Not interested? Am I doing it wrong?

[Mysleepingangel]

Hi all

So I have a 10mo who was quite an engaged eater, meaning he used to like eating and exploring new foods and would put it in his mouth (we followed BLW)

However, recently he doesn't want to feed himself. He's hungry, will inspect food but won't put it in his mouth. This is familiar food btw, toast, pancakes etc. He will eat if I am feeding him.

Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong? Have you experienced something similar?

Any thoughts or tips appreciated

My boy has absolutely no interest in feeding himself, though he's very keen on eating and would eat all day if I didn't stop spooning. My nephew was the same but niece more independant so no sure if it's a boy thing?

At 10 mo he was physically able to spoon the food in, but the interest wasn't there. I really started encouraging self feeding at around 12 and a half months, and now at 14 mo he spoons in pretty much all his food.

Teething? Our baby's intake really drops when she has teeth coming through. Equally they do go through these phases - it's normal. Try not to get stressed about it. Keep offering him different foods at mealtimes but have a back up of stuff you know he'll eat. Don't put pressure on him and try not to draw any attention to it. He will get back into it soon enough (and then will probably lose interest again for a bit in the future)!

He can hold a pre filled spoon and will attempt to put it in his mouth but its not always.

Also he will all the fruit you give him. No problem there!

Yes he is teething and I did wonder if its because of that.

So do I just feed him myself if he's not eating? He will eat fruit all day if I let him. But that's not very healthy is it??

Thanks x

If he's happy to take food by you feeding him then yes I would. It's not going to do any harm, he has plenty of time to master independent feeding. Keep offering him a variety of foods as you would normally ie a main course of protein/carb/veg and then a pudding of some sort (fruit or whatever). If he only eats the fruit at the moment, so be it. You can't make him eat and putting pressure on/getting frustrated/trying to coerce him will just add to the problem. It is such a pain and really frustrating (especially when it all goes on the floor!) but he will get there.

Yes feed him and keep offering finger foods for him to explore at the same time

Agree with the above. If he prefers you to feed him I'd do that. My DS was the same.

My DS wouldn’t have eaten a thing till 18th months if I hadn’t spooned it into his mouth! He had no interest in putting it there himself. He’s 8 now and isn’t still spoonfed 😁

Agree with pp.
My son went through stages of wanting me to feed him.
Keep putting finger food out for him and even if he just plays with it it's fine

Thank you guys. Its reassuring to hear similar stories and that this is normal.

I am feeding him when he won't do it himself. Last night though, he fed himself some vegetable rice with prawns when my husband filled his spoon :) so there's hope

Thanks again 💖