2 year old still on soft foods.

[mumo3g]

We have a child where her mum provides her food. Now we have offered to provide food for her but mum has refused this. (at no extra charge) She is still on watery or soft foods. Not alot is there to chew on.

The child has been refusing to eat here and we put on the tv (not something we would normally do and don't like doing) and she opened her mouth and ate.

Now speaking with her mum she tells me that she feeds her. We have tried to encourage the child to feed herself but because it is soft or runny she has to be helped still. She gives up after a little while. It must be a fustraition for her.

I've asked mum if she could introduce finger foods. Things that she can feed herself with. Mum says she has breadsticks, apple and biscuits but nothing else.

Surely feeding her when there isn't nothing wrong for her is some sort of neglect? (not that I would say that to mum) The child isn't malnurished or anything but she is being taught to be lazy. She treats her like a doll!

If a parenting choice like this raises a child protection concern in someone's mind, then maybe further training is needed.

I'm not talking about why you shouldn't go with a parent's preferences in general, but in this particular case. The mother is free to make decisions about how she feeds her child, even if they are not the same choices someone else would make - a childcare professional should be able to respect that, not ask for "timeframes" and seek out research to show the mother how wrong she is.

You're probably right about the further training, but tbh I think it's better to err on the side of caution than to worry about asking someone for fear of being told your in the wrong/not good at your job etc. She did ask on an anonymous internet forum, it's not like she's at SS or the police station.