Ellyn Satter’s Child of Mine: Nurturing a Confident and Joyful Eater

Raise a healthy child who is a joy to feedDietitian and family therapist Ellyn Satter says feeding well isn't just about raising a confident and joyful eater. It is about raising a confident and joyful person. In order to parent well with feeding, parents need to be freed from the maddening and impossible expectation of getting their child to eat certain foods and grow in certain ways. In her many years of practice, Satter has found that trying for those outcomes makes parents and children miserable and turns children into picky eaters who eat too much or too little and behave so poorly that they spoil family meals. This great gift to parents and professionals guides parents in making the world a loving and accepting place for children by following the Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding (sDOR). Parents do the what, when and where of feeding and trust their child to do the how much and whether of eating the food that they, the parents, provide. Children whose parents follow sDOR do better nutritionally; enjoy food, eating, and family meals; learn to eat new food; and grow in the way that is right for them.Discover how following sDOR in stage-appropriate ways teaches you to do an excellent job with parenting.Understand your baby’s sleep cycles and feeding cues so you can get on the same wavelength with breast- or bottle-feeding. Interpret with your baby’s oral-motor development so you can have fun navigating their transition from semi-solid food to family meals.Master family meals so you can enjoy mealtimes day after day, year after year. Learn to be considerate without catering and make wise use of forbidden food.Discover why your happily eating almost-toddler suddenly grabs for the spoon and refuses to eat. Navigate your toddler’s choosiness and independence without turning them into a picky eater or teaching them to eat for emotional reasons.Enjoy smooth sailing with feeding your preschooler without falling into the trap of trying to manage their eating.In her usual warm and entertaining fashion, filled with feeding stories and a gossipy take on the research literature, Satter demonstrates that sDOR works. It works for all children: big, small, and in-between, cautious to adventurous, typical children as well as those who have challenges. sDOR works with children who have medical conditions such as diabetes or cystic fibrosis, and children with genetic syndromes. sDOR even works for children on tube feedings by allowing them to feel good about food and eating and participate comfortably in family meals. In short, sDOR works to raise a self-confident child who is healthy and just the size they need to be. Read more