10 month old doesn't self feed

[Lulusunflowers]

Looking for some advice or tips to encourage my little one to self feed.
My baby boy is brilliant with food, he has been a keen eater as soon as we started solids. He honestly loves alll food, however we struggle to get him to self feed.
He'll squish food in his hands, throw it on the floor but never actually attemps to put any in his mouth. He plays with a spoon and sometimes puts that in his mouth but never food.
We always offer finger friendly portions along side us feeding him. Ie finger toast or whole florett ectt but when we offer it to him he can get incredibly stressed and just scream. We've tried offering food outside of meal times to try and take the pressure off but he will either squish it or just cry like we're about to torture him.
I'm just starting to worry that this could be an issue or do we just ride it out and he'll do it when he's ready. He's hit all other milestones and is just a incredible little boy.
Also suffice to say, by no means do I expect my baby to completely self feed. Just want to encourage him to give it a go sometimes.
Any advice or tips welcome
TIA x

Normal. I spoon fed mine mostly, I didn't allow a lot of this food throwing and eating with their hands that is normalized nowadays, I hate it. Around 16-18 months he grabbed the spoon from me and started doing it here and there. By age 2, he wouldn't let me spoon feed him at all anymore. He's a great eater and is great with cutlery.

Chill.

@10cupsofcoffeeplease I appreciate your response, and I’m glad to hear that you had a positive experience with your child and they are great with cutlery.
However, I didn’t particularly appreciate the use of the word “chill”, as it implies that I need to calm down, relax, or stop overreacting, none of which are accurate.
I was simply reaching out to other mums for advice on how to encourage self-feeding and allow my child to explore food independently, particularly as baby-led weaning is something that health visitors actively encourage. I'm simply asking for advice or people to share their experiences. I wasn't looking for judgement or snarky remarks. There’s a way to offer your opinion without being dismissive or condescending.

How rude of you.

@Realorsurreal What exactly is rude in what I wrote? Also why do you feel the need to comment?

Do you sit down as a family and eat together? If he's watching you feeding yourselves he's more likely to emulate it.

You do need to chill about it. Nothing rude any saying so. Your ds’s behaviour around food is completely age-appropriate. Back off with the pressure - on him, on yourself, on others.

@StayCoolLikeAPenguin yes we eat all meals together as a family

He's still very young to be feeding himself. As he is eating well, continue to spoon feed him and offer little bits for him to play with. The rest will follow naturally when he's ready.

If this is the first time you've been told to chill about an aspect of parenting then you'd better get used to it 😂
We all need to chill sometimes when we freak out about something that's not a sign of anything wrong in our precious first babies. It's a rite of passage.
Your kid is a great eater. Take the positives.

Goodness OP. I was just coming on to say your child sounds perfectly normal and you need to relax and take the pressure off. However you sound as if you get cross very easily.
Meal times need to be calm and enjoyable. It is a bad idea to give too many snacks and focus too much on food and eating. You want your child/ family to have a good relationship with food.

Get a plastic cup and smear something in the bottom that he likes the taste of. Let him play with it. Do the same with a small plastic bottle and a spoon.

Granny offering her opinion here. I have two under twos that I have been caring for (while mums work) since they were 6 months.

It has been interesting to see how different they have been when it comes to eating. One loves most food the other eats enough but has needed fortified milk prescribed by dietician because his growth was concerning.

So in my opinion the advice to chill/relax was spot on. If you have a ten month old who 1. is growing according to expectations. 2. Is exposed to family food 3. Enjoys playing with food (avoid wiping mess off hands during meal times), then you have done your job. Give it time.

At this point if your lovely son is reaching all his other milestones, he does not need any specific encouragement at mealtimes, he just needs exposure and opportunity to explore food.

Give it six months - if there is no change then speak to your health visitor.

Wow some people on here need to mind their own. OP was simply asking for advice not peoples opinion on her parenting style or temperament. It goes back to the age old saying if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.
OP, your child sounds completely normal and try not to worry. He sounds spot on and will one day just start doing it. My child (she's 10 now) suddenly didn't want to be spoon fed when she was small. Keep doing what your doing x