Spoon refuser! Breakfast/wet foods??

[dan-o]

My lo has always been a very enthusiastic eater and self fed most things from a very early age, but allowed me to help him eat runny things like mash, chilli, porridge or soup etc off a spoon.
About 6 weeks ago he started refusing anything I offered him (spoon or by hand) and will only self feed things he can pick up off his plate or tray.

Has anyone else had this happen? It's limiting what we can have for meals as he gets frustrated when he can't pick up wet foods with his hands! Or should I just persevere in the hope he will learn to use a spoon? He's 11m now.

My other child is the opposite and after starting blw well, became an extreme fussy eater (still is) and refused to self feed completely!

 

[biglebowski]

My lo still manages to self feed wet foods. I make his porridge pretty thick, and if he has cereal I only add a little milk so that it softens the cereal but he can pick up the pieces. With yoghurt he tries a spoon but usually abandons and uses fingers or fruit dippers. I make his soup thick, and keep veg chunky and add beans and pasta so he can pick it up. He has bread to mop up the soup. The mess is unbelievable but he eats great and is starting to get better with cutlery / bowls etc.

 

[kiwii]

Same thing happened with my son. He wouldn't eat from a spoon and was picky with finger foods. This happened when he was teething, I think it hurt to eat off of a spoon and he only wanted to eat mushy things probably because anything else felt bad on his gums. I would feed him finger foods and sneak in a bite off of a spoon of puréed veggies or something he wasn't getting enough of. That seemed to help. He would swallow a few bites off of a spoon here and there and now he's back to eating everything although h still prefers to eat food off the tray by himself.

 

[MindUtopia]

Can you make wet things a bit thicker? For instance, with soup, I add things like polenta, quinoa or rice to it to make it more scoopable. If he's willing to get his hands into things and try to feed himself, this will help it to stick on a bit better so it doesn't fall off by the time he gets it to his mouth. If you want to use a spoon, try spoonloading (you dip the spoon in for him and hand it to him to feed himself). It may take awhile for him to get the hang of it, but just keep at it and he'll eventually get it. In the meantime, also offer him lots of foods that aren't so wet so he doesn't get frustrated not being able to eat while he's learning how to handle them. I found doing a combination of thickening wet things and spoonloading works great. For instance, this week I made a green vegetable soup that was blended (so quite wet), then I added in some pre-cooked quinoa (you can buy it in pouches from the store) and melted grated cheese over the top, then set the bowl on the tray and my daughter both dipped her hands in when she felt like it and would take a spoon I loaded for her as well. So it was a joint effort. But really just keep at it and be patient. My daughter didn't really handle wet foods well at all until about 12 months. Oh, and I should add, I found putting things in bowls rather than on the tray made it much easier. The downside is you have to sit there and hold the bowl so it doesn't go flying though!

 

[special_kala]

Try giving him the spoon once you have loaded food onto it

Have 2 spoons going at a time, it's faster.

 

[dan-o]

Thanks for the tips ladies, it seems to be working! We've successfully eaten cottage pie, porridge, soup, baked beans and poached egg!
Spoon, bowl and making it extra sticky works fab! He's not too keen on preloading, but will allow me to help him angle the spoon now and again. He's doing quite well on his own though, less on the walls, more in the mouth suddenly lol

.. And a much happier baby as a result!

 

[Etoiles]

I use this recipe for breakfast bars for my LO. I don't use all oatmeal though, I use a little less oats and stir in baby cereal as well. AFter they are baked he eats them easily. I also make a big batch and store them in the freezer and just microwave a few in the morning.

Makes easy breakfast!

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

I use this recipe for breakfast bars for my LO. I don't use all oatmeal though, I use a little less oats and stir in baby cereal as well. AFter they are baked he eats them easily. I also make a big batch and store them in the freezer and just microwave a few in the morning.

Makes easy breakfast!

How long do these keep? They sound great and I want to make some but we don't have a microwave to zap them in if I froze them.

 

[Etoiles]

How long do these keep? They sound great and I want to make some but we don't have a microwave to zap them in if I froze them.

They kept for quite a few days in the fridge before I decided to freeze them. I'm just lazy and don't want to make them too often so that's when I decided to do that.

IF you wanted to do a big batch and freeze them also you could just take them out to thaw, they don't have to be zapped since they are already cooked from being baked. They also work out well stored in the fridge since that's what I did initially.

 

[Noo]

Will he use bread to mop it up?