If you have ever been around a baby or young toddler learning to eat solids and feeding himself, then you KNOW that it is a messy situation. There is food everywhere…on the floor, all over the high chair, all over the baby, on the walls, and even on the dog! It leaves you wondering how in the world you are ever going to clean up everything before it is time for the next mess. And where do you start? The high chair, the baby, … the dog?! The clean up process can be quite an undertaking. Yikes!
Raising kids, it seems like there is always a mess to clean up somewhere. Trying to avoid mess in the first place becomes a parent’s daily mission. So of course, if you can get your child fed without the mess, it seems like a no-brainer, right?! Do the math, and that’s about six potential messes in the high chair that could be avoided! As a mom, I am screaming “Heck yeah, let’s avoid that messy face, bib, outfit, highchair, hair, ears…(you get the picture)!”, but as a feeding therapist, I have to tell you that the mess is necessary. I know, I know…I am apologizing in advance for the many wipes, towels, outfits, and bibs you will go through, but if you want a child who eats a well balanced diet, the mess is a must.
A vital part of eating is experiencing the food with all of the senses. When we see a child in therapy who has aversions to touch and avoids interacting with wet substances or objects, this can interfere with the development of feeding. A pilot study recently was conducted and published in OT Practice that incorporated increased sensory play with food and discussions about the sensory properties of food with children that had problematic feeding issues, and while the study sample was low, the study discovered an increase in the number of foods the children ate. So what does this mean for parents? It means we have to accept the mess, and even more than that, we have to encourage the mess.
Encouraging the mess is opposite to the commercial trends right now. Food pouches are marketed to parents on the go as an easy way to get fruits and vegetables into their child, and it has even extended to grains and proteins. The mom in me is screaming “Thank goodness for something easy and neat!!!”, but the trend I am seeing as a therapist is that babies love these pouches too, so much so, that they don’t want to stop eating them!
I am a pretty practical mom, so I am not saying get rid of all pouches, but what I am saying is there needs to be multiple opportunities a day for a new eater to explore his food with all the senses, not just taste or get a little feeling in the mouth. Pick a time that you know you can get that baby in the bathtub after he is done eating and playing, and maybe when your spouse or partner is home to help out with the clean up. Let the food be the entertainment, and turn off the TV or other distractions. Offer dry foods, wet foods, sticky foods. Put a mat under the child’s chair that can be easily shaken off outside or thrown in the washing machine. Strip down the baby to only his diaper to make him easy to wipe down. And hey, if you have a dog, let the dog help with the clean up on the floor! Find ways to make cleaning up the mess easy on you, but still allowing your child to explore and learn about foods in the messiest way possible.
Source: Gettier, M. “Children with problematic feeding, selective restrictive eating: A pilot program.” June 2022. OT Practice.