How to help children eat without sucking?

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Children eating or sucking is a very common condition, causing many parents headaches. In addition to affecting the ability to absorb nutrients and develop, children who eat or suck are also very susceptible to tooth decay. So what is the way to help children eat without sucking?

1. What causes children to eat or suck?

Before solving the problem of how children should eat or suck, parents should find out the causes leading to this situation:
Children eating or sucking can be a sign of pathology causing unpleasant symptoms, making the baby Difficulty swallowing or pain when swallowing (such as gastrointestinal diseases), this is the cause of the child's limited absorption of nutrients, causing fatigue, leading to the child eating or sucking. Processed foods that are not suitable for children's age, interests, teeth... are the reasons why children lose interest in eating and are lazy to swallow and hold food in their mouths. When processing, children's food is too finely pureed, so they form a habit of lazy chewing. Chewing is an action that stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes, so when the baby does not chew, the amount of this enzyme excreted is not enough to make the child lose appetite, or suck. Parents do not know the child's food preferences, especially some foods the child does not like. So even though the parents cook very well, the children are still not interested and always keep the food in their mouth.

2. How to help children eat without sucking?

2.1. Stay away from electronic devices when eating Children eat or suck what to do? Sometimes this problem will be solved simply by eliminating the habit of feeding the baby while letting him watch TV or use an ipad or phone. This bad habit will adversely affect the digestive system and create negative eating habits for children.
Focusing on TV programs (such as cartoons, commercials) will distract children, forget about eating, do not feel delicious no matter how attractive the meal is. Since then, forming a habit of children eating or sucking, in the long run, it also affects the child's very immature stomach.
2.2. Starve your child Letting your child go hungry can be one way to help them eat without sucking . This method seems unscientific, but many parents have applied it and brought positive results. This measure is drawn from the successful experience of many parents whose children eat or suck for too long.
To apply this method, please clean up the meal as soon as the child sucks the food. At the next meal, the feeling of hunger will stimulate the baby to be excited and eat very quickly. However, this method of helping children eat without sucking often only works at meals after the child has been starved. Therefore, to apply most effectively, mothers should adjust their children's eating schedule so that the meals are not too close together.
2.3. Age-appropriate diet Each child's age is suitable for only a few different types of food. Babies who are just starting to eat solid foods will be suitable for foods such as porridge or pureed foods. For children 2-3 years old, solid foods, denser will be more suitable. Therefore, if the child is older, but the parents still give pureed flour or stewed porridge, stewed vegetables will inadvertently make the child lazy to chew, gradually leading to the habit of eating or sucking.
2.4. Cooking beautiful dishes Food that is delicious, but the layout is not attractive or does not change, causing boredom is one of the reasons why children eat or suck, the meal lasts for hours but still is not finished. Similar to adults, children are attracted by colorful and beautifully decorated dishes. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of how children eat or suck, parents can make special baby food, arrange food into lovely shapes. This both attracts the baby's attention and makes them feel more excited about the food.

2.6. Do not prolong meal times Children eating or sucking is a factor in lengthening meal times, sometimes up to 1 or 2 hours. This situation absolutely must not continue, for long. Parents should only feed their children for a maximum of 30 minutes. This is just enough time for children to eat full, while helping children not hate eating and thereby limiting the situation of children eating or sucking.
In case the child still can't eat within 30 minutes, parents can stop the meal (even though there's still a lot of food). When applying this method for a long time, children will have a habit of eating quickly to fill up and thereby overcome the situation of children eating or sucking.

3. What to prepare to overcome the situation of children eating or sucking?

The minimum important factors that parents need to prepare to apply ways to help children eat without latching are mental and time. Changing the habit of sucking food, anorexia of children is not an easy matter or a few days can be successful. The first stage, if not carefully prepared, can make many parents feel stressed, stressed, and depressed. Therefore, before applying the method to help children eat without sucking, parents need to prepare the following issues:
Mentality: Parents will face the fact that their children eat less than usual if they apply the feeding method. in less than 30 minutes. Eating less will lead to slow weight gain for children, even stagnating weight for a long time. Besides, parents sometimes need to be prepared mentally if they face opposition from other family members like grandparents. Time: To change the habit of children eating or sucking, parents will need a lot of time. The reason is that the baby sucking will reduce the amount of food ingested, so the mother has to divide the meals and lead to a lot of time for the child. In addition, to increase the effectiveness of ways to help children eat without sucking, parents should observe and apply as soon as possible as soon as they notice that their children have signs of sucking on food. In addition to mentally preparing and giving time to the child, parents also need to learn and closely follow each child's meal to find out timely causes why the child is lazy, eats or sucks. From there, find ways to overcome the cause and solve the problem in the most optimal way.
Taking care of children is a very hard process and takes a lot of time, dedication and patience. Children are the happiness of parents, so find ways to take care of them healthy and properly and help them develop comprehensively.
For children to be healthy and develop well, it is necessary to have a nutritious diet in terms of quantity and quality balance. If children are not provided with adequate and balanced nutrients, it will lead to diseases of excess or lack of nutrients, which adversely affect the comprehensive development of children in terms of physical, mental and motor skills.
Children who do not eat properly are at risk of micro-mineral deficiency causing anorexia, growth retardation, malabsorption,... If they notice the above signs, parents should supplement their children with products. The supplement contains lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, and B vitamins to help fully meet the nutritional needs of children. At the same time, these essential vitamins also support digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, help improve anorexia, and help children eat well.
Parents can learn more:
Signs of zinc deficiency in children
Micronutrient deficiency and failure to gain weight in children
Please regularly visit Vinmec.com website and update useful information to take care of your child. Take care of the baby and the whole family.