How come he doesn't automatically lick food off his hands?

[gretagrape]

Hi. Not bothered about it, but just wondering why everything not nailed down goes straight into my 8mo son's mouth, but when he gets food on his hands he doesn't put that into his mouth?!

He's happy to eat finger food if it's put into his hand, happy to hold a spoon, and pick it up and put that into his mouth, but if he swirls his hand around his bowl it doesn't occur to him to lick it all off!

lick it for him... he will do it by example
:-)

I've done that! I also dip my finger in his food and lick it and he laughs but doesn't show any interest in doing it himself!

I guess he'll pick it up at some point then.

I have wondered same thing about my 7.5mo. Let me know if you work out how to encourage it.

Vaguely getting there in the past couple of days. I think giving him pasta spirals for a few meals in a row helped - I put them into his hand and gradually gave them to him further and further from his mouth until I was making him take them from me virtually at the level of his bowl. Then he started picking them up from the gunk in the bowl which meant he got it all over his hand and eventually realised the gunk was the same stuff being put on his spoon and shoved it in his mouth!

Hooray!