FORCE-FEEDING YOUR BABY IS COMPLETELY WRONG!
Feeding babies forcefully is a widespread childcare practice in Africa.
The desire to feed children forces women to engage in forced feeding. The practice is learned by mostly females through the socialization process and practiced as an expected role of a responsible mother.
It is passed from generation to generation and done mostly by the elderly.
In most instances, it is common to see young women and their mothers-in-law quarrel over force-feeding of their babies.
While the younger women feel irritated by the practice, the elderly believe it must be done to avoid starving the babies.
Analysts note that cereals, milk, porridge, and other beverages are mostly force-fed on babies by their grandmothers especially when they are ill and lose appetite or when the grandmothers mistake the babies’ slim stature to be as a result of not feeding well.
Though well-intended by mothers, nannies, and other caregivers, only a few, however, know it is dangerous.
And don’t start telling me your ancestors did it and “nothing happened”!
Who told you nothing happened?
With that kind, something will most likely happen! However, when things happen, people don’t attribute it to the force-feeding!
Force feeding affects the baby psychologically.
And it will manifest in the future as a mental health issue like lack of confidence, low self-esteem, low intelligence (and poor academic performance), bad relationship with food (causing craving junk foods, or over-eating or hate eating, etc) and so on. But, people won’t know force-feeding was the root cause!
Force-feeding causes a wide range of infections.
Due to poor hygiene, aspiration, and food going to the wrong places, infections usually sets in; yet most mothers will not know it’s caused by force-feeding! Diarrhea, vomiting, cough, catarrh, fever, eye pain (and redness), etc. are some symptoms the poor baby may develop.
Force feeding traumatizes and kills!
I have seen broken leg bones from the way the mother squeezed the baby’s legs in-between her laps. I have seen babies die from suffocation.
...And many more.
WHAT’S THE WAY OUT?
Every normal, healthy baby has a good appetite — and will eat. Stop calling your kids “stubborn”!
The child is not stubborn. If a child refuses to it, there’s a reason.
The child is:
☛Not hungry
☛Doesn’t like the food.
☛Is sick (and has a low appetite).
☛Doesn’t like the way you feed him/her.
Find the cause. Fix it. Or see your doctor help you find and fix the problem.
Babies like and need sweet and delicious foods. Do you know how sweet breast milk is? Why will you give pap without sugar and milk?
You can use a new, big injection syringe (without the needle) to feed your child. Or a clean teaspoon and small cup. Your hand is dirty!
This is child abuse!
YOU KNOW THE RIGHT THING; NOW, GO DO IT!