Finger Food Trouble?

Question

Hi all, I have a 13 month old son. He is generally a good eater and will more or less eat anything we give him on a spoon. The problem we are having though is with finger foods. He's never really taken to them and we offer him a wide variety of foods from biscuits, to chunks of cheese, bread, rice cakes, bread sticks, fruit and veg, etc but all he does is throw them on the floor. We pick them up, and he throws them on the floor again, on and on it goes. He never seems to show any interest in the foods at all, it's like he doesn't recognise them as food. The annoying thing though is he puts all his toys in his mouth!! But the finger foods go nowhere near!! He does drink from a beaker by himself. Has anyone else had this trouble? Any advice? We are just continuing giving them but it is very disheartening. Should I be worried or am I making something out of nothing? Thanks for your replies.

Answer 1

Try putting a small piece of food in his mouth yourself.  Once you have done this a few times he should realise that what you are offering is food and try to do it himself.  Some babies find it esaier to take the food from your hand rather than off a plate or highchair tray.  It sounds like he is just getting frustrated trying to pick it up and get it to his mouth - it's not as easy as it looks!

Answer 2

It sounds like he's throwing on the floor because you're picking them up!

Have you tried giving him something that sounds really cool when you bite into it - like crunchy corn snacks? Just put a few on his tray and then, with your face really close to him, munch on one yourself. Make THAT the game instead of the throwing thing. If he picks his up and throws it on the floor just ignore it totally and carry on munching yours and saying "mmmmmmmm" and make it seem really fun.

If you've already tried this though, I'll shut up!

Answer 3

Have you ever tried to be creative with finger foods?

Make a little picture or something. See what he does?

I did Early Childhood Studies and that's what I learnt from it.

If that doesn't work, then he is obviously just not into that, and there is nothing you can really do.

Good luck with your fussy eater!

Answer 4

try putting the lump of cheese ricecake, or what ever on the spoon and spoon it into his mouth, he will then reconise it and then want to take it from his bowl

himself

Answer 5

He's just not ready for finger foods. My didn't go for it until they were 2 years old.

Answer 6

He probably wont eat the finger food because he doesn't recognise it as food, he's used to being fed from the spoon and wont recognise the textures of the finger food or make the connection that if he put it in his mouth it would taste good. I'd try and offer him the finger food by actually putting it to his mouth yourself, once he sees that he can put it in his mouth and taste it he'll begin to understand that it is food. Also make sure he see you eating lots as well, even if you have a nibble of the same things you're offering him, babies will learn from seeing what the grown ups do so seeing you eat will show him what to do, and hopefully he'll want to copy you.

Answer 7

My friend's baby was like this, so instead of putting him in his highchair, she sat on the floor with him and put the finger food on a plate between them and shared the finger food. At first he still threw it all on the floor either side of himself and then when he saw that she was enjoying it, he started to pick it up and put it in his mouth.

Don't expect too much from him the first few times you do this, just the fact that he holds and handles it is a great start. Then eventually, he may start trying new foods.

Good luck!