Appropriate Spoon Form for Feeding of Liquids in Infant Feeding Development

Abstract

Feeding development in infants is important not only for of the purpose of acquiring nutrition but also for developing the ability to intake liquids. Our previous study showed that the introduction of a straw was appropriate after an infant has acquired the ability to sip liquid from a spoon and/or cup. In this study, we investigated the effect of a bowlshaped spoon on liquid intake. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate form of spoon for infant feeding development. Eleven healthy infants (3 girls and 8 boys, 10-18 months old, mean age: 13.3 months) were recruited with their guardians' consent. We made 3 types of prototype spoon: A, oval (a standard renge soup spoon); B, flared-out (with the margin of the bowl flared out); and C, hemispherical (with a hemispherical bottom, and smaller than type A or B). We observed infants taking liquid supported by their mothers and evaluated the following responses: 1) confusion with regard to lip position, 2) spillage and 3) choking. Type C showed statistically less confusion with regard to lip position than type A or B (pϽ0.01), and B showed less than type A (pϽ0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed in spillage or choking among the three types of spoon. The renge soup spoon is often used to smooth the transition from breast/ bottle to cup feeding. In this study, we demonstrated the appropriate spoon form for infant feeding development.

Influence of straw type on feeding development in infants

“…1). The teteo Cupspoon is hemispherical in shape, lets infants drink liquid from any direction, has a bowl width that is appropriate for an infant's mouth, and has a spoon size that corresponds to one mouthful for an infant [12]. Infants were free to choose their favorite beverage: water, tea, fruit juice, or isotonic beverage.…”

Lip‐closing pressure during food intake from a spoon in normal children

“…Lip movement during oral feeding can be visually observed. Several studies on the visual observation of lip movement during feeding have reported developmental progression of lip closure during bolus removal from a spoon or retention of a bolus within the oral cavity 8‐11 . Most of these studies have focused on spoon‐feeding with parental assistance.…”