How to Teach Your Child to Self-feed
The “I can do it myself” stage is crucial for babies as they learn to master self-feeding skills. But it’s not always easy transitioning from breastfeeding or formula to solid foods. Our top self-feeding tips will help your child try new tastes and textures.
When Is it Time to Self-feed?
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Most babies start eating food other than breast milk or formula by six to eight months of age. However, some children may not show interest until they are over a year old.
Only you can decide when the time is right for your baby.
How Can I Teach My Child to Self-feed?
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Self-feeding involves allowing your child to feed themselves using their hands or utensils, promoting independence and motor skills. A great way to learn self-feeding is by studying others: try to eat together as a family as often as possible. This way your baby can mimic your movements. If you have older children in the family, it will probably be extra motivating for your baby to imitate their siblings.
When transitioning from taste portions to eating on their own, it’s mainly about getting your baby used to food, learning to chew and making food exciting. Their developing nervous systems can be overwhelmed when introduced to a variety of new flavours and textures. But don’t worry, it’s all part of the process!
4 Simple Tips on the Way to Self-Feeding
1. Turn mealtime into a fun adventure: Encourage your baby’s interest in solid foods by letting them explore food in their own way. Put a few soft, bite-sized pieces of finger food in a bowl that your baby can easily reach.
2. Embrace the mess: Let your child wear a bib and expect a lot of mess. Our bibs have extra roomy pockets, are easy to clean and feel soft against your baby’s skin.
3. Have sturdy plates, glasses and utensils on hand: You need kitchen products that can cope with being thrown on the floor, because it’s bound to happen. This is part of your baby’s development phase and their way of training their motor skills. In addition, a child often gleefully discovers that spoons thrown on the floor get picked up—so they will do it again. And again.
4. Be patient: Learning to eat takes time, so be patient and make sure you encourage your child along the way. It might take several tries before your baby accepts a new taste. So, keep offering food without pressure, be patient and find your Zen.
How do I Teach My Child to Hold a Spoon?
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Our feeding spoon has a long handle that makes it easy for you to feed your child. Once they get the hang of it, select a spoon with a soft, rounded tip and a short handle that’s easy for small hands to grip.
3 Steps to Master the Spoon
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1. Show Them How it’s Done
The easiest way to learn is to model, so hold the spoon with your hand and show your baby how to do it. Simply explain what you are doing at the same time. Smile and add some “mmm” for extra motivation!
2. Help Your Baby Hold the Spoon
The next step is to hold the spoon with your hand and theirs. Gently keep helping your baby to put the food in their mouth. Watch and encourage your baby with smiles and positive words, even if they make a mess.
3. Pause and Try Again Later
After four or five spoons you may want to pause until the next mealtime. Small steps are better than expecting your child to learn to hold a spoon in one mealtime.
What Food Can Children Eat on Their Own
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Thick and sticky food are usually spoon-friendly options for children learning to eat on their own. Here are a few suggestions:
Greek or Turkish yoghurt (it should be thicker than plain yoghurt)
Cottage cheese
Oatmeal
Mashed banana
Mashed beans
Mashed avocado
Mashed sweet potato
Thick soups
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