This situation is a common worry. Feeding our babies is such a core part of our role as parents that we deeply want to know that we are doing it right. Children’s feeding needs change in response to their activity level, their developmental phase, the air temperature, and the relative humidity, and sometimes because of viruses they pick up. Some days they may need almost nothing, others they may need quite a bit.
Babies are born with a sophisticated internal mechanism for determining just how much food they need to thrive. Healthy babies given the right selection of healthful foods will tend to eat just the right amount, so our job is to provide a healthful selection of foods.
When we force or coax babies to keep eating, they lose trust in their bodies’ own signals. Airplane noises are not needed to encourage good eating habits.
Babies who aren’t getting enough to eat tend to be irritable or droopy. A bright, happy child is a good sign. Babies should urinate regularly. If they don’t urinate in eight hours, it bears looking into. Throughout childhood, their growth will be plotted at regular check-ups to be sure that they are growing on target for themselves.
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