Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-05
Your Baby and Mine
BY MYRTLE MEYER ELDRED.

There is no subject within recent
years which has caused so much com
ment and discussion as this idea of
making children eat what is good for
them, despite their apparent aversion
10 it.
Not that this Is a new idea, because
when a child is put in hospital as
result of malnutrition. it is obvious
that he is given what he should have.
and not what he thinks he wants.
No one ever called this brutality or
even thought of it as such. In fact,
parent who put a child in a hospital
to have il fed correctly would be i'm
menselv upset If the nurse were to
tell her. as the child grew weaker and
weaker. that they prepared the right
foods for the child but 1t wouldn't
eat them.
The question of discipline in foods
and discipline in acton have COM
mon result in that If child learns
from infancy that he is expected to
eat the food the mother prepares for
him, he is also going to be much more
likely to obey her other injunctions,
provided they are not so many and so
confusing that he can't possibly obey
them all.
Children under year of age have
no likes and dislikes.
All food except milk is strange to
them. and some babies refuse strange
things on general principles.
But this is no reason for letting
them continue to refuse them. The
food should be tempting and palat'
able. It should be offered to the baby
in very small amounts and in a
manner to convince him that this is
something he is going to enjoy. If
the mother takes a spoonful of cereal
first mot with the same spoon and
appears TO enjoy 1t lot, the baby
will initiate her actions and en-
joyment.
If the baby spts it out, expert
mentally. that is the time to show
him that this is not what you ex-
pected of him. Wipe his mouth. take
a fresh spoonful and try again. Keep
| on until the baby has decided that he
may as well swallow this food, since
| splitting it out seems to get him
nowhere. :.
Obviously all of this is easier when
| the food is first offered to a baby than
| later when he has learned that his
mother is helpless if he doesn't want
| to eat something. 1t doesn't take him
| long to learn that fact and to act
| upon it.
| Some persons have feeling that
| forcing a baby to eat food which he
| spits out. or vomits Ia very easy thing
| for most babies to do. by the way)
| is against those newer methods of
discipline which says a child should
| have perfect freedom for the exercise
| of his will.
| This is as untrue as it would be
| if we allowed Jimmie to drown him
| self because we thought it would
| thwart his will to keep him from
running into the water
| We are not so sure about this
newer method of discipline, in fact,
| it Is still in the experimental stage,
children reared under this principle
still being children and not adults,
but we do know what is good for their
| small stomachs and what they must
have to become hearty healthy adults.
| 1t Is our duty as parents to see
that they get 1t, and If the child sees
| that we are earnest in our enaeavors
and not moved by his refusalsa to eat,
| he will settle down and eat.
| In forcing food discipline. too much
stress cannot be laid upon the method
used. The mother should always be
firm, but kind and gentle. To spank
| a child for not eating is sheer bru-
! tally and makes him hate what you
are trying to make him do.
| 1t is the parents attitude, rather
than her actions, that convince him
she is serious.
! In fact, the most successful attitude
| is to assume that of course the baby
| is going to 'love" this, and then be
| as Indifferent and matter of fact about
the whole thing as one can be.