when do you stop spoon feedng and just giving table food?

Kelly - posted on 09/11/2009

she is a bit old for pureed , it is fine for her to eat regular foods.

Charlie - posted on 09/11/2009

Cooper has had table food from 6 months , he especially loves holding on to lamb cutlets and gumming away at them !!

JoMarie - posted on 09/11/2009

My boys loved black beans at that age.

Paula - posted on 09/08/2009

the one thing i used to let my lil one hand feed himself was ravioli........he loved it lol.. fish sticks work good too if they are good eatters

Mary - posted on 06/04/2009

Quoting Jen:

I should probably clarify (so that I don't sound like a bad mom) that my son has an abnormal amount of teeth so chewing things like cantelope (which I know you are not supposed to give them too soon for fear of choking) are not a problem. He is also very strange in that he doesn't cram-feed like a lot of toddlers I know. He takes one bite at a time, he takes small bites of things and if the bite is too large, he will spit it out and try again. He won't let me put in another mouthful until the previous is completely swallowed.

You don't sound like a bad mom Jen, lol....Jayden only has 4 teeth and I have given him cantelope too!  Jayden does sometimes like to cram the food in so I am always sure that I am sitting right there while he eats so that I can try to make sure he doesn't choke himself, lol.....he chews his stuff up pretty well and doesn't mind if I cut things up for him.....it's just that he likes to put three or four peices in his mouth at a time, lol.

Wendy - posted on 06/04/2009

With my kids once they showed an interest in using a spoon or fork by themselves, I started doing them two bowls/plates of food. I used to give them one with a small amount of food in to feed themselves and I had one to feed them too. That way they were distracted enough for me to be able to feed them but also learning how to feed themselves. My youngest is 22 months and is at the refusal to eat anything stage and I'm using this method with him and it seems to be helping. Whatever we eat, he eats. Good luck.

Shelly - posted on 06/04/2009

I was always told that you just let them tell you when they are ready. There is no magical age that certain things happen in a child's life. Every child is different. With that said I would let her have regular food as long as it is cut up to bite size. Many children don't like baby food because it is bland. My son is 19 months old and has been eating regular food since around 6 months.

Tamara - posted on 06/04/2009

I've been giving table food since 6 months on.

Tanya - posted on 06/04/2009

my daughter has never been spoon fed. we went straight to well cooked pieces of food at around seven months old. If you want her to eat purees then get her naked and hand her a bowl and spoon before bathtime

Jen - posted on 06/04/2009

I should probably clarify (so that I don't sound like a bad mom) that my son has an abnormal amount of teeth so chewing things like cantelope (which I know you are not supposed to give them too soon for fear of choking) are not a problem. He is also very strange in that he doesn't cram-feed like a lot of toddlers I know. He takes one bite at a time, he takes small bites of things and if the bite is too large, he will spit it out and try again. He won't let me put in another mouthful until the previous is completely swallowed.

Jen - posted on 06/04/2009

Oh....my.....gosh..... The first time I gave him pancakes I thought he was going to go into spasms of pure joy. lol. He seriously acted like a crazed person and couldn't get enough. And that is without syrup! :o)



You know, I haven't tried watermellon yet really because it hasn't really been in season, my husband doesn't eat it so I just never really got around to buying one. He has had cantelope and honeydew and loves both. Of all of the fruits and veggis, I would say peas first, then carrots (though yesterday he managed to sneak a cherry tomatoe off my plate before I could stop him and he ate the whole thing and came back looking for more!) and for fruit its probably strawberries (whole, he loves to bite the pieces off himself and does NOT like it if I pre-cut them..) and then pears. Loves pears.



Ethan doesn't have the coordination down yet either but he is getting better. He can somewhat feed himself yogurt, but only if I hold the cup. He seems to understand to hold the spoon upright but once he tries putting it in his mouth is when things seem to go south. I am trying to get him to use a fork, but right now he is facinated with spoons.

Mary - posted on 06/04/2009

lol, Jen thats funny...Jayden and your little guy are alot alike then, hahaha. Jayden LOVES bread and pasta and cereal! We just had meat balls and pasta for dinner, lol.

Jayden loves the spork we got him. He know how to use it too it's just that he hasn't got that cordination thing down totaly yet, LOL.....and most of the food ends up falling off before he gets it in his mouth but thats ok cause at least he is trying!



Have you given your little guy pancakes yet? that is another thing Jayden can't get enough of, lol. I think I would have to say Jayden loves yellow beans the best out of veggies and he loves watermellon for the fruit...but he eats everything you put in front of him! lol. Thank goodness he isn't a fussy eater....at least not yet! here is hoping that he stays the way he is, lol

Jen - posted on 06/04/2009

Mary, that sounds like my kid. I too started giving him more 'solid' foods around 7 months because he had already been on pureed since 5 1/2 (I know they say not to start until 6 months but I had extenutatin circumstances..) and he was WAY past the mushy foods. If I remember correctly I started with the pureed and when I noticed that a can of fruit and veggis each no longer seemed like enough and that he was starting to mash with his gums, I started blending up foods we were eating for dinner so that it was more like mushy solids. He took to that like crazy. By the time he was 10 months, he was eating certain types of soft but raw fruits and veggis (he LOVES peas) and he will eat ANYTHING with starch. Bread, pasta, cereal, etc. Its funny watching them develope their own tastes and preferences to things. :o)



And the spoons Melissa are like these http://kidsstuff.stores.yahoo.net/k184.h... You could probably find something like them or order a couple of the internet.

Mary - posted on 06/04/2009

When my son Jayden turned 6 months old we started him on baby food and tried giving him things like toast so that he could pick it up him self...we just cut it into strips and he would pick up a strip and chew away on it.....then as he sterted getting better at chewing we kept giving him more and more table food. Now my son is 10 months old and he only gets spoon fed baby food when I don't want him to have what we are having...like fast food, lol.



He doesn't really use his spoon or fork alot but I always put on on his dish so that he can get used to them....he uses them sometimes...but not well, lol. I know all babies are different and progress on their own speed. Maybe you could try your little girl on veggies that are just cut up into bite sized cubes instead of the pureed veggies. A sample would be....potatoes, chicken, and carrots. I just cut up the chicken in bite sized peices and cut up the potatoes and carrots boil them and then leave them in bite sized junks with a tiney (very tiney) bit of butter. and then I just give Jayden the plate and he goes to town! He loves meal time! lol.

Laura - posted on 06/04/2009

i would give her a spoon and you hold the bowl and she might eat if she is doing it herself. my daughter would not eat anything mushy once she got a taste for "people" food. i think they must think it is the same as baby food and they want the good stuff. she will go back to eating soft foods.

LaCi - posted on 06/04/2009

My son started refusing being fed at 10 months, he wanted to do everything himself. So I let him and he's healthy and normal, he's still getting the bottle though. But he gets a lot of finger foods, veggies and crackers and such. He's started to get the hang of using the spoon himself as well.

Mel - posted on 06/04/2009

if you dont have anything nice to say Mandie keep it to yourself you stupid mole. i dont have time for crap. shes always had table foods from 3 months i just need to know when i can stop attempting spoon feeds.

thanks to you ladies who have been helpful sounds good Jen i havent heard of that im from australia. i have a drop mat finally so she doesnt make too much mess. she doesnt get nearly as messy as what she used to when she was little. good to know that she can just self feed now

Mandie - posted on 06/04/2009

By looking at your other posts out of curiosity I thought you were the infant feeding expert, Seeing as you say your daughter has a feeding tube and she chokes on her food maybe you should speak with your doctor.

Jen - posted on 06/03/2009

As long as she is getting a regular healthy dose of animal and vegitable protiens, veggis and fruit, I don't see how it matters HOW she gets it (My son likes lettuce too). :o) I started giving my son finger foods around 7 months, so now he is good at feeding himself most things but about a month (12 months) ago, he started trying to refuse the spoon. About once a day I let him try to spoon feed himself and after getting over the initial confusion, he really took it (wether witth spork or spoon) and that seemed to get him past this anti-untensil faze. I know my girlfriend's daughter stopped eating with a spoon and it was because she wanted to do it herself too. Btw, the Gerber soft spoons with thick handles and deep bowls are awesome at teaching them how to use the spoon without making TOO much of a mess. :o)

Angela - posted on 06/03/2009

My 11 month old is nearly feeding himself likes to have a spoon too dosen't get very far but much prefers feeding himself. As long as she is getting enouh iron etc should be fine, good luck xox

Jenifer - posted on 06/03/2009

We started out at 6 months letting my son feed himself by hand as much as possible. The trick is just finding foods with the right texture - soft enough for him to chew and solid enough for him to hold. At nearly 9 months, he much prefers to feed himself over getting purees via the spoon. He tries to use the spoon himself sometimes, but mostly makes a mess that way.

Tanya - posted on 06/03/2009

i was feeding my kids by the time that they were able to sit in a high chair by themselves i didn spoon feed them for too long after they turned 12 months