eating great... but...

okay i confess, i don't really let C & K 'play' much with their food. They DO get finger foods sometimes but not EVERY meal. should i be working more now on letting them feed themselves?

They eat really great... tons of veggies, meat, etc. a big variety in their diet... i guess i am afraid of the time and mess... do i just need to make sure at least one item is under their control at each meal? does it matter right now? TIA for your advice and comments.
-Lezlie

 

I would let them start feeding themselves more and you can sneak bites in here and there...fun for all I honestly haven't fed my boys a "meal" since about 9.5-10 months old. They have self fed and love it! I feed them things like oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, pudding...you get the idea. Have fun! It is messy and time consuming but I think its fun (and cute!) to see them feed themselves

 

Well, no matter how you slice it, feeding young toddlers is going to make a mess. What I did when my boys were your LOs age was give them less-messy things to eat while we were eating. So if we were having chicken and veggies, I'd give them shreds of chicken and discrete bits of veggies to munch on while we had dinner. Then I'd "top them up" with whatever I felt like they didn't get enough of. If they didn't eat any chicken, I'd give them a baby food meal with protein in it. If they didn't eat veggies, I'd give them a veggie puree. (I also fed them "dessert" of yogurt/fruit after every meal because they weren't even on the weight chart for the first 15 months).

Now, they eat 99% of their food as finger foods. It was a gradual transition, and they mostly won't even *let* us feed them any more. It's still messy, but I know that they're good enough eaters that when they start "tray clearing" it's time to end the meal.

Oh, and having a dog to clean the floor really helps too.

So I'd say you can start to give them more finger foods, and work your way up to 100% self-fed gradually.

 

i don't think there's a right or wrong way - in my case, once my girls showed interest in finger feeding (around 10 months), i really encouraged it. but that's just because i was really tired of feeding them. :laughing: i'd rather clean up the mess after than sit & spoon food into their mouths. plus, with them able to feed themselves, i can eat while they eat. i like that. that being said, i think you should do whatever you feel comfortable with. :good:

 

I agree that there is no right way or wrong way. They are at an age where getting a reaction out of you is fun! I tried to be as very calm as possible while mine were wearing their food as war paint and eventually the novelty wore off and they started mainly eating their meals rather then wearing them. That being said, you have to do what works best for you and your family. You could let them half self feed and then you feed the other half of the meal, whatever you feel comfortable with. Good luck! It sounds like they do eat a good variety of food.

 

Me and DH vary greatly on this. It drives him absolutely bonkers to feed the girls be cause they get so messy even when we do spoon feed them.

Depending on my mood or what they have to eat i will let them feed themsleves. I absolutely dread cleaning up the tray and them afterward (you should have seen them after blueberries today, stained them and their clothes) such a mess!! But i figure that it is their prerogative to be messy and it is going to happen...

 

we do let them pick up pieces of food, toast, cheerios, etc i guess i feel like i need to do it more... thanks for your support! oh, and yes, we have two dogs! so... i should just let them ALL enjoy...

 

I didn't give my girls utensils until they were 18 months. I spoon feed them or they ate all finger foods. I don't do mess well. But now at 21 months, they do great with utensils. So IMO, I would wait if you don't like mess. I don't think it will hurt to wait on utensils. It hasn't with any of my girls.