How to teach baby how to eat by herself?

Darcy - posted on 08/24/2009

I put things on Addison-Rae's tray of her high chair and let her feed herself, like potato salad and fruits. I give her a spoon to get use to bringing it to her mouth but she eats mostly with her hands

Cori - posted on 08/23/2009

my son loves feeding himself and its almost hard to sit down and get him to let me feed him he is a "puff-oholic" as we call it around our house.. its like the cheerios but they are fluffier so they disolve faster. also i give him scrambled egg yolks.. boiled peas and carrots small chunks of melon and other soft fruits and small chunks of bread or toast and i always use the "rule of thumb" i cut everything up and dont give it to him unless its smaller than the his THUMB nail.. that way he cant choke. but when we first started it was basically experimenting for him new textures and flavors and A LOT of mess!! but he loves it now and is hooked on self feeding!

Kylie - posted on 08/23/2009

My son can feed himself rather well, until he's bored. I started out at 8 months with the gerber puffs and cheerios, and now I've experimented with pieces of bread and fruits he could mush in his mouth, like bananas. As far as getting him to eat with the spoon, he likes to hold it and he puts the spoon in his mouth, but I'm not sure he's ready for the food to go on spoon and into his mouth.



He does the sippy cup sort of well, some comes out and some goes down. Is this normal?

Jenny - posted on 08/18/2009

One word: Cheerios!

Shannon - posted on 08/14/2009

Yeah starting out with finger foods is the best if you baby will chew. I use Gerber Graduates Puffs as a training food. They dissolve in thier mouth so they can't really choke. At first my baby only played with them but if you give it to them before thier bottle when they are hungry they are more likely to get it quicker. I just kept telling her to put it in her mouth and then I would put it in for her or put one in my mouth. She does it now no probs :)

Kim - posted on 08/13/2009

I am also having the same struggle.. My daughter is 9 months.. She is a great eater.. She puts toys in her mouth but does not put food.. She does drink out of a sippie cup.. So I know she has the motor control. I just started yesterday giving her a teething biscuit. I encouraged her to put it in her mouth. She did... So we shall see.. I am hoping soon! Good Luck to us all!

Kelly - posted on 08/09/2009

I started at about 6 months giving my son graham crackers and animal crackers to feed to himself....and at first he couldn't even really pick them up, but now he eats them like a pro....he still drops some of them into his chair....but does a good job for a almost 9 month old....as for "real" food....i would say that you just have to put them in the highchair and let them explore there food....and they will lurn to feed themselves...i give my son a spoon to play with while i feed him his baby food....and in between bites that i give him he puts the spoon in his mouth...i don't know if he really understands....but he seems to.....good luck...i would say that it is going to be a messy couple of months at my house till he knows how to feed himself "real" food....i am going to start giving it to him in his highchair when he turns 9 months....only about a week left...where did time go.....

Jessica - posted on 08/09/2009

i'm not sure but i'm couris to know too