Same old refusing food problem but need some tips please!

[snowleopard]

DS is only just under 10 months old and he's started refusing food off a spoon. He will eat finger food, and he will eat properly at nursery, so it's not an appetite thing, it's a test of independence thing. Trouble is, he's so little that he can't really do finger foods very well and very little goes in. I'm worried he really is ending mealtimes hungry. One thing he can eat is sultanas, but I presume a diet of just sultanas is not OK?

Any ideas, or if not, when might he grow out of this?

Hi snowleopard. I have ds2 who is 14months and started refusing to be fed when he was 6months old! Have found with all of mine that the best thing to do is if they want to do it themselves then let them. It's amazing how quickly they will start getting the food into the right place.

I always put a little extra on the plate to allow for spillages, and tailor what you give them to what they can handle. Grated cheese, bits of bread, banana, mashed potato (although a little messy that one!). Don't worry about him being hungry - if he is he'll let you know. You can always try spooning a few mouthfuls in while he's busy playing with whats in his hands.

Don't worry about him getting dirty - it's all part of the fun of mealtimes, and before you know it he'll be feeding himself with no problems. Here's to messy mealtimes!! :o

if i'm worried about the amounts dd is getting to her mouth herself i sneak a few bites in on the spoon while she's got her hands full, and like rosycheek said serve up loads extra to account for spillages. if you let them have they're independance with most meals they tend to be more amenable to taking the really messy stuff like yogurt of the spoon for you.

My dd has just started to do this - she's just under 10 months, too. Thankfully she's very good with fingerfood, so I know she won't go hungry, but I'd really like her to eat from a spoon as well! It isn't even all the time - some meals she'll quite happily eat from the spoon, other times there's no way. I have figured that if she so much as sees something that could be fingerfood, she wants that. So I don't get any fingerfood out until I've tried with the spoon-food - even my own toast has to wait in the morning .

Can anyone give me an idea as to when it will be worth letting her use a spoon? I know, it'll be messy, but at least we don't have carpets .

You ladies have very advanced los! DD (18 mos) started all this malarky just after her first birthday. For a while, a spoon piloted by anybody else was not allowed anywhere near her mouthspace. It does pass but at the time it can be quite stressful. Veg became a big problem but luckily she liked fruit and lots of fruit lend themselves well to fingers. Also even if they cannot self feed with a spoon, if you give them one to hold it sometimes distracts them enough to let you sneak a few spoons in. Also Snowleopard a friend of mine got her DS to eat by adding sultanas to everything - e.g. spap bol with sultanas so perhaps a diet of everything plus sultanas [smile}

Thank you! Thought this had fallen off due to its tiresome nature! But I really appreciate the replies and I will try the "huge pile of finger foods" approach and also the opposite - no fingerfoods while I try the spoon. And also sultanas in everything - will make him some sultana porridge for tomorrow.

I don't mind mess - mealtime is generally mess everywhere. His highchair is next to a wall and he likes to take a piece of food and "draw" on the wall with it - nice.

I used to be able to sneak spoonfuls in but he's got wise to it. He just hates not being able to do it all himself... he's the same with trying to walk, etc. (My HV saw him a week ago and she said "My god, what is he going to be like when he's two!?" Yikes.)