it in his 
> mouth right away. To this day, he knows not to grab fistfulls of food and 
> just play with it. I guess some parents delight in allowing their kids to 
> play with their food, but I'm a bit compulsive about huge messes, 
> especially about food, and I figure if he gets into the habit of eating 
> his food now instead of playing with it, it's one thing I dont' have to 
> unteach him in the future.
> My son is fourteen months old now and he's been using a fork and spoon by 
> himself for about a month now. He's become quite good at it.
> So this often-frustrating feeding phase will be over sooner than you know. 
> Just when you think you've figured out a way that works perfectly for you, 
> your son will be on his next stage of feeding. So hang tight, and I hope 
> that at least some of this might help you . Feel free to ask more 
> questions, and I'd be happy to answer either on here or off-list. If you 
> need any further explanations, feel free to drop me a message off-list.
>
> HTH,
> Bernadetta
>
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