How to encourage self feeding

[Somethingvague]

Hi,

I was wondering about top tips to encourage self feeding?

I have an 8 month old daughter. Originally I was going to go down the BLW route, but at 6 months her coordination wasn't great still so I've done a mix approach with purees. Nowadays I usually spoon feed her breakfast and dinner but just do finger foods at lunchtime.

The problem is that she is still not eating much, especially with the finger foods. For most things she will just play with and then start making frustrated noises. She does like toast, rice cakes and fruit - but even these she still seems to be only actually swallowing very small quantities of.

My plan was to start switching just to a BLW approach, but this seems impossible at the moment. So, any suggestions are appreciated - thanks!

Just a case of her getting used to it, offer finger food at every meal not just one.
Only meant to offer portions the size of the child’s fist which is tiny so don’t worry about how much she’s having.
They all tend to play around and explore the first food first.
Whatever finger food you offer, you sit with her and eat it aswell so she can see what your doing and will copy.

Also just to add regarding the amounts she’s eating, milk is her main source of food still so she’ll be getting everything she needs from that.

It's down to practice, so the more they do it the better they get. I agree with above: give finger foods at all meals, and sit with her eating the same to model how it's done. I always tried not to hover over them when they ate or make a fuss, I just chatted away normally like I would with anyone else at the table (albeit a rather one-sided chat!).

Thank you for the advice. I'm nervous to switch to just finger foods because I feel she'd eat so little! She is bf and quite a big girl, but I want to be able to stop at 1 really, so I'd like to feel confident she's going to be eating well.

As an example, yesterday my toddler, baby and I all had jacket potatoes, so were all eating the same. She literally didn't even pick it up. Just flapped her arms and made frustrated noise. What should I do if this happens?

I know milk is their main food still but she still needs to be getting other nutrients like iron, so I do worry about her not getting enough.

I have the same problem. I’ve started giving DS just finger foods at lunch. He has a few snacks and a big dinner (spoon fed) so eats a good amount throughout the day but not giving him spoon fed food at one meal makes him more likely to feed himself. Maybe worth a try?

Don’t have to switch to just finger foods, she can have purée but offer a finger food alongside it.
If she’s not interested in it, just ignore it and take it away once she’s done.
But you have to been consistent with the offers and a variety.

How did you serve the jacket potatoes? Cut into a few bite/wedge sized pieces would be ideal (give her more when they are done)

You can also leave some preloaded spoons of thick purée / porridge / mashed potato etc on her tray and she can spoon feed herself. Sometimes that can be easier as finger foods can be slippery. I also sometimes put some slippery foods on a blunt plastic fork and my 8mo can pick that up and eat it. But I would offer a mix of spoons and regular finger foods.

Hi yes, that's how I served it and it wasn't touched, despite being hungry. Toast is the only real finger food she tries to eat tbh, she doesn't even like those puff things.

Thank you, I will try to offer more alongside meals generally.

Also I find it you put too much on the high chair at once they get overwhelmed. You could try just leaving one little bit.

@Somethingvague

Thank you for the advice. I'm nervous to switch to just finger foods because I feel she'd eat so little! She is bf and quite a big girl, but I want to be able to stop at 1 really, so I'd like to feel confident she's going to be eating well.

As an example, yesterday my toddler, baby and I all had jacket potatoes, so were all eating the same. She literally didn't even pick it up. Just flapped her arms and made frustrated noise. What should I do if this happens?

I know milk is their main food still but she still needs to be getting other nutrients like iron, so I do worry about her not getting enough.

If she doesn't touch it, just clear it away without a fuss. The last thing you want is to get into a battle of wills or having to negotiate & cajole mouthfuls. I always went with the saying of "it's the parents' job to provide healthy food, and the child's job to eat it", and she won't starve as she'll be getting plenty of calories from the milk. They do need additional nutrients once over 6m, but that can be covered with the use of a good multivitamin (which she should be getting any way) whilst they get the hang of feeding themselves. They don't need to be eating loads at 8m, it's more important to be trying a range of flavours/textures and building the motor skills.