fingers in mouth all the time!!!!

[Joseyjo]

my six month old has been having solids for about a month now. he is up to three meals a day and i am just starting to introduce protein. however he is driving me bonkers!!!!
he absolutely HAS to put the first two fingers of his left hand in his mouth between every mouthful and then he smears whatever was in his mouth all over his head. i don't mind him getting moderately messy but right now i can't feed him in public and certainly not in someone else's house/highchair. it is sooo annoying and makes meal times last forever. i have tried holding his hands but it just makes him scream until i let go, when he puts them straight back in his mouth. help!!!! how can i teach him that he can't have his fingers while he eats?

try giving him a spoon, or a wipeable toy as distraction and then shovel it in! may be teething

agree with alliebaba - give him a spoon, my ds is 5 months and he does this until I give him a spoon, I hold it with him and we direct it into his mouth - much easier!!

DS does the same - but he's doing it to keep the food in his mouth (teething, dribbling, runny nose, so he's inclined to open mouth when eats and then it falls out.) Agree with Lockets that finger food is your way forward!