They don't want me to feed them

The girls aren't quite 1 yet - but I thought you ladies would have better suggestions than on the first years board.

The girls don't want me to spoon feed them anymore - which for the most part is great. They eat table food great and love it - BUT - how do I get them to eat things like yogurt and oatmeal if they won't let me spoon feed them?

Thanks for you suggestions!!

 

What I did at that stage was I had their spoons and the bowl of yogurt, and I would put some on a spoon and hand the spoon to them. Then they would hand me back the spoon to put more food on it. Resist the urge to correct how they are holding the spoon or making a mess. Mine would get soooo upset if I tried to turn the spoon around or anything like that. They eventually got better at it and around 15-16 months, they got their own bowls and did it themselves.

 

I had suction cup bowls and I just let them do it themselves. I have pictures of my girls at 11 months eating Spaghetti O's by themselves. Just be prepared to clean them up. I was a SAHM until they entered Kindergarten, so the cleanup wasn't so bad for me to have to deal with.

I had little white undershirt T-shirts that they played in and I would put one of those on them and just a diaper and let them have at it. If you feel the need you can try to get a few spoonfuls in with your help, but I say just let them do it themselves. They will get much better at it very quickly with daily practice.

 

QUOTE
I have pictures of my girls at 11 months eating Spaghetti O's by themselves. Just be prepared to clean them up.


Ditto!! It can be a mess.

It is good though, that they want to be independant eaters already!

 

I gave them finger foods to keep them occupied as I slipped a spoon of something in here and there.

 

QUOTE(kaysyd @ Jun 27 2007, 01:44 PM) [snapback]309224[/snapback]
I gave them finger foods to keep them occupied as I slipped a spoon of something in here and there.


This is exactly what I do.

 

Thanks guys - I am going to try letting them do it themselves - they can't make any more of a mess then they are now - boy I wish I had a dog!!!!

 

for yogurt, I usually mixed it with a couple oz of milk/cream and shook it up in a sippy! The boys downed it, got the calories/fat/calcium/probiotics they needed and I didn't have to deal with the mess!! We did that pretty much daily until they mastered the art of spooning

 

QUOTE(kaysyd @ Jun 27 2007, 10:44 AM) [snapback]309224[/snapback]
I gave them finger foods to keep them occupied as I slipped a spoon of something in here and there.


Me too, I put food on the tray and then feed them in between bites, it works great!

 

Mine quit taking spoon feedings at 10 months. So, I only fed them foods they could self-feed until they got good enough with a spoon to get it to their mouth with the food on it. They didn't get yogurt until 18 months anyway and the baby cereal was simply replaced with regular cereal (which they love). To teach them the spoon, I'd hold the bowl and let them scoop a bite with as little assistance as possible. They loved it.

Self-feeding in general is messy and much slower than spoon feeding them but they will get better and faster the more practice they get. And yes, the dog ate well for a while