Infant Feeding Practices

Support infants' growth and development with feeding practices that encourage lifelong healthy habits.

Supportive feeding practices can help guide infants learn essential feeding skills, trying new or less preferred foods, learn to listen to and respect their bodies' fullness and hunger signals, and form healthy relationships with food and eating in general. Communication between staff and families can also help to align care in programs and at home.

Best Practices

The resources in this category are the same for the following six GO NAPSACC best practices:

  • "With permission from families, the timing of infant feedings is fully flexible to infants showing they are
    hungry."
  • "Teachers end infant feedings based on infants showing they are full."
  • "Teachers always use responsive feeding techniques when feeding infants."
  • "At meal times, teachers always praise and give hands-on help to guide older infants as they learn to feed
    themselves."
  • "Both a written and verbal report are provided to families about what, when, and how much their infants eat."
  • "The written infant feeding plan includes guidance on how, when, and what infants are fed, and how the
    program can support breastfeeding mothers."

Resources

Action Guide: For Child Care Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies

Summary: Guidelines for feeding practice policies and practices that support child nutrition. 

Source: Connecticut State Department of Education

Family Style Dining Guide: A Mealtime Approach for Early Care and Education Programs

Summary: For child care providers in all types of programs, this guide walks through how to implement best practices of serving meals family style with toddlers and preschoolers.

Source: Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association

Family Style Meal Service with Children

Summary: Toolkit on how to hold family style meal service in child care, meeting federal CACFP guidelines.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services

Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments

Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the appropriate assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.

Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)

Healthy Kids, Healthy Future

Summary: Under the section of "Nurture Healthy Eaters," scroll down the menu to find responsive feeding resources for both infants and toddlers. Resources are geared towards child care providers and parents.

Source: The Nemours Foundation

Is Your Baby Hungry or Full? Responsive Feeding Explained

Summary: How to practice responsive feeding when breastfeeding, bottle feeding and when providing solid foods by understanding, recognizing, and responding to infants' hunger or fullness cues.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

Model Policies for Creating a Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity Environment in Child Care Settings

Summary: Nutrition toolkit that describes model policies and provides tips to on how to fulfill them.

Source: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Community Food and Nutrition Assistance

Sample Child Care Center Infant Feeding Plan

Summary: A sample policy that highlights the program's support of breastfeeding, is adaptable to program needs, and is fillable by infants' family members.

Source: New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force

Sample Infant Cycle Menu

Summary: A sample cycle menu for infants, 6 months to 11 months old, to help plan program calendars with creditable recipes that meet CACFP guidelines.

Source: Child and Adult Care Food Program

Sample Infant Feeding Plan

Summary: A sample policy that highlights introduction of solid foods.

Source: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning

Sample Infant Feeding Plan

Summary: A sample policy in fillable PDF format.

Source: State of New Jersey Department of Children and Families

The Four Feeding Styles

Summary: Based on Ellyn Satter Institute Division of Responsibility in Feeding, this table breaks down what it means for adults to use authoritative feeding style.

Source: Bright Healthy Smiles