I have a question about feeding babies. My daughter hates eating anything that is not mushy and would either spit it out or coughs after she swallows it. She would not finger feed herself neither except for those Baby Mum Mum things. She gives me this disgusted look when she is holding the finger foods with her hands (foods like banana, broccoli, etc).
I've been feeding her solids since she was 6 months old, and whenever I feed her, I have the bowls of food far away from her so she can not reach with her hands.
She just turned 11 months old and she can hold a spoon, but I just wanted to know how when do they usually get a grasp of feeding themselves with a spoon? And how can I encourage finger foods?
Re: When do babies start using a spoon by themselves?
Personally, I never encouraged self feeding with a spoon until closer to 2 years old, just because of the mess and waste factor. BUT, they are typically able to grasp the concept somewhere between 12-15 months, I think.
As far as encouraging finger foods? I'd offer things like baby goldfish, cheerios, pieces of bread or rolls, beans (mine always loved kidney beans), pieces of cheese..... all "pieces" meaning cut into VERY small pieces they don't have to bite, but they can chew up easily.
Re: When do babies start using a spoon by themselves?
Thanks marisuela, I was afraid of the mess too, but always think to myself "babies are messy"... it's a hard choice for me here but I started putting her bowl in front of her now, so she could reach with her spoon with my help!
Hm, I never thought of baby goldfish but I guess it's small enough and soft enough for them to crush with their gums. I'll go buy a bag to try. She just spits out everything... she does like grabbing my food though but spits it out as soon as she puts it in her mouth. I guess she's just not ready yet.
Re: When do babies start using a spoon by themselves?
Have you tried the Gerber baby puffs? They dissolve faster than goldfish do. I forgot about them, because my 3rd couldn't eat them (for some reason they constipated her!), but my first two loved them. I always got the generic brands from Walmart and Target because they're so much cheaper than the Gerber brands! Another thought is diced apples or peaches and chicken breast pieces. My kids loved those at that age, too.
And yeah, it takes time for them to get used to new things. Just keep offering it to her with every meal and eventually she'll catch on.
