Self feeding

Hi everyone

My LOs have just tirned one and they are still on pureed food. I havent done much table food, on request of our pedi. DS hasnt got any teeth yet though he´ll happily eat bread and biscuits.

Recently, DS has been screaming & reaching for his bowl and spoon. My question is: should I give him the bowl? I ask as it is full of puree and I just know he is going to tip it everywhere! I give him the spoon and he waves it around so food goes everywhere!

I´ve tried giving him a separate bowl and spoon with the same food in it but of course he wants the bowl that mum´s feeding him from! I´ve also given him his own spoon but that doesnt always work. He is teething at the mo and wanting to walk so we´re at that hard phase of wanting independence and not wanting to be strapped in a high chair! Oh and I´ve also given him other food to play with whilst he´s eating.

I´d like him to start self feeding but am not sure about how to go about it. Thanks!

Any advice much appreciated!

TIA!

 

I'm curious about why your pedi asked you not to give them table foods?

Mine started the same thing around the same age... they didn't want to be fed anymore. I'm not sure what I would have done if they were not ready for table food, because they really would not let me feed them.

 

Fran27: In Spain, in general, babies dont start table foods until they are one! I´ve been wanting to for ages but have had everyone on my back not too... I´ve got to get going on it. Their pedi said everything should still be pureed! I guess he said that as mine dont have many teeth (DD has 2, DS none). :huh:

 

If he's got no teeth, then pureed foods it is! My pediatrician said that as soon as they got some top and bottom teeth to start feeding them table foods. I would just give him a portion of the food, so if he dumps it, it won't be so bad.

 

One of my DDs didn't have any teeth until after a year old, but I started table foods between 11 and 12 months. My pedi said that even though she didn't have teeth, her gums were very strong. Besides the teeth they get at first (the front ones) really don't help with chewing except to bite things off. They use their back gums.

That said I would try very small pieces of very soft food. That way if they swallow it without chewing they won't choke. Things that I started with were tiny pieces of turkey, soft veggies, bits of pancake, banana, etc. I also gave them pieces of cheerios that were soaked in formula when I started them on table food. I was very worried about choking, so I started table foods VERY slowly.

Not sure what kind of baby food purees you are using, but I found the stage 3 gerber stuff good to strain and put the bits of food on their plates to try to pick up and eat. It was tiny and convenient and then once I felt confident about their ability not to choke I ditched baby food and just made their food myself.

GL!!!

 

I am not a mess cleaner upper so I wouldn't give them the bowl or the spoon at that age. I know they have to learn sometime, but not with purees. I think it's time for table food. We were actually on nothing but table food by 9-10 months (about the same time DS2 got his first teeth). They LOVED it! They don't really use those 1st front teeth for chewing anyways. Their gums do most of the work.

I agree with one of the pps - start with tiny pieces of soft food and see how they do.

We also found that by letting them self-feed some things they were much more willing to let us feed them the rest via spoon. I am not sure these were the best of ideas, but they worked for us. We gave them choices - you can have bowl #1, or #2 first. Which one do you want first? And blackmail - if you eat this spoonful of X, then you can have another piece of Y. I am not sure they understand the language, but they see the cause and effect pretty quickly when the other one is doing it and getting the good stuff.

Good luck!

 

Give him the bowl and the spoon and resign yourself to messes. It's how they learn. I'd also start him on lots of finger foods. Mine were done with purees entirely by a year. Just tear/cut everything up small for him, and he should be fine. We are getting to the point where I don't even cut everything up - they can take bites of mini waffles, pb&j sandwiches, that kind of thing.

 

we didn't even start solids until almost 8 months... and our poor babies started getting teeth at 6 months! anyway, there are many foods that can be made very mushy and yet not pureed... I made all our foods... and sweet potatoes are easy to microwave or bake and you can get them really mushy and yes, mainly their gums are working it. another quick easy food is a ripe avocado that's nice and mushy, just cut into small pieces and they can hand feed themselves. Also for hand/eye control, I gave them generic "cheerios"... any "o" shaped oat cereal works great.

If you do "have" to keep doing purees... you could make your own, and very thick so that they will stick to the spoon...

as for logistically what to do... I come with 3 spoons... at first it was just to give them a spoon to play with while I used my spoon to actually feed them with. In the past several months they would reach for the spoon, and even recently do a pretty good job of putting it in their mouth with the food on it.

Now, just this past week or two, I actually have been having them hold the spoon and I'll help them dip the spoon in my bowl and help them put it in their mouths... it does help to limit the mess a little... but I figure if I don't ever start to let them learn how to use spoons/bowls etc, they'll never learn and I'll forever be stuck feeding them. I do lots of finger foods... even small pastas etc.

good luck figuring out what to start with...