Please help, 12 months old, will only self feed crackers, toast, breadsticks and bananas. I am losing the plot.

[mamakim]

He will literally only feed himself these things. He will allow me to feed him jars (i don't like doing this but i used to use them when out and about and now they are all he'll eat).

I made my mind up that it was time to eat what we eat but i have put everything i can think of infront of him but he will not physically touch anything else. If there is something spread on the toast or in sandwiches he won't touch it.

Please somebody give me some advice because mealtimes are starting to reduce me to tears. It's so frustrating that he won't pick food up even. I put a varitable feast of cheese, fruit, veg, filled pita, ommelette you name it in front of him. If there is no crispy things he will scream until i give him some.

When i started to wean him at 6 months i only gave him crispy things as finger food really and i now am worrying i have missed the 'window of opportunity' to get him to try other textures.

Please help!

Bananas aren't crisp.

You can replicate the sort of stuff they put in jars, can't you? Just whizz up a little of whatever you're having and feed him the puree. He's very young to be expected to eat like an adult.

Does he have a full set of teeth yet?

Feeding himself the things you mention, and taking sloppy food from a spoon, sounds great. He's doing really well. You are expecting too much.

He's only 12m. I think he's doing very well eating those bits by himself.

If he is happy with jar food then make your own so you know exactly what he is eating. You can also make it as coarse as you like.

From what you have said it doesn't sound like he is only interested in crispy food as he will eat jars and bananas. It may be that some days he can't be bothered/too tired to feed himself and neither should he be expected to do this all the time. Have you tried feeding him the bits of cheese/fruit/etc yourself?

Also, when does he have his milk?

Hi thanks for replying yeah the banana thing is weird, i have put that down to it being the first fruit i gave him. He won't eat anything i make anymore, hasn't for a couple of months now. My concern is that he won't touch other food with his fingers. Will he just one day do this if i keep offering other things? From what i'd read on here i thought he should be munching on the food we eat himself by now. He has some milk first thing and a bottle before bedtime.

have you tried giving him crispy things plus other things? lots of children seem to prefer dry things rather than things in sauce or whatever. are you eating with him? is he seeing you tuck into non crispy things?

i would really try to be as relaxed about it as you can. give him the crispy things, plus other things at the same time.

Aahh, I see. I am sure that if you keep offering other foods along side the breadsticks and toast he will eventually start exploring the different textures and foods. My ds1 did something similar but I stopped offering anything that he didn't eat and now I am having to reintroduce veg and fruit to a nearly 5yo!

Most of all don't worry! All babies go through phases, just try to take it in your stride and don't let it stress you because if he sees you anxious about what he's eating, he will pick up on it.

mine wasn't even close to self-feeding at that age. Eats perfectly normally at 2.7yrs. Just keep ofering, keep feeding and give him a spoon to play with.

make stews and put them in jars he recognises.

Thank you. I'm a bit of a control freak and i think the thing i'm most concerned about is that he'll end up as a 10 yr old that will only eat toast. It's like he makes his mind up as soon as he sees it's not crispy, or a banana(!) and won't even touch it. I hope it's a phase, just worry the longer it goes on that he won't try anything else the harder it'll be to get him to. Food phobias etc. He's very strong minded and will only eat what he recognises.

When my dc were at the highchair stage, I put the food on the tray and then ate my own food. A lot of mess would be made, but some would go in the baby's mouth - and they learnt to feed themselves.

I second the make it yourself but put it in the jars subterfuge!! Worked brill with DS1. Also try and get him to feed you. Sounds odd but they learn my example and if you make it a game it might take the pressure of both of you. Definitely try and relax, so long as he's eating (and it does sound like he is) thats fine for now.

does your babe like parm. cheese? or seaweed flakes? if so you could sprinkle bits on food. try givin him things that are not squishy baby food my little one hated baby food as well and i thought she was picky then we started her on chunkier food and really diced soileds and she is a great eater also very strange but if you feed her with a spoon she does not want it but if we eat our dinners then pick up some of her food with our forks she will eat it.

DTs are only 12 months and have 2 teeth each so aren't great at feeding themselves things. they can get it in their mouths but can't cew it properly yet. He's still young. x