The funny expressions babies make when they discover new tastes, textures and temperatures can make meal time quite a show. Here are things parents want to keep in mind to keep meal time fun time.

Feeding Your Baby

• Juggling may seem like a required skill for parents, but don’t try to juggle hot food or liquids and baby. Most scald burns in babies are from hot foods and liquids spilled in the kitchen or wherever food is prepared and served. Often, these injuries take place when someone is trying to carry both a child and a hot item, like a cup of steaming coffee. 

• Got a kid? Use a lid! If you are drinking something hot, use a cup that comes with a lid.

• Heat bottles with warm water, instead of in the microwave. Drinks heated in a microwave may be much hotter than their containers. Test them before feeding your baby.

• When using a high chair, make sure your baby is sitting down and is strapped in.

• Offer cooked and softer foods when it’s age appropriate. Make sure that everything is cut into tiny pieces, mashed or pureed.

• Learn infant CPR and the Heimlich maneuver for choking.

Related Resources

• Choking, Suffocation and Strangulation Prevention
• Suffocation Prevention Tips
• Falls Prevention
• Babies (0-12 months)
• American Red Cross CPR Classes
• How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver on a Child from eHow