Summary of Infant responsive feeding article:
In this article the authors use the term responsive feeding to mean feeding on demand. They suggest that if mothers do not use on demand feeding their babies will become overweight. The idea is that babies need to learn what it feels like to feel hungry. When they feel hungry they need to call out to their mothers and have their mothers respond right away by feeding them. If the mothers listen to their babies' cues (crying) and feed them, the babies will develop self-regulation and self-control because they will learn that when they have a need the need will be met. They will learn to eat when they are hungry. Babies feel confident and secure when they signal that a need (hunger) needs to be met and then the need is actually met right then and there. If mothers try to feed their babies when they are not hungry, the babies will learn to eat when someone else thinks they should eat or just because it is a certain time, which could lead to weight problems later in life. Healthy eating is when a baby eats when she is hungry not when it is a certain time or when someone else thinks she should eat.