How do I get my baby to put food in her mouth?

Heather - posted on 05/31/2012

Stop feeding her baby food. She is 15 months old for gosh sakes! She is ready to real food now. Start giving her bites of everything you eat. Pasta, cheese, meat, cereal etc. She WILL eat and pick up food and put it into her mouth when she is hungry. She must not be that hungry or be really tired of eating baby food by now. EWW!

Sarah - posted on 05/31/2012

My daughter is 12 months. What I have been doing with her is making foods that she can pick up and eat and that are soft. Peas, pears (cut up), cheerios, chicken nuggets. Noodles are an easy one for them to eat, but can be hard for them to pick up sometimes. I first will put a little bit on her tray or plate. Sometimes she eats and sometimes she plays. Playing is actually part of the learning process, so in some ways it is ok if she plays. What I then do is after a little bit I will feed it to her with either my fingers or a fork/spoon. Sometimes I also give her a baby spoon to play with. What I have found is that after awhile she starts to figure out that food goes in your mouth and starts to put it in on her own. Her eating has been up and down and she has learned that if she does not want something all she has to do is take it out with her fingers. So I have had to give up control on some of that. I have realized that if she only eats a few bites and is done it is not going to hurt her and she will make that up later down the road either that day or the next day or week (having an endless bottomless pit). I also realize that some days she may want mainly fruit and the next mainly veggies. I just offer a variety of healthy foods each time she eats.

Lisa - posted on 05/30/2012

She eats baby food especially the plum organics baby food and she'll eat some solid food...like rice, french fries, mash potatoes. And she'll eat some snacks, like plum organics teensy fruits in all the flavors. She use to like the gerber puffs but not anymore. Crackers and cookies forget it, she won't even swallow those...once in her mouth she'll spit it out. The frustrating part is that everything has to be given to her. If you put a french fry or rice in front she'll just play with it...won't even try to put it in her mouth. I try to teach her to put it in her mouth but that doesn't work. I hate having to give her baby food all the time. I'm hoping that I get some suggestions on here so she can start putting food in her mouth. Thx for your suggestion!

Kristin - posted on 05/30/2012

Hmm thats a tough one. I have 3 kids and my youngest is 13 months and she eats everything she can put in her mouth. She would not eat baby food at all and I know if my kids didnt like a particular food they would not eat it. My 6 yr old has a hard time with certain textures on foods and wont eat them. Just keep putting the food in front of her and let her have variety on her plate. With all my kids i made them a plate of food with what everyone else was having just cut into small pieces and we all eat together. Will she eat baby snacks at all? (ie baby crackers or cookies, my daughter loves the baby corn puffs in all flavors which i get at walmart)