Dinner battle

Hi ladies,

Unsure where to put this so if it needs to be moved then please move it :)

Anyway, my ds is almost 11 months old and dinner has become a nightmare. Trying to get him to eat anything that we have to feed him turns into a fight unless we give him his own spoon.

My question is, is ds at the right age or indicating to us that he wants to feed himself? Tonight, after battle I gave him a couple of pieces is zucchini and carrot and just let him go. He ate some but mostly played with the food. He was completely content with this. Is this a better option? Give him chunk he can play/feed himself with?

I'm worried that he won't get enough doing this and will then wake up hungry during the night. Any advice would be helpful cause dh and I are at the end of our tether

Tia


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Sure, just let him feed himself. With a bit of practice it won't be long before he gets the hang of it. Many parents follow baby-led solids and let their kids feed themselves from the get-go and they do just fine.

Hey Tara if he is happy to use a spoon go for it. Have you read much about the baby led solids? We did it with Em and let her feed herself with everything from 6 months so def at 11 months he'd be ok. I always like the mantra " food is fun until they are one" too.
Even now I try not to get stressed about her eating. She has good nights and bad. I think they all go through phases of dodgy eating.

I reckon just let him go for it! He's still at the stage where food isn't absolutely essential, so if he doesn't each much and mostly plays with it that's ok. It's good for them to be able to learn how to manipulate their food. If you still want to spoon feed him maybe try giving him his own spoon and just get your spoon in his mouth with food when you can. I've seen a few baby led solids bubs with a spoon and bowl of yoghurt attempting to feed themselves so it can be done! Don't know if I'd go that far though...way too much mess :p

my DD is not much older than your DS and she happily feeds herself. we embraced baby led solids and she has fed herself from the start - including things like yogurt and custard. yeah, she doesn't always get it all in, but she feeds herself everything, takes in what she wants and stops when she is full. she has a healthy variety of food - the only thing she doesn't like is mashed veg! will eat all veg if it's chunky, but mush gets the thumbs down

take on board the notion that food is still fun, and let him go for it. it's great for them to develop a more diverse diet regarding texture and taste, and they are guiding how much goes in - they won't let themselves go hungry!

Thanks girls. This was what we were thinking tonight. Just cook up the food and let him go for it. It's not worth the battle :D Helps having others re-iterate that :D