What a native English speaker would say in this instance...

No mum would say “the kid”. She’d say “my kid” or their name.

"Sorry, I'm feeding Brayden." "Sorry" already implies "I can't." If you leave out "Sorry," it will convey the same meaning, but may sound terse. However, as you will not have slept properly for months, it may be forgiven.

Most people would say "I'm feeding the baby" if it's a baby "I'm feeding [kids name]" if they're older than a baby "I'm feeding the kids" if there are multiple kids

"The Kid" would be more informal in my eyes. "The Baby" or just the child's name would make it a bit more personal.

Yeah, it’s fine.

use the child's name instead of 'the kid'

Some of these comments aren’t understanding your question. I think you are asking about feeding implying something other than physically feeding? First example: you are asking about a baby, correct? You said “I can’t, I’m feeding the kid.” You would not refer to it as “the kid.” You would say “sorry I can’t, I”m feeding the baby” or “sorry I can’t, I’m feeding (baby’s name)”. It is assumed that you are the one physically feeding the baby, or at least assisting feeding the baby, since it is not old enough to feed itself. You would not refer to a baby as “the kid”. You refer to “the baby” or just say its name. Second example: you are asking about an older child? If you say “I’m feeding Emma” and Emma is 7, it would likely be assumed that you are providing or preparing food for her. If Emma is old enough to physically feeding herself, and you said you’re feeding her, I am assuming you are making the food / getting it ready. The exception would be if she is disabled and can’t feed herself, if we now that about her and know you feed her physically, then that would be implied instead. I think this is your question though- we say we are feeding her, but really, we mean that we are making/cooking food for her, or serving it, etc. One other thing: you would likely not refer to Emma as “the kid.” That would be weird or rude, maybe implying you don’t like her or something. You would only say I am feeding Emma. It would not be weird to say “I’m feeding the kids” if there are multiple kids. That would not seem rude, you don’t need to list all their names. But with one kid you wouldn’t call them “the kid”. The exception is with a baby, we commonly refer to the baby as “the baby”. But not “the kid” lol.

feed implies just leaving stuff for someone to gobble up. or manually do it. you feed a baby spoon by spoon. but it also applies to an animal where you just leave a dish of something and walk away. feeding the cat or dog. but for anything other than a toddler, you serve them. it kind of implies that you cooked it, but they could get an empty plate and serve themselves if needed. why? i dunno, lol

In answer to the question about feeding older children - I'd say not natural. You feed a baby. I'm just serving food or plating up dinner or I'm just giving the kids their tea. If it's one child then use their name. Or even, I can't I'm busy doing lunch for X.

For the older child it would go more like "Did Emma eat?". You were keen to pick up that a seven-year old is served and then feeds themselves in most cases. So, yes, I would not say feed for an older child in this case.

I guess your hesitation to use "feed" when giving food to older kids is because you associate feeding with bringing the food to the child's mouth using a spoon or something. That is called [mouth feeding](https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/1920114860/display_1500/stock-photo-young-woman-with-open-mouth-feeding-toddler-son-at-home-1920114860.jpg) According to [Oxford Dictionary](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/feed_1#:~:text=%5Btransitive%5D%20to%20give%20food%20to%20a%20person%20or%20an%20animal) in British English it is quite normal to use feed if you want to express that you give food to someone, for instance by putting it on a plate, or in a trough if you are feeding animals (Aargh! Why can't I add an image here!) Oxford Dictionary: - She fed the children on baked beans and fish fingers. (Surely these children are not mouth fed) - Have you fed the cat yet? - Feed the kids and make sure they're in bed by nine.

This is perfectly fine, and the number of people objecting to referring to their rugrat as "the kid" is just bizarre. Parents will refer to their kid as "the kid" all the time. Does it have a kind of stoic humour tone? Yes. Do parents talk like that? Also yes, all the time. Kids are a relentless force of nature. Once kids can self manage, you probably wouldn't say "feeding", but other phrases still work if you're cooking or preparing. I wouldn't say "I'm feeding my 9 year old", but I would say "I have to feed my 9 year old" because cooking is part of the feeding process.

You feed babies, but you cook for older kids. "I can't come now, I am in the middle of frying pancakes" is probably what my mom would say. Since the living room was right next to the kitchen, she would probably wonder why you were asking when you could see her dropping batter into a frypan full of hot grease.

It’s fine. Like other posters, say Baby or the baby’s name.

I'm feeding the kid sounds aggressive, even when reading a more proper way to say it would be I'm feeding my* baby sounds more caring and friendly, specially when the mom is assisting her* baby

Yeah that sounds normal but it would be better if she referred to the kid by their name

"The kid" is weird. It's not *wrong* grammatically. But due to the context it's unfitting. First off "The kid" is very adjacent and cold. It sounds like this isn't the mothers child. They would either say "The baby" (If they only have one and the person in the other room knows that) or "I'm feeding [Name]". "The kid' could work but only in the context of incredible casual conversation or where you're not the primary caretaker as again, it makes you sound distant. A football coach might say "The kid is fine" after they fell. Or a father might say to their friend "Yeah I'm watching the kid". Strangely if you said "I'm watching/feeding the kids" that would be considered acceptable in most places.