Did you feed yourself at the age of One?
This is the story…
The wonderful wonderful homebased daycare provider we have for Savi is quitting in September. She says she is “sick of dirty diapers” and is “done with babies”. I really appreciate that she is quitting though, since that is what is best for both her and us. She has given us plently of notice too, which is just wonderful. “I can shop around and find the best daycare for my daughter”, I thought. Little did I remember that waitlists in the best places run a year and a half at least, at a very minimum! (Please do remember that if you are in the business of making babies ;))
Thankfully, we have a spot in one pretty good daycare. Clean place, caring teachers and all that. Savi will be going into the 12 - 18 months room (infant room 2), where kids are expected to “feed themselves”. No bottles, just sippy cups. The kids preferably know how to use the spoon and the fork. I got a sample menu and all the rules and policies.
From that day I learnt their “rules”, I sit Savi down on her high chair and let her “feed herself”. At 10 months, I should say she is doing amazingly well. She not only feeds herself but she will also feed the dogs and the cat ;). She loves touching her food and even manages to get about 20% (that is a lot, believe me!) of the food into her system. It is all very adorable to watch and messy to clean ;).
Ah yes, even that endless sippy cup experiment has ended somewhat with one kind of sippy cup Savi does not mind. Honestly, this sippy isn’t very different from a bottle (soft spout) …but hey, I think that will be in line with the daycare policy ;)
Savi loves all this ofcourse. Feel the food. Feed mama. Feed papa. Feed Iris. Feed Charlie. Totally totally oblivious to all the pressure the mom feels …the stress, acidity and my ulcers when I see that on some days that even 10% of the food does not make it into her….
And then I wonder …in a couple of months I see myself shoving food down Savi’s throat before I drop her off to daycare. I will be thinking about doing the same when I pick her back up…I will be obsessed with Savi and her eating. Oh, how scary! And then I think that all this is totally crazy!! She is 10 months old! Which sane person would expect a 10 month old to feed herself 3 full meals a day? Is this a policy that promotes “more independence” in a child or “less work” for a daycare teacher? And then some people try to convince me that kids will indeed eat when they sit down and see other kids doing the same. I got to see that to believe it!
I am sure I did not feed myself at one. Heck, I still have problems feeding myself on some days!
I am confused. Confused as hell! Honestly, I am concerned.
I know from friends and sisters who have had their share of “poor eaters” that thinking about the child and his/her eating can be an exhausting and draining task. Thankfully, my little one has never been that way ….but am I setting myself up for a whole lot of stress and worry in the eating department?
I could even be making too much of this. Kids these days are so smart. Sure, they can feed themselves at one! I was born a looong time ago and humans have evolved since then ….the fact that I did not feed myself at one is not even a relevant concern ;).
Okay folk, I can use some guidance on this one :) ….I could drive myself crazy thinking about this!
July 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Hmm… if I am right, I started at 4 and my brother (no taking names here) at 5 ;)
She’ll do all right, will make her more independent, which is good. I think this is true..
From her perspective, I think the first thing she will do is update her DaycareSpace profile with “I feed myself.” ;)
I know people will flock to comment on this one, remember that “juttu” post? happy I am the first !!
July 12th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Daycare rhymes with nightmare
The only thing i can think of is.. spread newspapers over a generous radius under her high chair, and after shes done, wipe the chair, and roll up and throw away all that messy newspaper. After 2 or 3 attempts at cleaning post-self-feeding sessions, i resorted to this. took way less time.
Has she tried to stab her hand with her fork yet?? if not, you have that to look forward to.
Nothing to beat eating with our god given utensils. At the age one, that means minimum damage!
July 13th, 2007 at 5:20 am
I am the President of Nava Karnataka Social Service Trust, Bangalore working for the upliftment of the downtrodden. I agree with the comments of Pranam .
I.Joseph,
Ptresident, NKSST
July 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I really understand what you guys are going through I felt the same way when I first had to put my daughter to a day care .It is really strange how they expect the kids to feed themselves around 1 year of age.
On the contrary ,Trust me they will do a good job.They feel more satisfied and independent by feeding themselves although I totally agree that to start with they will just get 20% or so inside and rest is up in the air or on the ground and what not.
Only thing you can do is try to give her more finger foods so that she can feed herself better to start with.
Do not stress out she will be fine.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
See, I already feel better :) …thanks ya’ll!