My 9 month old will only eat finger foods! Why is she doing this?

Question

She will not eat anything off a spoon that I feed her. She grabs the spoon, bowl, plate, out of my hands and attempts to throw it. She sticks her fingers in the food and squishes it in her hands. She loves squeezing bananas, mashed potatoes, fruits, veggies, bread, etc.

I can only feed her things that she'll feed herself. I have to give her everything in a bowl and hope it doesn't end up all over the house (usually does!). Is it normal for a 9 month old not to want to eat from a spoon and to not be fed? It's frustrating and I'm afraid she's starving herself and I try to feed her anyways, she pushes it away or grabs at it.

What should I do? Continue to just give her food she can feed herself? She takes the bottle and sippy cups perfectly fine. She doesn't have any teeth yet, and I'm not sure if she's teething.

Answer 1

your daughter is special she has a great personality

she wants to be independent

put her in a high chair and give only a few pieces at a time

since shes still taking the bottle try putting cereal in it  

make smoothies with the fruits and veggies that she can drink through her bottle or cup

Answer 2

Are you kidding me?

Of course she wants to feed herself, isn't that the goal of parenting?  To provide a nuturing environment where a child can develop the skills to take care of herself.  She isn't going to starve if you make healthy food available to her!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/676279...

After six months, Mrs Rapley said babies were capable of taking food into their mouths and chewing it.

Therefore, feeding them pureed food at this time could delay the development of chewing skills.

Instead, she said, they should be given milk and solid pieces of food which they could chew.

Mrs Rapley argued that babies fed pureed food had little control over how much food they ate, thus rendering them vulnerable to constipation, and running a risk that they would react by becoming fussy eaters later in life.

She blamed the food industry for convincing parents that they should give children pureed food.

She said: "Sound scientific research and government advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids."

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/sol...

7 - 9 months   Watch baby's cues - this is particularly easy if baby nurses beforehand and most/all of the solids are offered to baby to self-feed. Increase solids gradually if baby is interested, with a maximum of 2 meals per day.

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/solids.html

Babies who are ready for solids can usually feed themselves. Mothers often report that they knew their babies were ready when they picked up food from a plate, chewed it, swallowed it, and wanted more.

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintro...

There is no need to cut food into mouth-sized pieces. Indeed, this will make it difficult for a young baby to handle. A good guide to the size and shape needed is the size of the baby's fist, with one important extra factor to bear in mind: Young babies cannot open their fist on purpose to release things. This means that they do best with food that is chip-shaped or has a built-in 'handle' (like the stalk of a piece of broccoli). They can then chew the bit that is sticking out of their fist and drop the rest later – usually while reaching for the next interesting-looking piece. As their skills improve, less food will be dropped.

[...]

Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have developed the ability to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. The ability to pick up very small things develops later still. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get small pieces of food into his mouth. Spoon feeding, by contrast, encourages the baby to suck the food straight to the back of his mouth, potentially making choking more likely.

It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it. It is important to resist the temptation to 'help' the baby in these circumstances since his own developmental abilities are what ensure that the transition to solid foods takes place at the right pace for him, while keeping the risk of choking to a minimum.

[...]

Babies who are allowed to feed themselves seem to accept a wide range of foods. This is probably because they have more than just the flavour of the food to focus on – they are experiencing texture, colour, size and shape as well. In addition, giving babies foods separately, or in a way which enables them to separate them for themselves, enables them to learn about a range of different flavours and textures. And allowing them to leave anything they appear not to like will encourage them to be prepared to try new things.

General principles of good nutrition for children apply equally to young babies who are managing their own introduction to solid foods. Thus, 'fast foods' and foods with added sugar and salt should be avoided. However, once a baby is over six months old there is no need (unless there is a family history of allergy or a known or suspected digestive disorder) to otherwise restrict the foods that the baby can be offered. Fruit and vegetables are ideal, with harder foods cooked lightly so that they are soft enough to be chewed. At first, meat is best offered as a large piece, to be explored and sucked; once the baby can manage to pick up and release fistfuls of food, minced meat works well. (Note: babies do not need teeth to bite and chew – gums do very well!)

Answer 3

Children are little scientists your daughter is no different.  She is learning sensory investigation and small motor skills,  I bet she likes dry cheerios.

Give her finger foods and put a mat and plastic around her to make clean up easier.  When she starts walking  she maybe convinced to use a spoon to get back down and explore.

If you can't tell if she's teething she either Isn't or you are blessed with a child that will simply appear with teeth one day.  Freeze clean wet washcloths for her to chew on to ease her gums if she gets fussy.  This is particularly good during hot weather.

Answer 4

Absolutely normal.  She's getting older and many older babies no longer want to be spoon fed mush.  

Feed her table foods, and let her enjoy herself. She's still getting 90%+ of her nutrition from breastmilk or formula, so don't worry if she doesn't eat much, or isn't yet able to eat from all the food groups. Solids at this stage are STILL mostly for fun.  

Answer 5

My daughter is at the same stage.  Sh is just telling you she is ready to move on.  

I have to say that Lillys post about distracting her with toys is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.  Sorry Lilly but kids need to learn from a young age the difference in dinner time and play time.  

Answer 6

She is practicing her Independence.  Neither of my kids would let me feed them anymore at that age.

Answer 7

I think you should .distract her by….. giving her small musical toys so she wouldn’t grab on to the food when your trying to feed her…..have a bunch of shinny toys  on the side and when she gets bored try giving her another one…….and while she is busy with the toys.. feed her…it might work…. Good Luck!

Answer 8

That is very normal and actually a very good sign. Many pediatricians suggest that you allow children to self feed as soon as they are interested. I think you are doing the right thing- give her finger foods and allow her to feed herself. She will not starve, especially if she is still getting formula.

As for what to feed her, give her whatever you eat that is soft and can be 'gummed.' Small pieces of chicken nugget, french fries, dry cereal, small pieces of cut of string cheese, fruits, steamed veggies, avacado, etc.  

Answer 9

Good for her, she's talking charge and eating how she wants -- let her, it's completely normal.

I know I wouldn't want someone shoving a spoon full of mush in my mouth.

I have never spoon fed my now 10 month old -- from 6 months onwards she has been self feeding table foods and is a great eater, she will eat almost anything, from Brussel sprouts to curried vegetables.

Answer 10

That's normal.

For one thing infants are tactile- they learn through touch.

FOr another they develop and fine-tune their neurological systems by using the pincer grasp and eye-hand-mouth coordination needed to finger feed.

It's a good thing.

Messy, but good.

Let her go for it, and simply make a small fork and spoon available. Eventually she'll begin using it- maybe not for several months (like 6-9) but she WILL begin using it.

Teeth don't matter. The first teeth babies get are not used to chew anyway. They 'chew' with their gums for the most part until they get molars. My daughter is 15 months and still has only eight teeth, four and four in front, top and bottom. Those are used to take bites, but not to chew, and she has no problem at all, eats everything we eat, as a matter of fact she ears healthier than an average American adult.

Let her feed herself, just keep a washcloth handy at all times and be flexible with bath time =)

Answer 11

Don't worry about it, completely normal. She is learning that she has control, and feeding herself is much more fun than being fed via the spoon.

You do not have to worry about her starving, solids at this age are for practice anyways. All of her nutrition should be coming from Breast milk/formula. Just keep giving her stuff she can feed herself and let her have fun!