Do you spoon feed?

My son picks up all foods and feeds himself. Obviously I spoon feed him stuff he can’t do himself like purées/yogurt and stuff like that while we still learn a spoon

Messy eating is crucial for development! It’s the only way they will learn. I’ve never spoon fed my baby. Discuss your concerns with your pediatrician. Eating on their own and gaining independence is soo important at this age

Things that are messy like yogurt, oatmeal, etc., usually. But also give him the spoon to do it himself. 98% of the time he feeds himself. It is so, so good for their fine motor skills, as well as mental development to let them feed themselves as much as possible. Even messy eating! They are learning so much during that. We're very big on independence and allowing him to play with spoons, cups, bottles, etc. Watching us use them, showing him how, talking through what we're doing and why.

@Madelyn I offer him the food but he just refuses it unless I hand it to him piece by piece and put it in his mouth.

my son just made the full switch the feeding himself but it took trials for sure!! the messy stage is one you can not skip we laid a throw away table clothe down and gave him a baby spoon to practice the more messy things like yogurt,, we also just let him play with his food and let him try it at his own pace rather than forcing it in face,, banana and toast were the easiest things for him to try first, eggs and rice i still show him he can eat it but it’s not his favorite texture and it’s harder to pick up i also would just turn my back and “ignore” him while he was exploring his food because he would get so mad if i was watching him closely

My daughter will say no to all foods and will only feed herself rice and spaghetti. Other food I have to sometimes pin her down cos if care is not taken she really prefers breast milk than food

As messy as it is I let her grab everything including a spoon or fork she will sometimes use them and other times she just uses her hand and holds the utensils in the other hand. Surprisingly she gets yogurt and stuff pretty well with her hands lol She started out just throwing everything I would only give her a little on her high chair at a time and feed her spoonfuls in between we try to eat with her too so she sees us and mimics and now eats majority of what I serve her on her plate just likes to toss the plates now My daughter never held her bottle we transitioned her to a straw cup and she will hold that one but every now and then I have to hold it for her. I would bring it up to the pediatrician to see what they say tho

I anticipate only a fraction will go in the mouth. I personally have the time to clean up the messes compared to when I was a single mom raising my first 2 I spoon fed. I feel like it's better for them to have that sensory experience and independence of at all possible but you gotta do what you gotta do too 💁

Mine doesn't use utensils yet, so we spoon liquid food, but for the most part, she picks up the chunks herself.