Gabby Won't Feed Herself, Sippy Cup and Food Question../.

One of my twins refused to feed himself. He will now, but he still just is not that big of an eater. I worked with him a lot on it, mostly I put the food in my hand and let him take it out of my hand and feed himself. And I worked with foods that he really seemed to like first. If you have more sippy cup questions see the responses to my post last week.

I think honey is a no-no. We liked the Gerber Graduate sippy cups when our dd starting learning how to use one. They have a tilted top so it's easy to make the water come out. Now she can use just about any sippy cup, but it wasn't until I found the Gerber ones that she would use one. Good luck!

honey is a no no when a child is under the age of one such as peanut butter or products with peanut butter because of allergies. she may be too young to feed herself. I think most kids are around a year before they make the connection. the sippy cup i started my son on was the playtex sippy cups. they are nice. they have a nice valve inside to help prevents leeks and two handles to make it easy for holding.

Yes, no honey for a year, and stop feeding that child! She will do it herself if she is hungry. You might offer to do every other bite at first. Tell her, "you take a bite, then I will give you a bite." It will make it more of a game, but don't set yourself up for this behavior! Good luck!

Hi D.,

Contact your local peditrician's office and talk to the nurse about your concerns.

Good luck. D.

Hi, no honey until two years old due to risk of botulism-type poisoning (babies can't digest it like we do), so it's too much of a risk. But you could use plain mustard, you never know, kids like strange things! Or I like the other mom's suggestion of using warmed up baby veggies for dipping. As far as a sippy, I like every kind but the take-n-toss variety which is a shame since it's not big deal ifyou lose it. My 1 y/o Sarah has discovered if she drops it hard enough, the top pops loose and all the liquid pours out on the floor. Great fun! For feeding herself, it's great that she has the pincher grasp already but babies aren't that accurate at this age, so she may accidentally mash it on her chin, cheeck or forehead as Sarah did, until she really was able to refine her hand to mouth movements, around 10 1/2 months. But I would encourage her to try to do herself & you fee her as needed, give her extra time & be prepared for a lot of cleanup, since this is how babies explore their worlds & you'll want her to enjoy eating and not make it a battle (I know from experience w/my first). Give her a little spoon to play with and practice holding onto, they seem to enjoy imitating us adults, and at one, my dtr can bring the spoon to her mouth more often than not, if I put applesauce on it before I give it to her. She looks so proud of herself! I hope this helps.

Hi D., Yeah, the honey thing is a no-no until at least 2 yrs old (or at least that is what I was always told!). Wow, 9mo old and on table food is great! Do I think she is being adorably manipulative? Well, some yes, some no. I would give her a couple of months before becomming concerned...pretty soon she'll hit the "myself" or "me do" stage and food will be a new art form for her so enjoy what you have for now! And as far as sippy cups...I always had better luck starting out with cups with straws first.

That is kind of funny, sorry! :) I am sure she will start soon, especially if she is using the pincer! Just try and let her do it first before you offer her food and see what she does! If she is hungry enough she will do it! Maybe she is so used to you doing it that she doesn't realize she can??
Also, I would not give her honey mustard. It's probably not a really big deal, but try warming a baby food veggie instead (carrots are sweet) to dip. I use baby food fruit on Aiden's toast, pancakes, waffles,etc., instead of butter or syrup, and also baby food veggie like carrots or peas on his pasta instead of butter. Not so often with the veggies, but the fruit is a no brainer for me! Much healthier for him since it's mostly natural and has less sugar than syrup!

I loved the Nuk sippy cups as they're small, lightweight (so easy for her to hold) and have handles (again, making it easier for her to hold). The one downside is that the sippy top is pliable & if your daughter is like my son was, she can push her thumb right through the spill proof valve making it no longer spill proof. Another current favorite of mine is the Gerber graduate hypercolor sippies (I call it the hypercolor sippy as it changes colors when there is cold liquid in it - the opposite effect of the old hypercolor shirts that would change color when your body was warm). These have hard sippy tops so no thumb pushing & the standard Gerber spill proof valve inside that can be removed for easy cleaning (and replacing if ever needed). Hope this helps.

I've heard no honey til O. year.
As for the feeding herself part--right now, food is a toy to her. Hard as it may be--let her mash it, grab it and smash it in her hair. My son is 6 and he still hates to feed himself--my fault b/c I was too concerned about him making a mess and not getting enough to eat. Grrrrrrr.....trust me on this O.. Let her have at it and then make sure to give her some spoonfuls so she's full. She's probably mostly about milk/formula right now anyway. That's all she really 'needs". All else is a bonus and a way of her getting used to tastes, textures and variety.