Some of my favorite professional moments are from the moments the parents get the fundamental ideas of helping their child eat. The parents have become creative and gone beyond struggle, worry about weight, calories and developmental status. The parents connected deeply with themselves and their child. This connection helps the child progress. When the parents’ creativity sparks, I also learn. Today, I am writing about a simple technique with stuffed animals that helped one mother and her child. Maybe, it will help you.
Mom, Fatima, discovered that her son’s favorite toys, stuffed monkeys keep him focused on eating. Her son, Yunus, has lots of monkeys. Fatima placed two of Yunus’ stuffed monkeys at the table to keep her son company and more. The monkey’s kept Yunus, her son, company and engaged in eating without some of the bother and worry that had been going on before. Fatima let me post two of the photographs of her idea in action. Here is the first:
Stuffed animals are what psychologists call transitional objects. Transitional objects help toddlers mediate between their inner world and the outer world. Some children prefer blankets or teddy bears. In this case, monkeys did the trick for Yunus.