Encourage Your Baby to Eat Independently

Encourage Your Baby to Eat Independently

Kids go through several developmental milestones in their first 1.5 or 2 years. Learning to eat on their own is one such milestone you should encourage when they are about a year old. This blog highlights tips to encourage your baby to eat on his/her own. Read on to know more.

Kids go through several developmental milestones in their first 1.5 or 2 years. Learning to eat on their own is one such milestone you should encourage when they are about a year old. This blog highlights tips to encourage your baby to eat on his/her own. Read on to know more.

Ways to Make Your Kids Eat On Their Own

• Allow them to try

When your baby is ready to self-feed, he/she will start to grab spoons and other utensils nearby. Don’t stop your kid from doing so, as it gives him/her enough practice to hold food properly.

• Teach your baby to use his/her fingers properly

Make your baby sit on his/her high chair during mealtime. Place a few easy-to-eat finger foods on his/her tray. Teach your baby to hold the food and put it in his/her mouth by doing that action for him/her.

• Using spoons

Once your baby has started to eat finger foods perfectly, you can teach him/her to use spoons. You can load your baby’s spoon with food before giving the spoon in his/her hand. Once your child learns this, he/she is ready for the next step. Give your baby his/her food tray and a spoon. Your baby will learn to gather food in his/her spoon and take it near the mouth without spilling any food.

• Know what to expect

All through the different stages of learning to eat independently, your baby is bound to create a huge mess and spill food on his/her clothes, high chair, tray, and floors. Be patient with him/her and try to manage the mess better by using bibs, aprons, and wipes.

• Don’t leave the baby unattended to

When your baby tries to learn to eat independently, be near him/her to watch his/her movements. Unsupervised self-feeding kids are more at risk of choking, food getting stuck in the throat, eating too much in one go, etc.

• Know what foods to give and avoid

Always start with easy-to-eat foods when teaching kids to eat independently. Small portions of cooked vegetables, tiny pieces of fruits, mashed foods, cheese strings, pea-sized pieces of chicken or fish, etc., are good choices to start with. Refrain from giving your kids large bites of foods, nuts, popcorn, raw foods, raisins, firm fruits, peanut butter, etc., when they are learning to self-feed.