Responsive feeding and care

Responsive care
 

Responsive caregiving includes observing and responding to children’s movements, sounds, and gestures, and verbal requests.

 

• Responsive caregiving is the basis for:
  - Protecting children against injury and the negative effects of adversity
  - Recognizing and responding to illness
  - Enriched learning
  - Building trust and social relationships
  - Responsive caregiving also includes responsive feeding (responding to the baby’s cues, as well as the care givers' own desire to feed the baby), which is especially important for low-weight or ill infants

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• Responding to the baby’s cues for feeding and comfort:
  - This will support the baby’s brain development and helps your baby feel secure, so they will cry less
  - Holding the baby when they are crying helps them to feel loved and secure, even if they doesn’t stop crying straight away
  - Keep the baby close to you so that you start to recognize the signals the baby makes to tell you they are hungry or wants a cuddle
  - Cuddling the baby next to your skin allows the baby to smell you and hear your heartbeat, which will comfort and calm the baby; this will also help the mother to feel calm and relaxed and will help with breastfeeding
  - Breastfed babies cannot be overfed so you can use breastfeeding to soothe the baby and as a way of spending time together, or having a rest whenever you both want
  - If you are bottle-feeding, hold the baby close during feeds and look into his eyes
  - Continuing skin-to-skin contact can calm and comfort the mother and the baby at any time
  - Looking at people's faces is the best way for babies to learn
  - Talking, listening, and smiling makes the baby calm and happy and supports the growth of the baby’s brain 

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