very messy eater

marym94 · March 2013

This is going to sound nuts - and I know I am in for much more than this as he gets older, lol - so bear with me here

My 7 month old started solids a month ago - we started feeding him with a rubber spoon... well he figured that out real quickly and now he only wants to feed himself with the spoon (clearly he doesnt have this quite down)... so by the time the spoon is actually in his mouth, it has spilled everywhere, its in his hair, his ears, his toes! the walls- its absolutely everywhere. he is happy and its fun but the mess is huge - food is flung everywhere and he always needs a full bath afterwards. while this is fun, its not functional, bc we can't plan to do anything after feeding bc it takes a good 25 - 30+ min to clean him up and get the food out of his hair etc.....

i have tried cutting food up into tiny bites to see if he wants to eat it that way, but he plays with it like a toy and sucks on it and doesnt actually eat it - so that doesn't seem to work either...

just wondering if anyone has any tips?? I'm thinking there has to be a better way to do this

alizabethanne · March 2013

Just give him time. Its pretty awesome he tries to feed himself with a spoon. Messy kids at meal time is a part of the learning process. I would just have fun with him and let him keep working at it.

YanaFava · March 2013

I would try the baby puffs. Once my daughter figured out that she could eat food that way, she doesn't even really like to eat puree anymore. They taste good and melt in their mouths, so it's easy and safe. I can get her to eat puree som

ladyjenna13 · March 2013

I hold one of my fingers out while feeding him with the spoon. That way, if he wants to do it himself, he can feel that way by grabbing my finger and leading the spoon into his mouth that way. He does not know the difference, yet.