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How the Division of Responsibility Can Help You Feed Your Child
May 2022
Last reviewed: October 2022
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
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Inside: The Division of Responsibility in child feeding is a powerful tool to help your child eat well now and in the future.
The Division of Responsibility in feeding can help you feed your baby, toddler or child. This tool can give you the confidence you need to feed a picky eater. It can also give you tools to help your child have a healthy relationship with food in the future.
What is the division of responsibility in feeding?
Here’s the Division of Responsibility in short:
The child decides whether to eat
The child decides how much to eat
The parent decides when food is available
The parent decides what food is available
The parent decides where food is available
Benefits of the Division of Responsibility
Reducing or preventing some aspects of picky eating
Helping a child eat the right amount of food for them
Preventing disordered eating behaviors
The parent’s job in the Division of Responsibility
This means that it is the parent’s job to create the home feeding environment.
The parent decides what foods will be served for meals and snacks, not the child. A child doesn’t understand their nutritional needs.
Finally, the parent decides where a child will be eating food. Sitting down to eat makes eating safer and helps children more easily feel whether they are hungry or full. If a child is eating in front of a screen or surrounded by toys and distractions, it may make it harder for them to eat.
The child’s job in the Division of Responsibility
On the other side, a child decides whether they will eat and how much. Parents may be able to create a healthy setting for eating, but only the child can tell if they are hungry or full.
When a child is able to choose whether or not they will eat what the parent has served, they begin to know better when they are hungry or full.
Where does the term come from?
The Division of Responsibility in Feeding is based on the work of Ellyn Satter, a registered dietitian and family therapist. (1) She pioneered the principles that parents need to create a healthy feeding environment for children. Alongside that, children are responsible for deciding how much they are going to eat and whether they are going to eat.
How to use the division of responsibility with babies
As the parent, you make the decisions about what to feed your infant. You can serve a variety of foods.
Having a feeding routine from the beginning of starting solids sets up a good foundation for future eating.
This means you will have certain times when solids are available for your infant, and certain times when the “kitchen is closed.”
To help your baby eat better and more safely, have them sit in a highchair with a proper footrest or other seated position where they can be upright.
Your baby is in charge of whether they will eat the solids you provide and how much they will eat.
Baby-led weaning
If you are starting with finger foods, you can let your child choose whether to eat. They may use a raking grasp or a pincer grasp to grab hold of their food.
If they don’t eat it or lose interest, don’t try to make them eat more. If they look excited and seem to want more food, you can offer them more food as well.
Spoon-feeding purees
If you are starting with purees and you are spoon-feeding the child, watch your child carefully. If they are opening their mouth and bringing their head toward you, then you can put the spoon in their mouth.
If they are not interested or closing their mouth, don’t try to get them to open their mouth to force food into it. They are in charge of whether they eat or not, you are just offering the food to them.
Related: Did you know it’s important to serve babies foods high in iron? Learn all about iron-rich foods for babies.
How to use the division of responsibility for toddlers
As the parent of a toddler, you are responsible for the feeding environment. This means, you provide routine meals and snacks for your child. It also means that your child doesn’t eat between meals and snacks.
Make sure that your child has an eating place as well and that during meals you minimize distractions. When babies become toddlers, they often start watching screens during meals. This contributes to picky eating.
If your child does become picky, it’s easy to fall into a habit of making whatever they want, but you are still in charge of the foods that are served. You get to choose what meals are put on the table.
When you have a toddler, they are likely able to feed themselves. This makes it easier for you to let them decide whether to eat or not and how much. If they are done, it’s okay! If they want more, that’s okay too!
How to use the division of responsibility with older kids
As kids become preschoolers and elementary age, they still need you to create a positive feeding environment.
Just as with babies and toddlers, you can create the eating routine. The eating routine is when meals and snacks are available and when they are not available.
You also get to choose where food is eaten and what distractions are allowed. Screens contribute to picky eating in older children as well as toddlers.
The final aspect of your job is to decide what foods to serve your child. Always serve at least one food your child is comfortable with. Beyond that, continue to serve the foods that your family eats. (Note: Read our article for help feeding your three-year-old.)
Also, as with babies and toddlers, your child should be able to choose whether to eat and how much to eat.
Some days it may be a lot of food, some days it may be just a very small amount of food. This is normal.
Your child will be learning important eating skills as they eat different amounts of food according to what their body is telling them.
Preventing and solving feeding problems with the division of responsibility
Using the Division of Responsibility gives you tools to prevent some aspects of feeding problems such as picky eating. (2) It also can help you manage or even solve some feeding problems.
If you do have a picky eater, the BetterBites® Picky Eating Course provides advanced tools to help your child with picky eating. It has helped 10,000 parents help their child get on the road to trying more foods.
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
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Inside: The Division of Responsibility in child feeding is a powerful tool to help your child eat well now and in the future.
The Division of Responsibility in feeding can help you feed your baby, toddler or child. This tool can give you the confidence you need to feed a picky eater. It can also give you tools to help your child have a healthy relationship with food in the future.
What is the division of responsibility in feeding?
Here’s the Division of Responsibility in short:
Benefits of the Division of Responsibility
The parent’s job in the Division of Responsibility
This means that it is the parent’s job to create the home feeding environment.
The parent decides what foods will be served for meals and snacks, not the child. A child doesn’t understand their nutritional needs.
The parent also decides when food is served. The parent serves routine meals and snacks.
Finally, the parent decides where a child will be eating food. Sitting down to eat makes eating safer and helps children more easily feel whether they are hungry or full. If a child is eating in front of a screen or surrounded by toys and distractions, it may make it harder for them to eat.
The child’s job in the Division of Responsibility
On the other side, a child decides whether they will eat and how much. Parents may be able to create a healthy setting for eating, but only the child can tell if they are hungry or full.
When a child is able to choose whether or not they will eat what the parent has served, they begin to know better when they are hungry or full.
Where does the term come from?
The Division of Responsibility in Feeding is based on the work of Ellyn Satter, a registered dietitian and family therapist. (1) She pioneered the principles that parents need to create a healthy feeding environment for children. Alongside that, children are responsible for deciding how much they are going to eat and whether they are going to eat.
How to use the division of responsibility with babies
As the parent, you make the decisions about what to feed your infant. You can serve a variety of foods.
Having a feeding routine from the beginning of starting solids sets up a good foundation for future eating.
This means you will have certain times when solids are available for your infant, and certain times when the “kitchen is closed.”
To help your baby eat better and more safely, have them sit in a highchair with a proper footrest or other seated position where they can be upright.
Your baby is in charge of whether they will eat the solids you provide and how much they will eat.
Baby-led weaning
If you are starting with finger foods, you can let your child choose whether to eat. They may use a raking grasp or a pincer grasp to grab hold of their food.
If they don’t eat it or lose interest, don’t try to make them eat more. If they look excited and seem to want more food, you can offer them more food as well.
Spoon-feeding purees
If you are starting with purees and you are spoon-feeding the child, watch your child carefully. If they are opening their mouth and bringing their head toward you, then you can put the spoon in their mouth.
If they are not interested or closing their mouth, don’t try to get them to open their mouth to force food into it. They are in charge of whether they eat or not, you are just offering the food to them.
Related: Did you know it’s important to serve babies foods high in iron? Learn all about iron-rich foods for babies.
How to use the division of responsibility for toddlers
As the parent of a toddler, you are responsible for the feeding environment. This means, you provide routine meals and snacks for your child. It also means that your child doesn’t eat between meals and snacks.
Make sure that your child has an eating place as well and that during meals you minimize distractions. When babies become toddlers, they often start watching screens during meals. This contributes to picky eating.
If your child does become picky, it’s easy to fall into a habit of making whatever they want, but you are still in charge of the foods that are served. You get to choose what meals are put on the table.
Not sure what to feed your toddler? Read our guides to learn how to feed one-year-olds and what two-year-olds eat.
When you have a toddler, they are likely able to feed themselves. This makes it easier for you to let them decide whether to eat or not and how much. If they are done, it’s okay! If they want more, that’s okay too!
Related: Struggling with a picky eater? Learn how the flight, fight and freeze response impacts picky eating.
How to use the division of responsibility with older kids
As kids become preschoolers and elementary age, they still need you to create a positive feeding environment.
Just as with babies and toddlers, you can create the eating routine. The eating routine is when meals and snacks are available and when they are not available.
You also get to choose where food is eaten and what distractions are allowed. Screens contribute to picky eating in older children as well as toddlers.
The final aspect of your job is to decide what foods to serve your child. Always serve at least one food your child is comfortable with. Beyond that, continue to serve the foods that your family eats. (Note: Read our article for help feeding your three-year-old.)
Also, as with babies and toddlers, your child should be able to choose whether to eat and how much to eat.
Some days it may be a lot of food, some days it may be just a very small amount of food. This is normal.
Your child will be learning important eating skills as they eat different amounts of food according to what their body is telling them.
Related: How to help a distracted toddler focus better at meals.
Preventing and solving feeding problems with the division of responsibility
Using the Division of Responsibility gives you tools to prevent some aspects of feeding problems such as picky eating. (2) It also can help you manage or even solve some feeding problems.
If you do have a picky eater, the BetterBites® Picky Eating Course provides advanced tools to help your child with picky eating. It has helped 10,000 parents help their child get on the road to trying more foods.
References