Food for fun until they're one...

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What happens at one?!

I'm doing a mixture if spoon feeding and blw for dd, she will be one next week. She is increasingly refusing the spoon, preferring to pick the food up off the tray herself.

When do you stop letting them play with it? She will rub it round her tray, knock everything off onto the floor etc. When do you stop it being fun?

She is good at eating but a lot still gets spat out. When will this stop?!

You can't force them to eat. Perhaps you are overestimating her appetite? My DS refused to be spoonfed anything that wasn't a pudding from 8 months onwards and although it seemed that he didn't eat much, he was putting on weight so he must have been getting what he needed. Nothing magical happens overnight on their first birthday anyway. Its just that babies under one are getting most of what they need from milk. Try not to make it into an issue with her. If she is growing and she is healthy let her feed herself and stop when she is done. I read a book called "my child won't eat" which was very reassuring.

Thanks Kat I mostly let her sort herself out now, if she refuses the spoon, food gets blobbed on the tray and she quite happily sticks her hands in and sucks them.

It's just when do you stop them throwing stuff on the floor? How long before it becomes unacceptable?

I never allowed/encouraged food to be played with tbh. Food being fun til 1 surely just means it doesn't form the majority of their calorie intake until 12 months.

That's a tricky one. DS is nearly two now so I know if he chucks it on the floor he is doing it on purpose. I ask him to eat nicely and if he throws again I end it by taking the food away.

I think it's a gradual thing, as they get older they do stop throwing food on the floor! They usually do it when they've had enough to eat and getting bored. Try serving a little at a time maybe.
My DD hardly ate anything before she was 1, also BLW, she was happy and very healthy on mostly just BM. She is a great eater now at 3.5yrs. She is hardly ever ill so she certainly didn't lose out my not eating much between 6-12 months.
And I second the suggestion of reading "my child won't eat". It's a great book.

I agree with Kat; you can only offer food, you can't control what she does with it! I agree, you may be overestimating how much food she needs. Their appetites often reduce around a year as their rate of growth slows. And yy to "My child won't eat"- another fan here!

The only real change I would make at a year is to keep an eye on how much milk they have and restrict it if they're having loads so they're nit too full for solids.

With the throwing, it is a common phase and it's basically a game to her; I don't believe at this age it's deliberately naughty or defiant. I would just ignore it and return the food to the tray now and again. Telling her off just gives her attention for doing it which is exactly what she wants. DS grew out of this phase around 16 months I think. Now, age 2 and a half, he very occasionally throws something when he's frustrated or cross and we do discipline him because he knows it's wrong, but I don't think it would have worked or helped when he was 12 months old.

I would stop the spoon feeding, and just put the food down in front of her with some suitable baby cutlery. Then let her get on with it herself.

If she starts playing with/throwing food I would take it as a sign that she is finished, and clear up. Even if you think she hasn't eaten much/enough. The thing about BLW is to let the child decide how much and what to eat.

Thank you all. I think I offer her quite a lot actually as then she's guaranteed to eat something, for breakfast for example she will have porridge, then a slice if toast, then I offer fruit.
Obviously not all of it is eaten. Should I stop offering the toast do you think and just go for porridge and fruit? I'm just worried about her going hungry as I'm trying to cut down on bf when she's with me.
I have just started trying her with cows milk and she seems to like it which is good as the grandparents can offer her that now.

I wouldn't do porridge and toast and fruit for my ds. I would do porridge with fruit in (grated apple, banana, blueberries etc), and just give that. If he ate all of the first serving I would give more until he was done.

She won't go hungry if she's able to follow her own appetite.

I think food should still be fun after they're one! it's just that it's increasingly important that they do it eat as well.

I let my DD play with her food as much as she wants on her tray. But by the age of one she was deliberately dropping some of it if she didn't want it. I was very strict about that that she should instead pass me anything she wanted to get rid of, and I always accept it. I spent a few weeks sternly catching bits, then she took to it fine. (Or she can leave it in her bowl and not touch it, and that's fine too.) I never make her eat anything she doesn't want to.

I keep fruit to the end of the meal, since she'll eat that when she's no longer hungry for savoury food.

Just to clarify my last point, obv DD drops food on the floor accidentally sometimes, and off course I don't tell her off for that!! only if it's clearly on purpose.

I changed the "mantra" to food is fun while they are one after DS turned 1. at around 16 months it became clear he was really eating more then having milk and from there he has gone on to eat food almost exclusively.