When should I leave DD to eat on his own?

[Serides]

My DD is almost 18 months. I have two questions

1. We still doesn't like to each if we don't make the meal puree. However he is having his breakfast like we are. I'm putting some creamy cheese on the bread and leaving it on his table. He takes it and sometimes eats it sometimes plays. He can also eat macaroni. However he doesn't want to chew meat or vegetables. But he likes eveything except brocoli and eat it with pleasure if we make it puree. Should I wait until he feels ready? Or should I try more?

2. According to me he is old enough to use spoon and eat his yogurt on his own. When I tried this couople of times in the last two weeks he couldn't manage it. Mostly his cloths got the yogurt. How can I teach him to manage spoon?

[aisling]

Hi Serides, sorry no one replied sooner. 

I think with the foods that he likes pureed, it is because of a texture preference.  Could you gradually make the puree thicker and chunkier each meal?  How are his teeth coming?  My LO reacted differently to his food when he was teething.  Just continue to take it slow and follow his lead and gradually phase different foods and textures in for him. Have you tried various kinds of soups and stews where everything is still smooth or soft yet has some chunks?  With soup I smash bread or crackers in there to help absorb some of the liquid.

With the spoon, just continue to let him use it with yogurt or mashed vegetables or fruit and cover him up with a bib/apron to keep his clothes from getting too dirty. Even when you are feeding him, let him use his own spoon too. Really it is more of a practice situation and also all children develop at different rates physically and his motor skills are improving each day at this age. Also let him try to use a fork too for fun, lots of LO's find it easier to stab a piece of cheese or bread for example.  Some find it easier to use than using a spoon.

HTH,

Aisling x

[Casseopea]

I am a tough love sort of person so with my son when we decided that he was old enough and could physically eat big kid food- that is what we started giving him.  I believe he was about 1 year when we moved him to big kid food.  He did some transitions but not tons, mainly the transitions were from us feeding him to him feeding himself.  With each meal he gets a variety on his plate, like a sandwich, crackers, and some cheese.  However, that is it- if he doesn't eat it then he is done with the meal.  And if he gets hungry an hour or so later the same plate of food comes out and that is his only option.  At the beginning he was allowed as much milk as he wanted.  However, after a bit we determined that he wasn't eating much because he was drinking so much so now the rule is one cup of milk and then water.  This may be too much for you though- but I talked with my doctor about it a couple times and she assured me that he won't die if he refuses to eat a meal or two- he will eat when he gets hungry.   

With a spoon- my son is just getting to the point where he gets the majority of the food in his mouth (at 2).  I found that keeping the foods thicker worked best at the beginning- yogurt was (and still is) way too thin.  Applesauce is thicker when cold than warm.  And mashed potatoes are great.  I also found that having a bib with a large pocket that stays open works great.  And my son took to a fork much easier and actually prefers to use a fork than his fingers now.   

[Serides]

Thanks for the advises. I will take some of them and leave some of them as they are a little tough for me ;-)

[EmMUK74]

Rachel sometimes still doesn't want to feed herself and I never force her, I encourage her but then if she wants me to help I do.  it's no big deal to me because she can feed herself but likes the interaction between us.

and for the purees and not wanting to chew - my godson still has problems with that at nearly 2 and it doesn't do him any harm. the best piece of advice his mum was given is "don't worry, he won't leave home without being able to eat solid food on his own" - good down to earth advice I think.

[Serides]

Really good advise. What do you do when you are on holiday. Do you carry all the equipment with you so that you can give him puree?

[EmMUK74]

I have taken a hand whisk on holiday but that didn't really work, but I always took a cup of milk to dinner and then would ask for a spare bowl so I could mash it with a fork and mix the food with some milk to thin it if needed.  I got lots of funny looks but at least it worked.  I also took all sorts of things I know she eats on holiday so even if she survives on cereal, yoghurt and fruit purees and bread she doesn't starve!

[trisharushbrook]

One of my daughters doesn't have many teeth and is a real fussy eater - hates any lumpy texture.  My other DD eats anything and everything but as I don't want to start running a restaurant with different meals for each of them I'm still giving them both puree just to ensure that DD1 takes it even though I know DD2 would prob eat "normal" food if I gave it to her.  Way I look at it is, they will figure out the eating thing in time - I'm in no rush.   We just came back from holiday and I brought some packaged baby food with me (they are french brand where you take off the lid and put the whole thing in boiling water for 5mins to heat it up - worked great as I just popped it into the kettle in our room).  I'm so glad I brought that stuff as otherwise I'm not sure what DD1 would have eaten anything besides cherios and snacks.  DD2 was eating noodles and fried rice and everything but DD1 just took two bites and was done.  I def recommend you take some pre-made stuff with you....just incase.  If you are going to a place where you can buy it then just wait till you get there and see how she does.  I knew I wouldn't be able to get what I wanted where we went so had to bring it all with me.
I discovered on hols too that both my DD LOVED the fork and this was the only time that DD1 actually ate normal food as she loved the process of stabbing the food with the fork and then putting it into her mouth...   After a few bites though she would stab the food, put it in her mouth, spit it out and stab it again.... no biggie though - I was giving her the premade stuff so she was full and she got to do lots of practice with the fork so all round it was good.

[Serides]

I have begun to try fork. he has liked it Thanks for the recommendations

[aisling]

Good news!

[EmMUK74]

that's great news, fork is always much more successful here than a spoon as well.