Help! Baby Eating Habit

M

msmslau

Registered User
I need help on how to train my 1 year old daughter to eat. She used to sit in the high chair (pulled up to the dining table) for a while without any fuss. But lately, she refuses anything spoonfed and would turn her head away from me or wiggle her way out of strapped hight chair. however she would "chow" down any finger food like cut up noodles/carrots etc in no time.

So what i can do to improve her interest in my food (i am feeding her rice, soup, yogurt etc). i am worried this behavior would cost her to lose weight since she cannot eat finger food as a whole meal. and i don't want her to run around when i feed her.

also, she usually eats separately so not sure if eating together with us would help?
 
there's no reason why she can't have finger food for a whole meal...
she's giving you the sign that she wants to feed herself... go with it...

there are cook books out there for kids, try them...

my sone LOVES pasta...so, we give it to him to eat with his fingers....
he likes macaroni, fusli(sp?), penne and absolutely adores spaghetti...

he can eat it with his fingers, he makes a mess but he eats quite a lot and loves doing it...

he used to eat rice with his fingers too, but now, he's working on using the spoon...

he's 17.5 months old....
 
We spoon fed my daughter until she showed signs of wanting to feed herself. So to start with I would give her finger food and inbetween each mouthfull I would spoon feed her the other food. She is now 15mths and loves to feed herself with a spoon/fork. It can be messy so don't be in a hurry. If we are giving her any food in a sauce we still give her finger food and feed her the other. However yoghurt, rice, pasta, and other dry food she loves to eat herself. Baby will soon let you know if they are still hungry so don't worry to much.
 
thanks, i will increase the finger food portion as suggested since i think she is capable of eating all of that!
 
hi,

my son goes through days like that too, esp with certain type of food I deem necessary as opposed to yummy (like fish & liver!) so what I do is give him a plate of his favourite finger foods (cheese slices & cut up fruit) and spoonfeed him his other food in between him feeding himself! You just have to pace it right and not to overfeed them.....

good luck!
 
I'm so glad i'm reading this. my daughter (10mths) is having a lot of trouble eating in her highchair, it's 50% that she is only lukewarm about the food, but also 50% that she gets bored very quickly in the highchair. we have to use finger foods (not to mention a ton of non-stop entertainment) during feeding as well, i thought that isn't a very nice habit.. glad to know that others are doing that too :p
she has also learnt to keep her food in her mouth without swallowing, causing us big headaches feeding as well, any one has suggestions for that? we have to feed water in between spoons for her to 'wash' it down now...
 
i don't know if i agree with the non-stop entertainment part....

we sometimes have the tv on, but if i find he's watching the tv more than eating, i turn it off....
i also find that if i sit and try to "make" him eat, he gets more stubborn... it's better if i give him the food and then pretty much ignore him...
 
wow, so many good suggestions. since last nite, i have tried the following which i think works:

1. eat with them - when they see you eat, they like to imitate too. (she used to eat separately)
2. straw - i sometimes give her a straw to drink her soup/water/juice. she seems to like it rather than me spoon feeding her.
3. pictures - my sister used to post some educational pictures on the wall so her son can learn while eating. this might be a better option than TV. I will try that.
 
I think eating with a large group of people (e.g. family gathering) at the table and pretend to pay no attention to the little one and let him eat by himself is good for the child to learn eating by himself.
 
My 9.5 months old baby gets fussy when I feed him. Now I have my nanny to feed him and he behaves better. He likes us to read him story books during meal time.
 
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