Not self feeding

nfrtny

Hello ladies! DS is ten months, and the only thing he will feed himself is puffs. Now, with that being said, if I try to pick a puff, or any other food off of his tray and put it in his mouth, he will turn his head away. Once I put it on a fork or spoon though, he will eat happily. 

 Hes not a picky eater, besides him wanting it on a utensil. He has no problems with choking on food. It's not really an issue if I have to feed him til he can work a spoon/fork himself... At least I don't think. 

 I feel like I'm doing something wrong by not trying to get him to pick stuff up with his fingers, but I feel like there will be such a short time in his life that he is going to eat with his hands that why not just do it his way and he can take over when he's got better hand eye coordination. Any thoughts? TIA! 

featherust

Same here.  DD will only eat puffs!  I am trying to offer her other finger foods (little pieces of waffles or pancakes, soft peas and carrots, bananas...) and she is just not interested.  I asked my Dr. and she said not to worry. DD will catch up when she is ready.  I also feel like I am doing something wrong...but my Dr. reminds me that kids develop at different times.

 Good luck! 

swimiz500

I am going through the same exact thing too. I am kind of relieved to hear that others are having the same issues. It isn't that DD can't, because she picks up the puffs, she just simply does not want to. She will eat food from my fingers, but won't actually pick anything but puffs up herself. 

genekelly

Could it be related to the food texture?  We had to give up on purees b/c LO would barely try anything when I tried to feed it to him.  If I pick up food now to try and give to him, he also usu won't eat it.  He feeds himself mostly but I've noticed that he seems to avoid picking up foods with certain "wet" textures.  Cooked carrots, roasted peppers, butternut squash cubes and things like that.   Anyway, if your ped isn't concerned then I wouldn't be. 

CocoBrynne

Kellan is the same way, he will feed himself Puffs perfectly, and Cheerios, but anything else, he will maybe pick at a little, but not much.  Glad to see it is normal.  He obviously can feed himself, he is just not doing it with certain things.

google123

Picking up food is good for the pincer reflex.  If he can pick up puffs and he picks up other small toys, I think it's fine.  If he wants to try and use a utensil, I think that's no problem.

SCGirl13

We had the same problem with DS.  He has just started to feed himself a few weeks ago.  DD started feeding herself a few months ago.  What worked for us was giving him bigger peices of food.  I think he had a hard time picking up the small peices of cheese and pasta.  We treid crackers and then a slice of apple.  Now he is feeding himself everything.  I would try different size food with different texture. 

mrszundelli

swimiz500:

I am going through the same exact thing too. I am kind of relieved to hear that others are having the same issues. It isn't that DD can't, because she picks up the puffs, she just simply does not want to. She will eat food from my fingers, but won't actually pick anything but puffs up herself. 

I'm just reading this post out of curiosity but I just wanted to tell you your little girl is soooooo adorable!  I want to say that every time I see a post from you

Sorry for piggybacking on your post!

tinaraye

If DD is going to use her valuable time picking it up, then it better be something she loves! Honestly, she hates puffs and melts or anything hard. But she is obsessed with bananas. She will rake those and shove them into her mouth. She also goes crazy for string cheese. I give her half of a string cheese and she gnaws on that until it gets too small; then I take what's left and cut it up. She will get every last piece of that cheese to her mouth. (Much to my dog's chagrin!) But if I put down peas, carrots, or pretty much anything else, she won't bother. She likes most of her food on a spoon.

Maybe your LO will gnaw on a hunk of string cheese? 

nfrtny

tinaraye:

If DD is going to use her valuable time picking it up, then it better be something she loves! Honestly, she hates puffs and melts or anything hard. But she is obsessed with bananas. She will rake those and shove them into her mouth. She also goes crazy for string cheese. I give her half of a string cheese and she gnaws on that until it gets too small; then I take what's left and cut it up. She will get every last piece of that cheese to her mouth. (Much to my dog's chagrin!) But if I put down peas, carrots, or pretty much anything else, she won't bother. She likes most of her food on a spoon.

Maybe your LO will gnaw on a hunk of string cheese? 

Just a whole chunk? Not cut up? lol giving him big pieces of food freaks me out