Independant 11 month old

[KoalaBear]

My 11 months old DS refuses food from a spoon, but will happily shovel into his mouth finger food of all shapes and sizes - chicken, ham, avocado, fish, cucumber, cheese, carrots, peas, zuchini, pototo, toast, banana, mini wheats etc etc

Unfortunately, it takes him quite some time - lunch and dinner usually take about 1 hour, which can be quite frustrating. I don't want to take food away from him whilst he is still eating and hungry, but I can't hurry him up by putting food in his mouth or he starts throwing it on the floor.

Am I doing the wrong thing by allowing his independence at this early age? Should I limit the amount of time he has to eat in the hope that he "realises" and eats faster? Is there something I am missing and should be doing?

Thanks

[nnosam]

you arent doing any thing wrong, this is about right for this age.
i would leave him be, my ds (2) still takes a good 20-25 minutes to eat any meal. it does get quicker and easyier as they get older...

[KoalaBear]

phew! it's a relief to know that that it's normal (how fabulous is MNET!), but even better to know that it gets quicker (sigh) - thank you

do you know of any resources for finger food for this age because i don't want him to get bored and would like to keep trying him on new things ??

[slug]

Asparagus. Makes the nappies stink but easy to hold and easy to eat.

[TracyK]

My ds did exactly the same - he did let me feed him with my fingers too though which sped things up a bit.
He's now 12mo and is learning to use the spoon himself and is willing to let me use a spoon for feeding him at the same time now - but it's taken a long time to get to this stage!
He loves brocolli, peas, raisins, strawberries, nectarine, omlette cut up, eggy bread.

[KoalaBear]

hadn't tried egg - for some reason thought we weren't supposed to do that before a year - but will try tonight for tea

[Chuffed]

I made vegetable fritters the other night and dd loved them as easy to hold and tasty.
This is totally normal.
I find dd eats better if I sit pull the highchair up to the table or eat right beside her and chat and make conversation, it is easier to do at night with dh home.
I actually said to dh how do people get their kids to bed by 7 when it takes an hour to eat dinner and then you have bath etc.

[KoalaBear]

veg fritters sound great - do you have recipe?