My independant little miss?

Nadia - posted on 02/04/2009

Thankyou very much for all your helpful suggestions! adn funny stories, Amber has five teeth at the moment and looks at me with a big grin just before throwing the bits of food onto the floor, usually this means she has finished eating, oh how i love her so so much! She is adorable. Cheers xxNadia

Pati - posted on 02/03/2009

Hi there,

My daughter was very independent in that way, not as far as to not be fed ever, but she enjoyed doing it herself especially at dinner when we all sat down together. I put small pieces of food right on her high chair tray, no dish to empty or toss, and I had a little kid fork that she could use if she wanted. She liked to try and get the food on their she would pick up a piece with one hand and stick it on with the other then eat it quite proud of herself. Id give her basically what we were eating little bites of meat and veggies pasta or potato not to small cut up and let her eat it with her hands or the fork.

For breakfast cheerios are easy, scrambled eggs and toast can be eaten with fingers or utensils waffles cut in strips work good and strips of fruit like cantaloupe or pears and bananas seedless oranges, try whatever you like and go from there. For Lunch have you tried little sandwiches yet? Good old pbj with the crust cut off and a few cheese puffs were favorites at my house. or grilled cheese or chicken salad are good for them and most kids like at least one of those. I started her on plain white or wheat bread rather than a heavy whole grain. Again cut up fruit and veggies, cooked and cubed carrots and beans, start with healthy choices and if that doesn’t work resort to whatever she will eat. If you give her hot dogs make sure to cut them in half.

 Her screaming is a phase unless you let her get away with it. I would use whatever discipline method you prefer to correct her and do it quickly and consistently. At 11 months she can be put to bed or a time out and she can cry it out for a good 30 minutes as long as she is not choking or hyperventilating. Loosing the toy or whatever she is throwing a fit over for an hour or till after nap time. Screaming will not get them anywhere and the sooner they learn that the better.

Heather - posted on 02/03/2009

there is a world of possibilities at this point!  you can usually start introducing a version of whatever you are making for everyone else.  If i am making a chicken dish, i just set aside some without sauce and cut it into cubes for her.  it really depends how many teeth she has too, we've even given my 10th old  pieces of ribs torn into bits, ground beef, frozen vegetables, cubed fruit, anything that is soft enough and small enough...this was actually a fun stage for us because we put everything on her tray and she picked everything up slowly and we got to eat in peace!!!  The whole spoon thing comes with time...the screaming gets better too.  The more my oldest was able to communicate the less she screamed.  We used a bit of sign language and simple words to help her tell us what she wanted.

Tara - posted on 02/03/2009

Sounds a little like my Madilyn!  LOL  I shouldn't laugh, it's not as funny as it will be when you tell the story in a few years.  Every child's different, and I don't know how many teeth your daughter has or how well she digests what you give her now.  I started giving mine foods before the "recomended" date.  She did fine.  By the time she was a year she was eating mostly big kid foods.  Noodles and hot dogs were the easiest to give her because she could control them better than other foods.  I'd give her bread or toast with "baby food" on it because letting her have vegies (whole or mashed) was pointless, all on the floor!  I also got those forms for little homade popcicles and froze baby food fruits, she thought they were good treats.  Hmmmm......... I know there was more.  Remember that every child is different and your daughter may not digest like mine did, to be honest Madi could shine a pork chop bone at 9 mos - but that is far from "recomended".

I'm going to try to remember other foods / tricks from 2+ yrs ago & try to find your thread again.  If I can't...Good Luck!

Kristen - posted on 02/03/2009

Tuna sandwhiches cut up into bite size peices are great and so is soft flour tortilla with melted cheese.  Also string cheese, scrambled eggs fixed like an omelet and then cut into squares.  You can sneak all kinds of veggies in there with cheese too!  As for the screaming thing it has to be a battle of wills.  I have found that it takes a bit of time but you should only give them what their little heart desires if they stop screaming and indicate their wish another way.  Good luck !

Karina - posted on 02/03/2009

my daughter did exactly the same thing at that age.. i just ended up giving her a bowl of whatever foods and layed out a sheet on the kitchen floor and let her go for it! in the end she ate when i ate and all by her big self. and as for the screaming that wont change just yet, my daughter is 3 and a half and is still doing that... i am wondering myself if she will ever grow out of that!! Hope she lets  you win soon, as it is frustrating but be persistant and she will soon be eating like a little person..

Amanda - posted on 02/03/2009

A couple things I give my little guy that he can feed himself are "Cheesy bread" I take a piece of whole wheat bread and shred some marble cheese on it and broil it in the oven for a minute, once it cools down I cut it into bite size pieces. We also buy frozen mixed veggies the one with carrots peas green beans and corn all "bite size" boil that until soft, cool and serve. Hope this helps I will be watching the other replies for more ideas for myself..LOL

Vanessa - posted on 02/03/2009

I have an almost 10 month old daughter, and ever since she started solid foods she never has wanted me to feed her either. So as much as possible I put her own food in front of her to eat meat, vegetables, fruit etc. and she loves it. I also tried the whole give her a spoon while feeding her it doesn't really work that well she doesn't like that she rather feed herself as much as possible. I'm not sure if this is a phase my daughter has always been feeding herself since she was 6 1/2 months old she hasn't really wanted me to help feed her she's always wanted to feed herself. I would just say try to give her as much finger foods of everything as possible and just let her figure out how to do it herself ex. like give her a spoon to use with her meal as well as letting her eat with her hands

Mara - posted on 02/03/2009

It is just a phase....I find that mac and cheese works, really anything with noodles/spaghetti, sometimes i'd make her soup (with lots of veggies, chicken, etc and drain out the soup and give her the rest). We use the Crock Pot ourselves which is also good for babies since the veggies and meat get so soft...i'd just put it on my daughters tray and let her feed herself..she went through a phase at about 11-12 months where she wouldn't eat if i tried to feed her but if i let her do it herself, she was fine. It's just a bit messier...my daughter is now 18 months...



the screaming/tantrums are also just a phase (i hope)...we're currently in that phase too...

Belinda - posted on 02/03/2009

You can feed her all sorts of stuff at this age, as long as she doesnt have any allergies you know of. Give her Cherios, cut up fruits... bananas, oranges, pears.... veggies like potatoes, grean beans, peas, corn. If these are foods she has never had then you should only stick to introducing one new thing at a time, that way if she does have an allergy to something you will know what thing new she has eaten. They sell small meat sticks for babies as well... most seem to love them!!  

Is this what you were asking?

As far as the screaming goes... Your in trouble if you give her whatever she wants when she screams... ignore her tantrums as long as she is not hurting herself. If she cries for longer that 5 or 10 min then you will need to address the situation differently.

If it is something you do not want her to have, offer her an alternative to what she wants at first... ususally you can pursuade them to "want" something else.... even if it is an empty paper towel roll....

Hope this helps!

Belinda

Kim - posted on 02/03/2009

Yes, my son was just like that. He refused to let me help him when he hit a certain age and if I attempted to help him he'd have a hissy fit. I gave him grilled cheese sandwiches alot because they are soft and he liked them. I'd give him pasta or mac cheese shells because he could pick them up individually. He still likes to pick ziti up on his finger and bite it off. Soon she'll use utensils like a pro. Good Luck!