Won't take finger food

[SoTiredOfTheWheelsOnTheBus]

DS is now 10 months old, but won't take any food that is not on a spoon. He'll happily pick things up and play with them, but hasn't worked out that it is okay to eat them afterwards. He's really funny about things near his mouth, he's fine with food on a spoon, or a cup, but if you offer him a piece of food (or even try to brush his teeth with a toothbrush), he'll clamp his mouth together firmly and turn his head away, and gets distressed if you try again. He has his meals in a highchair, sitting up at the table, and I have my meals with him, so I've eaten finger foods in front of him, hoping that he'll get the idea through watching me, but so far, no luck. He seems to be quite old not to be feeing himself with bits and pieces, has anyone else had this? I'd really appreciate other ideas to get him to feed himself.

I guess it is just a case of keep offering them.

Does he have lumpy food/chopped food for his meals? Will he use a spoon himself?

He'll play with a spoon (he's quite good now at flicking things on the floor!) but not to feed himself. He's okay with some lumps in food, he likes pasta, risotto, that sort of texture, but anything too big just gets spat out again. I suppose there isn't really much else I can do except keep on offering finger foods to him, it's just that I hadn't really expected it to take this long with no signs of success.

It's frustrating isn't it? My dd is one this week, and it's only in the past week that she has worked out how to feed herself. She would take food from a spoon, drink from a beaker (so long as I was holding it!), even open her mouth to allow me to put bits and pieces in, but would not feed herself. Bizarrely she didn't put anything else in her mouth either. But suddenly the penny has dropped. I gave her some very large foil wrapped chocolate coins to play with (can't imagine how it got left over from Christmas), and periodically we would share a coin. Anyway, walked into the room to find that she had not only managed to unwrap one (probably fluke) but was consuming it, in a rather inept way! Have to say I encouraged her by offering her some more. She will now also feed herself things like bits of breadstick, oatcakes, dried apricot, cheese, although my attempts at veg sticks have been rejected out of hand. Unfortunately she has also suddenly decided to put other stuff in her mouth too, so it feels as if I suddenly have an entirely different child on my hands because she is also hell bent on eating things like tissue she has whipped out of my pocket, and demonstrating to me just how inexpertly I hve vacuumed by finding and attempting to consume all the bits I have left behind! She still struggles with biting. I would, for example, have to hold a banana for her if she were going to eat it whole. She can't begin to attempt things like cucumber or apple, and funnily enough she doesn't do well with things like pasta either unless it's that tiny soup pasta stuff. I've come to the conclusion she either gets tired or bored of chewing lumps! Presumably it will improve as she gains a few more teeth (she has only two half grown ones at the moment). No idea when she'll get the hang of a spoon!

Sorry. Written an essay. Guess what I mean to say is hang on in there. Keep offering stuff and I'm sure it will happen eventually.

Thanks Arriety, that's reassuring that it will come!