Maternal sensitivity, infant temperament, and the development of early feeding problems

Feeding and eating disorders in childhood

“…Davies and colleagues hold that the current classification system fails to encompass the full range of feeding difficulties and places undue emphasis on the problem being solely the child's, failing to capture important contexts in which the child lives. 22 Although child factors such as temperament [23][24][25] ; organic conditions 26 ; structural abnormalities or dysphagia [27][28][29] ; and developmental problems and syndromes [30][31][32] have been linked with the pathogenesis of FDs, environment and parental factors may also interact to influence and maintain the problems. 18 Research that has focused on maternal/caregiver influences has found mothers of children with FD to (a) be more unpredictable, coercive, controlling, insensitive, intrusive, and over-stimulating, (b) be less flexible, accepting, and affectionate, (c) be more likely to use physical punishment or forcefeeding, (d) have difficulty receiving the child's signals, and (e) show more anger and hostility during interaction with their children.…”

Maternal mental health and child feeding problems in a non-clinical group

“…For example, the interactions between mothers and their children with feeding problems are characterized by maternal insensitivity and controlling behavior, difficult child temperament and poorer social communication in both feeding and play (e.g. Hagekull, Bohlin & Rydell, 1997;Keren, Feldman & Tyano, 2001).…”

Predictors of Paternal and Maternal Controlling Feeding Practices with 2- to 5-year-old Children

“…Difficult infant temperament can be related to problematic feeding interactions 98 between mother and child (14), and to children"s unwillingness to try novel foods (15). The 99 role of infant temperament in non-clinical feeding difficulties has been widely established, 100 while its role in determining parents" feeding practices is less well understood.…”