Kristie, I am at the same point with Charlie at 13 months. I have held off for fear of mess, but need to let go of my houseproudness I think, and let him go for it! (The battle of the spoons is getting ridiculous!)
From memory, with Olivia, I let her go for it at around 11 months......but I kept her meals topped up with lots of cheese sticks for finger food, and so I figured even if the chunky mush didn't actually hit her tummy, plenty of cheese etc would.....skinless sausage was another one, as well as veggie sticks etc.......so an increase in good finger foods whilst letting them get messy will likely be fine I reckon!
Luckily Charlie still lets me feed him pureed fruit (he is a fruit addict!) and yogurt, so I know I can still get something into him!
Good luck.........get a huge splat mat (I am off to Spotlight tomorrow to buy a couple of meters of oil-cloth........LOL!)
At least the warmer weathers on the way - I might strip him down to a nappy while he eats - hehehe! Maybe I should just put him in the empty bath! hehe.
When Em was that age and wanting to feed herself I would give her a spoon that she could "use" ahem and I would continue to feed her with another spoon. That way she felt like she had some control but I was still making sure the food went in LOL.
Hi Kristie, I would suggest that you let Louis have a go if he's keen - we delayed with George mainly because we just couldn't stand the mess, and it took him a long time to learn how to feed himself. Whereas with Milly, we have let her set the pace, and at 14 months she can eat almost as well as he can at 3.
If you're worried that he won't actually get enough in by himself, you could either use several spoons, shovelling some food into his mouth between his attempts, or you could alternate spoon food with finger food, so that every second meal will get in reliably.
Yeah - I think its probably time to let Louis have a go. The other thing you can do is give him a spoon, and keep another one for yourself so that you can feed mouthfulls in between his ones (that seem to take ever such a long time and are usually dropped before the mouth anyway!!!!)
LOL Fi I was going to suggest the exact same thing!! Zander and I take turns putting poonfuls in his mouth!! He started at about 11 months as well. He still gets in a mess with dropping stuff all over himself. We just make sure he has a bath straight after dinner!
Have to agree forks are great. Depending on the food it doesn't fall off, unlike with a spoon when it gets turned upside down in the process of getting to the mouth. For some reason Maggie also prefers us feeding her with a fork.
You can get bibs - I think from Target or Myer - that have sleeves and cover the whole front. My MIL gave me some and they are great. No matter how much mess DS makes, it rarely gets on him or his clothes (other than hands, face, and hair!!).
I agree, let him go. A paediatrician and a MCHN advised me to let DS make all the mess he liked as he was not enjoying eating while we were fighting over the spoon. This apparently will put kids off eating and cause problems down the track. It's hard to not stress about mess, but if my DH can do it (albeit sometimes he just shuts his eyes!!), anyone can!!
I suggest putting highcahir outside & letting him go for it...
Indah is happy with us feeding her & isnt interested in feeding herself other than finger foods, so for now I'm happy, but soon we will let her loose out the front in her hiaghchair in a some old clothes!!!
I then let the dog in the front yard to clean up!!!
LOL Matilda decided at 10 months that the only way food was getting into her mouth was if she put it there... urgh. Tracey, I love having labradors for that reason . We would strip off her tops & let her go for it. Its messy but we don't have carpet so its easier to clean up for us.
We have floorboards too, but I know Indah would have food flung on the walls... So the front yard is better, or ofcourse when your out at restaurants... That way it's not my mess!!! hee hee!
Yeah I fear our lounge will never be the same again... the amount of food that has been thrown a metre to get onto it! Our walls... well a good scrub brush works too
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
When to let bubba feed themselves?
. We would strip off her tops & let her go for it. Its messy but we don't have carpet so its easier to clean up for us.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks