No pincer grasp at 9 months... Am I helping too much?

awollenweber

LO is almost 9 months and I have to put every piece of food in his mouth -is this normal? I guess I'm concerned that I'm doing too much for him and it's holding him back.  We are only doing purees and cheerios at this point.  We just started with some steamed veggies tonight (carrots and pears).  I always leave him be for the first few minutes, so he can try getting them.  80% ends up on the floor and the others are stuck to his hands. It's like he collects them in his fist and then gets annoyed; he doesn't try eating them off his fingers.

He also won't grasp a mum mum.  I hold the bottle at every feeding, although he can grab it himself.

As a FTM, I just don't know what is normal.  I know several others that are at least scooping food into their mouths at this age. 

NotSharknado

Hmmm. Maybe you might be helping too much. I know all babies progress at their own pace, but I would let him be and try not to help for a few days and see if he gets it. I know it took DD about a week and she has it down now. It's ok for him to get frustrated too, so let him. He'll work it out on his own.

Karen1998

How does he handle toys?  What about the paci?  DS has a mean pincher grasp, oddly enough, from pulling his paci in and out of his own mouth. He loves that darn thing and he figured out how to replace it a few months ago, so I've let him handle it as much as he can.  He's 7.5m now.  I didn't expect it to develop his grasp so much, but it really did. 

If your son is doing well with toys and the grasp seems to just disappear with food, then I'd worry less.  However, if he doesn't have it at all, then I'd work on teaching him to be more independent and doing special exercises (google some or ask your doctor for some) to help him develop his grasp.  He'll probably be frustrated for a while, but give him time to learn it and he'll get it. 

JaysonandKristin

Karen1998:

How does he handle toys?  What about the paci?  DS has a mean pincher grasp, oddly enough, from pulling his paci in and out of his own mouth. He loves that darn thing and he figured out how to replace it a few months ago, so I've let him handle it as much as he can.  He's 7.5m now.  I didn't expect it to develop his grasp so much, but it really did. 

If your son is doing well with toys and the grasp seems to just disappear with food, then I'd worry less.  However, if he doesn't have it at all, then I'd work on teaching him to be more independent and doing special exercises (google some or ask your doctor for some) to help him develop his grasp.  He'll probably be frustrated for a while, but give him time to learn it and he'll get it. 

Agree with all of this.  

And, DS1 did the same thing with his paci, so we found that to be a natural time to wean him from it.  Worked like a charm!!  

google123

sounds like you may be doing a bit too much for him.  He does need to start learning how to feed himself so he can develop those pincer grasps.  

 

As far as the finger foods, my DS is the same way and he gets frustrated, but I let him try to figure it out as much as possible.  You could try starting with bigger pieces rather than cheerios, which are pretty small.  Of course be right there just to make sure he doesn't completely gag on the food. 

dairygirl19

Ditto the pp.

Let him get frustrated. He'll figure it out ASAP.

My LO still gets stuff all over the floor and stuck in her fingers. I let her figure out what to do with it fromt here. It's the way of the kid world.

frogyie

I agree although I do cheat sometimes when ds gets really frustrated. I put the pieces of food in my hand and let him take from there. It's less slippery than the highchair tray so he tends to eat more.

reederah

Definitely extend the time that you let him practice before you start feeding him. And maybe try some bigger things? Cheerios are kind of tricky. The puffs are a little bigger and easier to grab, and they make these little crunchie things that look like cheese puffs... I was a little apprehensive about them but they melt really quick and DS had really improved his grab with those. Good luck!