My 9 month old daughter eats well and likes almost everything, but I cannot get her to eat finger foods herself. She puts all her toys in her mouth, but will not put food in her mouth. She will attempt to feed herself with a spoon, but still not with her fingers, although she picks up the pieces and examines them thoroughly before dropping them with a look that says "What am I supposed to do with this?". I have given her quite a variety of foods, none that are too slippery, given how-to demonstrations many times, etc. If I put it in her mouth she will eat anything. Are there any tricks to help motivate her, or do I just give it more time?
Thanks for your answers! I'm definitely not "pushing" her to eat finger foods and will just continue to make the opportunity available. I hadn't thought about the fact she could just skip it all together, and prefer utensils, which may be an option, since she likes to do "big girl" things and has been drinking out of a cup like mom and dad since about 4 months, shunning the bottle. I didn't really worry about it, but at her 9 month appt her ped acted like she should be eating all kinds of finger foods!
I wouldn't worry about this at all. 9 months is a bit young to be into finger foods other than maybe cheerios. My son didn't get interested until he was about 11 months and now he eats like a pro (14 months). I am a first time mom too and one thing that I have learned is don't push them or get in a power struggle, especially over food. They will do what they need to do in their own time.
Since she puts her toys in her mouth, I'd just give it time. Maybe quit paying so much attention to it. Just put the food in front of her and ignore it then. Spoon other food into her if she doesn't eat the finger food (so you know she's getting enough) but ignore the fact she didn't eat the finger food. Then try again at the next meal. I'll bet she'll get it pretty soon.
Our daughter never ate finger food. She insisted on eating everything off a spoon. So we just fed her with a spoon and she was feeding herself great by the time she was a year old. She looks like a little adult when she eats with her fork and spoon now. She did start eating finger food around 18 months and she is now three and will eat everything whehter it is on a spoon or not. We kind of liked that she wanted to eat off utensils, but maybe we were weird? Anyway, all is fine now.
Oh, you have nothing to worry about! My daughter hates getting dirty and it took a while before she'd eat with her hands. And if she skips the hands and goes for silverware, that's awesome!
If she uses eating utensils, encourage that. Get age appropriate spoons & forks. You can't make her eat with her fingers. Feeding is an area in which they exercise their independence. It's a phase and will soon pass. I wouldn't sweat this one.
Have her sit with you at meals, so she gets the whole process of mealtime. Put food in her hand and help direct it towards her mouth. There is nothing wrong at this age either you giving her something in her mouth, the leaving some out for her to do the rest once she figures she likes it. My son bypassed baby food and I still had to help him along with finger food until 11 mos every once in a while. All you can do is give her a taste, then leave it out and if she wants it she will pick it up and eat it. No pressure she is still young. I would put my son in his highchair with some different things while I cleaned the kitchen or ate lunch myself and let him figure it out, sometimes more ended up on the floor but if they are hungry it doesn't take long to figure it out! :)
I think it's great that she already has an interest in a spoon. I would encourage that. They also make these little toddler forks that are rounded on the ends of the tines so the kids won't put their eye out. You could get her a fork like that, and between that and the spoon, she'll be able to get most things in her mouth. I don't think you should worry if she isn't eating the finger foods now. She might just like her utensils better!
I'm with a few of the others--more time! People now seem to force their kids to eat before they want to. My daughter, right around 9 months started to eat purees and some finger foods like avocado a little better and each month, I noticed there were a few more she ate each months. Now at 13 months, she eats all finger foods and I'm lucky to get anything else in her. Don't worry--she'll get it soon. Just focus on experience, putting different things in front of her and letting her play with all of it. Whenever my daughter wouldn't eat something, I would just dump it on the tray for her to play with--she might as well learn what it feels like if she's not going to eat it. Best of luck!
I just went through the exact same thing with my daughter! She's 10 mos now and is FINALLY putting the food in her mouth. I would just put her in her highchair when we sat down for dinner with some finger foods on the tray. She'd do the same thing-- pick them up and play with them, but never actually put them in her mouth. Sometimes I'd feed her a little just to try to get her interested. Finally, after a few weeks of doing this, I saw her pick up her food and actually put it in her mouth. My other daughters and I were so excited we actually called my husband at work to tell him. Since then, she's done better and better. So my advice would be just to keep on trying. Get her used to sitting with the family at mealtimes and keep introducing new things. She'll do it when she's ready. :)
My daughter, now almost 1, did the same thing. Ever since we started her on baby food she wanted to do it herself with the spoon but wouldn't pick it up and put it in her mouth. She progressed rapidly through the purees and was on Gerber 3rds at 9 months. I would give her small chunks of ripe banana, usually a favorite but she wouldn't put it in her mouth and then she would spit it out if I put it in there. I found Gerber Puffs in all flavors and she loved them. They melt in the mouth to make them easier to eat and she could pick them up easily. Exploring the food in front of her is normal and even when she does try to put the food in her mouth more than half of the time she will miss her mouth and drop the food on her lap. She shouldn't be able to pinch items for another month or two yet so don't worry about that. Give her time, every baby is different and your baby may just want time to explore her food. Now my daughter will only feed herself whether it is mushy cereal and yogurt or crackers and refuses to eat much if I'm paying attention to her. Your daughter will get the hang of it after a while.
MORE TIME
Primarily mouthing objects is a tactile discovery process has nothing to do with eating---yet. All food comes from Mommy.
Give it time. My baby just turned 1 year and is just BARELY getting to the point that she likes to feed herself cheerios. I think she only discovered that because she discovered she likes chocolate - foil wrappers and all - thanks to Easter and my older daughter leaving her candy on the floor. She still has no desire to hold a bottle or sippy cups on her own. She seems to just take time getting used to stuff, but she catches on eventually.
My youngest did the same thing. We just gave her a little set of spoons and kept feeding her til she got the hang of how to use the spoons. At her first birthday party she refused to touch her cake without having a spoon. she just sat there looking at it like "And what am I supposed to do with this?" Til we gave her a spoon and then she dug in. Our other two liked eating with their hands so it was definetily new for us. She is almost two now and eats some things with her hands. So I guess my advice is to give her a little set of spoons and keep on feeding her til she can feed herself. SHE is normal :)
