Self feeding

[AppleBlossom]

Grace is nearly 9 months now and is able to feed herself finger food no problem. I'm now going to start letting her feed herself (!!!) so just a few questions. How do you go about it? Do you just put their dish of food down with a spoon and let them get on with it? Should I put something under the highchair to catch the food? When she is first trying it obviously more will end up on the floor and on her than in her mouth so should I feed her another bowl after as surely she would be hungry still? And for those with older babies/toddlers, how long did it take for them to be able to do it properly? I know Grace isn't going to learn it overnight, just wanted a rough age. Thanks

 

[babystar]

finger foods in a bowl like cut up banana Elinor loooves that! Cut up slices of toast etc good luck!!!!!!!

 

[princess_bump]

i am slowly teaching maddi, i just watch over her and let spoon stuff in her mouth edit - its move of a guidance, by giving her the spooon herself etc. and also i just pop finger food on to her high chair tray and let her snack

 

[AppleBlossom]

She has finger foods, toast, peppers, biscuit etc and she is really good at feeding herself with them, I meant dinner. Like jars/mashed up food with a spoon lol

 

[Hevz]

Probably best starting with finger foods babe. Where do you have the highhair? Is it on a moppable floor?

Toby is 16months and still can't master the spoon. He tips it the wrong way so eerything falls off. When we feed him something like say...shepherds pie, we have one spoon and he has another and we just shovel food in whenever we can .

He's better at eating with his hands like meatballs, home made chicken dippers, potato wedges, new potatoes, toast triangles, sticks of cheese etc.


Good luck...don't get cross when they make a mess...be prepared with an old towel and flannel/pack of babywipes nearby

 

[babystar]

aaah ok... sorry lol....Elinor cant master spoons yet she ends up thrusting them down her bloomin throat...I know of a wee girl coming up for 2 and shes just started using spoons herself etc.

 

[Vickie]

I'd be scared to give Hannah a bowl, I'm sure it'd end up on the floor

 

[AppleBlossom]

So should I just keep feeding her when it gets to dinnertime then? She already feeds herself food with her fingers but I read that at 9 months you should start encouraging them to eat their mashed up foods with a spoon

 

[Vickie]

maybe give her a spoon and let her dip it into the bowl and see how she gets on? We do that with Hannah sometimes though she quickly loses interest

 

[lauren-kate]

Ryan loves feeding himself (just put some pics on fb but my videos won't work ). At first I just gave him a spoon/fork whilst I fed him with another one. tbh he manages better eating bigger things (like big bits of scrambled egg) with a fork 'cos he likes stabbing at them with the fork.. then once they're on the fork he'll put it in his mouth. It took a while of just being a bit messy, and letting him make some mess - and cheering like mad every time he got some to his mouth. If he's struggling a bit, I'll sometimes let him hold the spoon/fork, and place my hand over his to guide it where it needs to be. hth

 

[x-amy-x]

We tend to put food on the spoon and give the spoon to caitlyn, i dont trust her with a spoon and a bowl full of food, god knows where it might end up

 

[Tezzy]

i just wanted to tell you what i did with rhys and the differences ive seen between him and his friends...

we didnt give rhys coutlery until he was 18 months old, we always did BLW and had finger food from 6 months. when we eventually gave him coutlery he mastered a spoon and a fork within a week and was very precise with his action from bowl to mouth. hes always been very 'clean' at eating since then.

rhys' friends were given spoons from an early age, they obviously got very messy at meal times and they saw it as a game. 3 of rhys friends are STILL messy eaters.. flicking food around, dropping it easily off the spoon on the way from bowl to mouth. its like because they had the spoon from an early age they never bothered to master the skill of eating with them correctly.

now im not saying dont give your child a spoon of course not!! just telling you my experience.

 

[AppleBlossom]

That's a good point Tezzy!

 

[isil]

I put a spoon on the side of the tray for Alasdair in case he wants to use it. He usually picks it up when he's bored of eating and chews on it like a teether. He uses his hands to scoop stuff up to his face. It's messy but affective.

 

[alice&bump]

katie's just started taking an interest in her spoon. i've been giving it to her at the end of her meals for a couple of days and she's been chomping on it getting the remainder of the food off. then at dinner today she started reaching out for the spoon. i've been using a long-handled one designed to make it easier to feed them, so i'm gona get her some little spoons tomorrow and see what she does! i'm expecting food everywhere!

 

[ryder]

I dont think Jasmine will be getting a spoon for a long time... LOL... She gets a rusk to play with at dinner while im feeding her though. And once she is ready I will give lots of finger foods.

 

[ColtonsMom]

With Colton (who has been eating our food, mashed/cut into small pieces, by himself since 9.5mo) I just put the food on his tray. I've never been really worried about him making a mess etc.. because I believe no matter how long you wait.. they will make a mess! I dont put all the food on his tray at once because he will start playing in it. I just put like a few pieces of meat, and a spoon or two of each of teh sides on his tray, and when he eats all of one I just scoop more on there. It also saves me from having to clean up a WHOLE mess when he is done (and wants to really start flinging stuff off) because there are usually only a few pieces!
He does get a spoon and will sometimes scoop stuff on it, but not always. Usually it ends up in the floor and he is eating with his hands. He also doesn't get a bowl/plate because then he just wants to fling the whole thing into the floor with food and all.
He is really good at feeding himself now. Eats everything we eat, by himself, and unless it's something that is inevitably going to be messy (like spaghetti, etc) than he is usually really good and just needs his face and hands wiped. (Aside from the few pieces that "miss" his mouth and land in his lap)

On a note though.. I still feed him things that he wouldn't be able to pick up with his fingers, like his yogurt mainly. Although he will eat mashed potatoes by himself with no spoon! Which is always a good, little laugh!

AND I never fed Colton more after, even if most ended up on the floor. And I probably wouldn't recommend it. She will probably play with it at first, but after the first couple of meals she will know she needs to eat. I think if you feed her afterwards, she will get the idea that she can just play in what you give her, and then you will feed her the real dinner afterwards.

Good luck!