I have shared with you guys before about wanting to follow baby-led weaning and how my pediatrician strictly advised me against it as my little girl is a slow weight-gainer.
So, I reluctantly began feeding her monitored portions with a bowl and spoon.
But we are just over 8 months old now and I thought that it’s time she slowly began taking her first steps towards independent feeding.
You’ll know your baby is ready for self-feeding when they start to grab the spoon or pull at the feeding bowl when being fed to.
So, if you are like me and want to start training a little bowl and spoon feeder to self-eat soon, here’s a few tips that may come in handy.
✔️ First of all, make sure you are giving them opportunity. Expecting your toddler to become an independent feeder overnight is not going to happen. Let them start young and let them try; try and try again. Yes, they will struggle with it, but it’s a whole new skill that needs to be mastered.
✔️What I have started doing since last week is giving the spoon over to her for about 5-10 minutes during meal times (we take around half an hour to feed each time). This allows baby to associate the spoon with eating by herself and get to work on her fine motor skills a little too. She does wave the spoon around sometimes, food flies off it, but she also instinctively drives it towards and into her mouth most times. Watching her do that the first time I let her hold the spoon was so rewarding!
✔️Once your little one starts to put food to her mouth with a spoon, put your hand on top of their’s and dip it together in the food – put just enough on the spoon so it is just a taste. Do this a few times throughout the meal. I’m hoping my little girl will start to get the hang of it soon.
✔️Give into the mess. There’s going to be a mess. I do this activity in the mornings when I’m not too tired and I don’t mind the extra cleaning. Even though I’m not too fond of messes (at all) I know that this is how she will learn.
PINKPOPPYPETAL 