18mth Won't Self Feed - Need Advice

[munchiesmum]

Hi there, I would really appreciate some advice from mums who have been there. My 18mth old still has a limited repetoire of finger foods (bread, toast, biscuits, hot chips (takeaway and homemade)and will really only eat if fed by Mummy. He will generally eat whatever I give him, but in relation to fruit it must be mashed up and veggies whole aren't tolerated much either. I wish I could just put down a selection of foods and that he would eat them himself, however I know from experience that if I do this the whole lot will just get chucked on the floor. Do I 1. Take a hard line and just offer up finger food, let it be thrown on the floor and let him go without the meal and just have his milk, in the hope that he might change his tune at a subsequent meal or 2. Continue to feed him, whilst encouraging some finger food in the hope that developmentally he will eventually want to become more independent with food. I'm a bit soft and just want to have him eating a good diet and with no upset at mealtimes. I look forward to your input/feedback. Regards Kerrie

[fluffymum]

Hi there, no experience of this but this is just the type of problem your health visitor would help you with. Do contact him or her (my HV is a man).

[TheBlonde]

Have you tried giving him a spoon?

[MatNanPlus]

Does he like painting, getting his hands messy?

[Lua]

Is he generally healthy? if so, could you try just putting finger food in front of him and see what happens? I mean, it might be a developmental issue, it coud be a health issue, or it could be a habit issue. To rule the latter, I'll try for a day or two to just leave the food within his reach and see if when he gets hungry he just goes for it or not... Maybe you could start with his favourite food?

[CountTo10]

We used to do a bit of both - one meal a day finger food and then one where I would have a spoon, he would have a spoon and although it would get messy it gently encouraged him. Is it possible for you to eat with him at all - i've read in a few places that some children are more likely to self feed if they can see other people do it?

[thekidsmum]

My 17m is the same, he messes about when self feeding and doesnt eat much, and more often than not it ends up on the floor. To make sure he eats something I feed him half his food then let him try to eat it himself. This way he eats and is allowed to play with his food and more often than not he feeds himself when playing, and he is more likely to try new foods. This way it is less stresfull all round.

[dreamteamgirl]

My DS is 18 months on Sunday. He self feeds about half his meal - yoghurts are his only, we arent even allowed to hold the pot steady, but he will alow us to help with some of the rest.

We bought him a lovely set of cuttlery and he loves to use it. However he does get bored and frustrated towards the end of a meal when it gets hard to get the food up and we take over then. TBH I think 18 months is quite young to be totally self feeding, so have no prblem with this.

Oh and my rules are simple, I will pick up food twice if it is trown on the floor. After that its gone for good.

Would agree with countto10 too- he eats a lot btter when we are all eating so even if we are not having a meal together, DF and I have a yoghurt or something at the same time.