is LO feeding him- or herself?

SunAndRain · February 2013

DD is nearly 8 months and she isn't putting anything in to her mouth, except her fists and her stuffed animals. So I'm wondering if I should be concerned that she isn't feeding herself bites of food yet. she eats purees and mashed bananas like a champ - up to four ozs per serving, three times per day. But only when someone feeds her.

How can I help her learn to feed herself?

kaybee10 · February 2013

Have you tried giving her food to feed herself?

You can look up BLW, thats what we've done (with purees as well). After 6 months babies have no problem feeding themselves, regular food (within reason). You just have to keep trying. Some of the first things we did was roasted sweet potatoes, avocados (they are slippery though) or steamed apples & pears, in finger food form so they can pick it up easier. Babies with no teeth can easily chew and mash food with their gums -you'd be surprised! By the time they are 8-9 months they learn the pincher grasp and can start picking up small things as well, like puffs or peas. But she eats all kinds of table food, (healthy foods that I prepare for her or healthy food we are eating). She still has purees too bc she loves them lol!

thatoneredhead · February 2013

Yummy finger foods? My baby only got good at this whole BLWing stuff in the past few weeks.

I give him a bite and set the rest on the table while I give him purees. I give him puffs, toast, cut up peaches and strawberries, broccoli, chicken. I like frozen fruit because it's mushier when defrosted and not as expensive.

He still has to focus alot, but he is learning that the good stuff is on his tray.

baloneydisc · February 2013

We started offering puffs at 6mo and it took about a week for DD to get good at getting them in her mouth. The only other thing I really gave her to feed herself was avocado. She started refusing pur?es at 9mo, so we went to all finger foods and she did great. Have you been offering things that are easy to pick up?

singingirl96 · February 2013

my boy is the same way. I got him some larger puffs like the wagon wheels and he feeds himself with those. The little puffs don't quite make it into his mouth yet. In due time. Each baby is different.

kdjudd · February 2013

My daughter has finally mastered feeding herself. She is almost nine months old. She gets so proud of herself when she gets a piece of food into her mouth. I wouldn't worry about your LO. It seems normal to me. Just try giving some small cut up finger foods.

MsLs · February 2013

I think the best way to help your LO is to let them experiment with feeding themself. Put things on the tray of the high chair, mashed bananas or anything that is steamed and soft is your best bet in the beginning and I swear by the puffs-yes they aren't nutritious but using sparingly for fine motor skills is great. A mom in my workout group swears by steamed green beans to help her LO learn to eat and it's a healthy thing to snack on.

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