feeding with a spoon turning into a battle of the wills | ExpatWoman.com
 

feeding with a spoon turning into a battle of the wills

236
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 13:32

hi hi, 9 mo ds has always done a combo of wet chunky mashed vegies (fed with a spoon) and finger foods so is very used to feeding himself. now when we try and spoon feed he wrestles the spoon off us. i've also tried giving him a spoon of his own to avoid mashed weetbix and banana being air borne, nothing seems to work.
i'm thinking of just doing finger food now - but struggle to know if he's eating enough. does anyone have a good guide for the amount i should be giving him. ie - today for lunch he had 2 home made mini snags, 4 pieces cheese, 4 pieces broccoli, 2 x avocado bits and finished with kiwi and rice crackers - enough?
it would also be good to know what other filling finger foods are good for kids that like to feed themselves.
tia

123
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 August 2011 - 21:24
Thinking about what Pentel said re: salt, (I had no idea there was that much in bread btw so good to know) I often bake DS a sugar-free peach/banana bread which is good because you control the ingredients. Likewise little savory muffins. We don't have this (or bread) often as DS doesn't cope well with too much starch/gluten but when we do he loves it. I asked for salt free bread in Spinneys and they told me that they bake all their breads without salt. So I dont mind my kid eating 2 slices of bread a day to be honest. My son went through a similar phase when he was about 8 months old, it lasted a few days and than went back to normal..a few weeks later he had another phase of not accepting mommy's spoon and he is almost 1 and he never had that "problem" again. Actually to solve the issue, we were working with 3 spoons. 1 for mommy and 2 small ones for my son just to make sure he always had 1 spoon in his hand. When he opened his mouth I secretly squeezed in my spoon so I was sure he still ate enough. I think its very good he is showing his independence, only issue is the mess and the time it takes to feed ... Now my son has a fixation on forks so I am sure it wont take long before I will have to get him a few safe forks for experimenting... About the amount I wouldnt worry to much and most definitely not ask other people how much your kid should eat. My son eats 10 times more than my friends kid and yet he is not fat at all. He just burns it all off by constantly racing around the room. If I tried to give him less I would have a very cranky baby. I read yesterday that if banana is hard and to slippery as fingerfood you can roll it in wheat for more grip, same counts for avocado. I havent tried it yet though. Fingerfoods I have tried and that are a success are well cooked pasta sprirals, hardboiled egg, broccoli trees, small pieces of cooked chicken or fish, cheese sticks ( i pull them apart so they are like threads and he loves it), steamed pieces of apple, small pieces of rasberry and blackberry, wholeweat breadsticks, ...
33
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 24 August 2011 - 22:17
My LO is just starting to use the spoon himself. Yep, it is very messy! But so nice to watch him learn.
1861
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 August 2011 - 21:45
Is it a real problem to let him feed himself with his own spoon? If he wants to, or rather doesn't want you to feed him with one, then it's a good thing really. Yes it'll be messy, but it's all part of the fun! I'm pretty sure both of mine had moved on to self-spoon-feeding before they got to a year old and were definitely on knife and fork at just gone a year. Nb: fromage frais are better than runny yogurts for little'uns to cope with.
2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 August 2011 - 20:35
I often bake DS a sugar-free peach/banana bread oooh recipe please! oh and over here.. I can only guess that there is probably more salt than that in the local bread and goodness knows how much sugar as it does taste v sweet.. I'm glad that LuLu sell a UK brand of bread so at least I'm sure how much salt is actually in a slice, I've never managed to bake a good loaf for toasting with reduced sugar/salt that keeps more than 2 days. edited by pentel on 22/08/2011 I'm sure my version could be improved upon, I just adapted a regular banana bread recipe by using unsalted butter, removing the sugar completely and adding 1 peach (lower the amount of milk) and a few figs which I put in the blender and then I throw some whole blueberries or raspberries into the mix after. Its quite dense without the sugar but tastes good.
33
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 24 August 2011 - 20:27
I have a book by Annable Karmel and it is great for receipes and knowing what your baby should be eating. At the back it has a guide for a daily diet as well depending on age. You can also check out the website for helpful tips and ideas http://www.annabelkarmel.com/
Anonymous (not verified)
0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 18:01
I often bake DS a sugar-free peach/banana bread oooh recipe please! oh and over here.. I can only guess that there is probably more salt than that in the local bread and goodness knows how much sugar as it does taste v sweet.. I'm glad that LuLu sell a UK brand of bread so at least I'm sure how much salt is actually in a slice, I've never managed to bake a good loaf for toasting with reduced sugar/salt that keeps more than 2 days. <em>edited by pentel on 22/08/2011</em>
2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 16:33
Thinking about what Pentel said re: salt, (I had no idea there was that much in bread btw so good to know) I often bake DS a sugar-free peach/banana bread which is good because you control the ingredients. Likewise little savory muffins. We don't have this (or bread) often as DS doesn't cope well with too much starch/gluten but when we do he loves it.
Anonymous (not verified)
0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 15:53
you've described what my DD would eat in a day let alone in one meal!! she's also never taken to being spoon fed so I've had to be forever inventive in feeding her regular food. be wary of too much bread, 1 slice of bread can contain 0.5g of salt and the recommendation is no more than 1g a day for babies under 1 year.. so toast for breakfast and a sandwich at lunch could be too much.
2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 13:50
give up completely, and try again in a few weeks if you want to, they go through phases, but its great if he feeds himself, eventually you can give pre-loaded spoons and he'll happily feed himself them too.
236
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 13:47
sandwiches are a great idea thanks, esp as he's a toast fiend at breakfast. so do you think it's ok to stop with the spoon feeding all together for a while or should we persist? FYI he still has 3 BF a day - when he gets up, before midday nap and before bed. <em>edited by scratch on 22/08/2011</em>
2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 August 2011 - 13:41
Totally depends how much milk he is having but sounds like loads. You might want to track down a copy of Gil Rapley's Baby-led weaning book to reassure yourself you don't have to calorie count (unless you have issues with his growth centiles etc in which case you would probably want to up the milk) DS will eat little sandwiches with pretty much ANYTHING inside so might be a way to get the things that are trickier as finger foods into his diet even if they don't appeal to you as sandwich fillings.
 
 

ON EXPATWOMAN TODAY