Refuses spoon

[lilly_kitt]

Hi

Tyler is now 15 months old and has resisted spoon feeding for a very long time, he will only eat what he can pick up and feed himself.  He will allow me to feed him yoghurt (now has a go at feeding himself) but with regards to anything else he just refuses.  I tried many things over the months but nothing works, they've tried in nursery and no good either.  They give him finger food in nursery but some days its things where they cant do this (cottage pie yesterday), so they try and feed him and he ends up eating nothing.
Am at a loss, his diet is very restricted, I try new things but he refuses them so i mostly cook him what i know he will eat.  Any ideas for trying to get him back on the spoon ?  He's missing out on so many new tastes because of it !!

Sarah
x

[~inbalance~]

What if you gave him the spoon for him to try himself?  You can even try having two spoons, load one up and give it to him, then load up the next one and leave it for him, and keep switching.  I don't think a 15mo can be expected to be spoon fed if it's not what he wants, kwim?  Also, don't underestimate the power of a toddler to eat something with his hands, even if you think he can't!  I know it's kinda messy, but have you tried just putting whatever you are offering on a plate in front of him to eat with his fingers? 

[lilly_kitt]

Hi

Thanks for the response, if I have two spoons and give him one he also makes a grab for my spoon, so he has 2 on the go.  He just hates being fed by a spoon.  he is quite funny with his food, for example he will happily eat cooked pasta with nothing on it, add a sauce or anything so its slippery and no chance.  he's having omlette for lunch today as he loves that (when he's in the mood) but there is so much more he could be eating.

xx

[~inbalance~]

There is always so much more they could be eating!  lol  Toddlers are picky, and that's totally normal.  If he doesn't want to eat with a spoon, then so be it.  There are worse things.    I think if you are putting healthy food in front of him for every meal, he will eat something.  But you really can't force him to eat, the best thing is to give him the opportunity and let him figure it out. 

[Buntybear]

What happens if you chop up his usual foods to be eaten on a spoon??

I am going through a similar thing (look on my thread if you want). Last night I tried mash sw pot and chopped beef and he refused it. Chopped up his usual finger foods of chicken and avacado and he would happily eat from the spoon 

This is a quote from my thread from Kathryn that has worked for us already tonight!

"I wonder if it's related to the food itself, rather than the fact that it's "finger food", so for example, has he learnt that 'when mummy gives me a bowl of stuff I can't see what's in the bowl, and it's possibly going to be new foods, so I am going to refuse it without even looking to see what it is, waaaah, but then the stuff I get on my tray to feed myself "tends" to be familiar so I am comfortable with that and if mummy sneaks in something different, eg sw pot chips, I am ok because I can see it and poke it before I decide whether I am going to try it' Does that make sense?
If so, I wonder whether you should give up with a bowl, and start to use a plate for all meals (apart from breakfast, obvs), so he can *see* everything, and have a mixture of finger and non- finger foods, and give him a spoon, or might be better with a fork, and have at least one new thing on his plate with a few familiar things each time, but the point is he can see everything so will become more comfortable with the idea of crockery & cutlery, kwim? And hopefully become more comfortable with new foods being offered too."

I made mince meat in gravy and mixed it with food I know he loves - peas, sweetcorn and pasta and then put it in a large, flattish bowl (or even a plate with a rim) so he could see it was foods he liked. He ate the lot! Some I fed from the spoon, some he ate with the spoon some he picked up - pretty great I think!

[lilly_kitt]

Hi

Thanks for the response, he only eats his cereal (dry) from a bowl.  Everything else is on his tray otherwise the bowl gets thrown around. He had a go with a fork the other way which I loaded for him and he ate from.  he will happily sit on my lap and eat weetabix from a spoon with me feeding him, but he's easily distracted.  Last night he had vegetable rostis (loves these), sweetcorn and fish fingers which he wolfed down.