Self Feeding

Ready…set…GROW! Your baby has suddenly become a toddler right before your eyes, and becoming more independent each and every day. How can we as parents help our littles gain independence in every day tasks? It all begins with knowing what to expect once your baby starts having an interest in food.

Let’s take a look at the developmental milestones:

0-4 months: baby should be consuming breast milk or formula primarily.
4-6 months: traditional weaning begins with baby cereal and purees, baby-led-weaning begins at 6 months with solid foods
6-8 months: baby drinks from a sippy cup
7-9 months: introduce table foods using an up and down motion
8-11 months: baby uses pincer grasp to pick up food to feed self
11-15 months: baby uses rotary motion for mechanical digestion, weaned from bottle
12-18 months: Feed self using a spoon, dropping some food off the spoon
15-24 months: uses a fork and spoon independently

How to introduce utensils

As always, the best practice comes from watching YOU! Sit down with baby during meal times as much as possible.

Helpful tips:

Present your little with toddler utensils at all meals, let them hold it and play with it.
Mimic how to use your utensils to feed yourself
Don’t force it! If they seem frustrated, let them use their hands. We want to create a positive association between using utensils and meal times
Praise Praise Praise! When they’re successful, be overly excited about their accomplishment They will feel good about what they’ve done and be encouraged to try it again
Be patient! Baby looks to you for reassurance. Make sure you continue to smile and set aside ample time for building this skill
Prepare to get messy! The best way to teach self feeding is through lots and lots of practice.

Step-by-step how to:

Start with a fork and some bite sized soft foods that are easy to stab.
Give your little a couple bites of food to satisfy her hunger prior to letting her take over. She will be much more tolerant of learning a new task, and less easily agitated, if there’s something in her stomach. A ravenous baby may not sit still and can become more easily frustrated with having to wait longer to get their food.
Only give one food item at a time, we don’t want to overwhelm or distract baby from the task at hand. Once they can feed themselves more than 25%-50% of the time, you can place more items in front of them.
Before you intervene… watch and observe what they do! Some babies will get the hang of it and go to town!
If they are having trouble grasping the idea, help your toddler hold onto the fork and stab the food item. Then guide the fork to her mouth. We call this hand over hand assist. You may have to do this several times before they have an understanding.
If they are still having difficulty, try chaining this task. Chaining refers to breaking up the task into smaller steps, and adding onto a mastered step until you’ve achieved the desired results.
- Example:
  1. Let baby play with the utensil
  2. Pre-load utensil and guide utensil to mouth
  3. Pre-load utensil and allow baby to take utensil from your hand and have them bring it to their own mouth
  4. Pre-load utensil and allow baby to pick up utensil from the high chair/table and bring it to mouth
  5. Assist baby with scooping food and allow baby to complete the rest of the task
  6. Achieve full independence!

Introducing Utensils – Video

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Now that you have a good little finger food eater, its time to introduce utensils! so where do we start? As always, the best practice comes from watching YOU! so sit with each other during meals as much as possible! 1. present the toddler fork at all meals, let them hold it and play with it. 2. mimic how you use your fork to feed yourself 3. present soft, easy to stab foods 1 at a time, watch what they do! Only do 1 item at a time, we don't want to overwhelm or distract baby. when they master this for about 50% of the time, then you may start introducing more items. 4. if they need help grasping the idea, help your toddler hold onto the fork and stab the food item. Then guide their utensil to their mouth. We call this hand over hand assist. You may have to do this several times before they get the hang of it. 5. Don't force it. If you see them frustrated and struggling, allow them to use their hands. We want to create a positive reinforcement between the utensil and meal times! 6. Praise. Praise. Praise! When they're successful, be overly excited about their accomplishment. They will feel good about what they've done and want to try it again! 👉Try this at home and tell me how it worked for you and your little!

A post shared by Nikki Brown OTR/L (@playlearngrow_ot) on May 13, 2020 at 10:03am PDT

Introducing a spoon – Video

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If you haven't already watched "introducing utensils," please take a minute to read over some guidelines before beginning this video! Spoons may be a bit trickier than forks at times because baby has to learn to scoop and keep food on a spoon rather than stabbing a piece of food. Remember to go at babys pace and never force baby to do something she doesn't want to do. we don't want to associate negative feelings towards fostering independence. Also, give baby lots and lots of praise when she does something right! positive reinforcement 😉 To begin, start by giving baby a few bites to settle her hunger. A baby who is ravenous may not be willing to sit and wait for food, and become frustrated with having to wait longer. The whole meal doesn't have to be baby feeding herself! Some babies will gladly pick up a utensil and go to town, others may just want to play with it. As long as you have the utensil there at every meal, they can start identifying that that's what they are supposed to do! ⭐A tip for success: start with a food item that has a thicker consistency, such as oatmeal. it's easier to scoop and actually stay on the spoon as baby brings it to her mouth. #toddlerdevelopment #toddlerfoodideas #selffeedingbaby #selffeeding #growbabygrow #toddlerskills #toddlerlife

A post shared by Nikki Brown OTR/L (@playlearngrow_ot) on May 14, 2020 at 12:17pm PDT

Advancing self-feeding with utensils & texture variety

Once your little eater is happily scooping and feeding themselves a thicker consistency food like yogurt or oatmeal, it’s time to start adding little chunks of food for them to advance their self-feeding skills. Textured food is also really important in sensory processing, oral motor skills, and help prevent picky eating.

Start simple.

Let’s use that thicker consistency as a “glue” to keep the chunks of bite-sized food easily on the spoon

Here I have some yogurt, and fresh cut up blackberries. We also added cheerios for some added crunchy texture (not pictured).

Remember, practice makes perfect! Caroline is now using all those fine motor skills to coordinate how to scoop, keep food on a utensil, and bring it to her mouth. It’s ok if your little can’t complete the whole meal and asks for help, again we want to praise for successes and keep meal time a happy learning experience! If your little is struggling or becoming frustrated, it is ok to help them.

Weaning from the bottle

Oh the struggles of getting rid of the bottle. It’s every parents nightmare! I hope this post will help you make the smoothest transition for your little one!

Milestones: We use milestones as a guideline for when your child is developmentally ready to start working and mastering new skills.

6 Months: Time to introduce the sippy, or skip straight to an open cup
9-12 months: Can drink through a straw
12 months: Good bye bottle! Some kids are able to manage an open cup by 1 year
18 months: recommended age to wean from bottle completely due to risk of tooth decay

The cons of using a sippy cup:

A sippy often allows access to drinks all day long for a toddler – research suggests a relationship between prolonged sucking and speech delays
Injuries may increase if a sippy cup is always in the mouth of a toddler
After 1 year of age, the child may become emotionally attached to a sippy and therefore harder to wean
Poor nutrition may be indicated if a child has access to a sippy cup all day (filling up on liquids)
*A side note: if using a sippy, it is better to use a soft spout vs a hard spout because it allows the tongue to elevate to the roof of the mouth for a more mature swallow pattern*

What kinds of cups are best?

Left: A weighted straw cup Right: Munchkin 360 cups

Both the weight straw cup and Munchkin 360 cups allow your little to use a mature sucking pattern where the tongue is elevated so that it touches the front and roof of the mouth in order to create a wave-like motion to bring the liquid down for a swallow (https://mylittleeater.com/opencupdrinking/). The 360 cup also uses the same muscles needed for open cup drinking without the spills!

How to teach your little to drink from an open cup

Start with a small amount of water
Guide the cup to their mouth and tilt the cup for them, allow baby to practice lip closure around the rim of the cup
Be a role model! Babies learn best with mimicking
Provide lots of opportunities to practice: have baby try during meals and snack times

Trouble shooting

“My baby doesn’t understand the mechanics of how a 360 cup works”
- Try this: put a little water or milk that the baby can visually see on the rim of the 360 cup. Have them try and suck the small amount of liquid off. Once they master this, try introducing the cup again and tilting it for them.
“My baby doesn’t understand how to use a straw”
- Try a regular straw first, and siphon some liquid into the straw by placing the straw in the liquid, cover the opening with your thumb. Now gently drip a few drops into your babies mouth, and allow them to close their lips around the straw. Now that baby knows their is something in the straw, they will attempt sucking from the straw! Another way to teach this is by using those food pouches! Bring the food pouch to baby’s lips and have them close their lips over the opening, then gently squeeze a small amount of food into baby’s mouth. Try this again without squeezing food, and they shoulder attempt to suck instead!