Fruits or Vegetables: Which Does Your Child Prefer?

Fruits or Vegetables: Which Does Your Child Prefer?

November 15th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Just like grown-ups, children will develop a preference for certain foods. At around 2 years old, a child’s taste buds begin to change, resulting in the picky eating phase that is common to many toddlers. They have also realized that they have control over few things in life – and eating is one of them!

Many children prefer fruits to vegetables naturally; they are sweet, and babies are born with a predisposition to like sweet things due to the sweet taste of breast milk. Not all children will carry this sweet tooth into later life, however, and some will decide vegetables are more their thing. Even more commonly, they will come to like some fruits and vegetables while disliking others.

There is nothing wrong with developing a personal sense of taste, but it’s important to make sure your child is eating a balanced children diet as well. If your little one has a distinct preference for one or the other of these two nutritious choices, it isn’t the end of the world, but you should make sure you try to keep them both on the menu.

When Your Child Will Only Eat Fruit

Luckily, fruit is generally a pretty healthy choice for a child, and is certainly better choice than some of the other favorite foods kids have a tendency to choose. Your child can get a great source of vitamins and minerals from fruits, as long as the choices are varied. Eating only bananas won’t provide all the needed nutrition. Keep offering different fruits, but don’t give up on vegetables.

Sometimes, a child who likes only fruits will be more likely to try vegetables if you add a little sweetness to the mix. Try cooking carrots with a little honey; they are already naturally sweet, and the added sweetness of the honey might just put them over the top for your little one. Throw a sweet fruit in with the vegetables; try dried fruits mixed with green beans or peas, or combine sweet potatoes with apples.

If your child doesn’t like the texture of vegetables, try serving them raw or only slightly steamed instead. Keep a close eye out for possible choking hazards, but give fresh veggies and dip a try. If your child prefers fruit because it is crisp, cold, and uncooked, trying fresh vegetables might help.

If Your Little One Prefers Vegetables

It’s a rare child who chooses veggies over fruits, but it certainly does happen! If your child prefers vegetables, there really isn’t a whole lot to worry about as the nutrition provided by a diet rich in various vegetables is very well balanced.

Still, don’t skip the fruits. As with a child who prefers fruit, it’s a good idea to keep the diet as balanced as possible to ensure the best sources of nutrition. Keep offering fruit, and again try mixing it into the vegetables. Fruit makes a wonderful, convenient snack – try serving it with a yogurt dip to make it more fun.

Throughout childhood, your child will likely have several changes of heart as to what foods are on the in list and which are out. It is a time of developing tastes and opinions, and your little one is discovering personal preferences and learning how to express them. The best thing a parent can do is to keep offering different foods. The more often your child sees a food, the more likely it will eventually make it onto the “like” list.

Guide to Cup Selection

Guide to Cup Selection

November 1st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

A visit to the baby feeding aisle in any major retailer quickly makes it clear that picking a sippy cup for your child is not as simple as it seems. Cups come in all shapes and sizes and with multiple different spout option. There are cups with and without valves, soft and hard spouts, insulated cups and more. How do you choose the right cup for your child? Narrow it down with a few simple cup selection tips.

What’s in a Spout?

The type of spout on your child’s sippy cup is one of the most important considerations. While some babies may have no difficulty with a hard spout, most will initially prefer the softer type. Soft spouts have a more familiar feel, especially to a baby who has been bottle fed. For a breast fed baby who hasn’t used a bottle, the entire idea of a cup or bottle is foreign, so choosing a soft spout will be even more important. Young babies have sensitive gums, and a hard spout may be too rough on them.

Spouts come in several shapes and sizes. If your baby has been bottle fed, a smaller spout might work well. For a breast fed baby, a large spout might feel more comforting and familiar. It might take some trial and error to find the right one, so don’t stock up on the cup of your choice until you are sure your baby will drink from it.

To Valve or Not to Valve

Sippy cups come in two main styles – types with a valve, which allows liquid to be released when baby sucks, and types with not valve that rely on other mechanisms such as pressure to release the liquid. There are pros and cons to each type.

Cups with no valve are usually easier for a baby new to cups to operate. They often have the softest and most pliable spouts, and release liquid fairly easily. They have fewer parts to wash – or to lose. On the down side, cups without a valve often leak more easily than their counterparts that use valves.

Cups with valves require fairly strong sucking to release the liquid. This means they are less likely to leak, but that your baby will have to work a little hard to get the liquid out. They will require a bit more of a learning curve for babies accustomed to the easy release of a bottle. The extra parts are easy to lose and mean more to wash and store. Some valves have a tendency to fall out of place inside the cup if banged around, and land in the liquid inside.

Cup Size and Shape

Sippy cups come in a variety of sizes, but many of them are somewhat large for a baby. For a starter cup, try to find one that is a bit smaller and easy for your baby to hold onto. Some have a curved shape that is narrower in the middle, allowing baby’s hands to get a better hold on the cup. Some cups are equipped with handles to make for easier gripping, and these are usually aimed at cup beginners.

Your baby’s cup needs will change over time. Although a soft spout without a valve might be a good beginner choice, as your child becomes more accustomed to using the cup, you can move on to a harder spout with a valve. A larger cup might be required as time goes by too, but remember – many of the larger cups on the market actually hold more liquid than is recommended for a serving of either milk or juice for a child. Use caution to make sure a larger cup doesn’t lead to overconsumption.

Frequently Occurring Feeding Problems

Frequently Occurring Feeding Problems

October 29th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Since a baby has little else to do in life besides eat and sleep, it would seem logical that eating would be something that presents little difficulty. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Many new moms run into feeding issues that while common, can be extremely frustrating. For an exhausted new mom, feeding problems can escalate into a major issue quickly. Take a look at some of the most frequently encountered feeding issues and how to resolve them.

Baby Won’t Latch On!

Breastfeeding moms are often discouraged and frustrated when what seems like the simplest of baby care tasks just doesn’t seem to be working. Poor latch is responsible for all kinds of problems, from gas in the baby to blocked milk ducts in the mother. Babies are born with the ability to suck, but latching on is just as new to them as it is to mom. It takes some practice, and sometimes requires some help.

First, try a different position, such as a football hold, to see if this helps baby access the nipple better. If you have tried everything and are still struggling, call in a pro. Make an appointment with a lactation consultant who can help you to get it figured out. Your obstetrician or the hospital where you gave birth should be able to direct you to a consultant.

Baby Won’t Take the Bottle!

Especially if you are introducing a bottle after breastfeeding, you might have some difficulty getting your baby to accept the different look and feel of the nipple. This will likely just take time, and some experimentation with different bottles. If your baby has been on the bottle since birth, however, and suddenly starts to refuse the bottle, there may be something else going on.

Refusing a bottle can be a sign of several possible problems, from teething to ear infections, both of which make sucking painful. It could also be a sign of an upset stomach. If a reason doesn’t present itself quickly and your baby continues to refuse the bottle, it’s best to put in a call to the pediatrician. An examination might reveal the reason for the refusal, and avoid potential dehydration from refusing fluids.

Formula Upsets My Baby’s Tummy

From the first day of formula feeding to a later transition from breast milk to formula, there can be problematic responses to some of the ingredients. The proteins in formula are more difficult for a baby to digest than those in breast milk, and can cause problems like gas, constipation and diarrhea. Fortunately, there are many different formulas on the market, and you should be able to find one that works for your child.

It’s possible that the reaction is being caused by an allergy to something in the formula, whether it’s cow’s milk or soy; in this case you may need to try a hypoallergenic formula. If problems persist, see your baby’s doctor.

My Baby Falls Asleep During Feedings!

Babies sleep a lot, and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything is wrong if your baby is falling asleep during feedings. It could be simple fatigue, or baby has had enough to eat and is satisfied. If you are worried that your baby is falling asleep before ingesting enough, try feeding in a brightly lit room that discourages sleep. Unwrap baby from any blankets or sleep sacks; the cooler air will also encourage wakefulness. It might not be pleasant to have to turn on the lights for a night feeding, but if you don’t think baby is eating enough it might be required.

During the day, try to pick a feeding time when your baby is most alert, generally shortly after waking up. You might also find baby is the hungriest right after a nap and will eat more.

Identifying and Treating Constipation in Your Baby

Identifying and Treating Constipation in Your Baby

October 26th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Constipation is one of the most common reasons that new mothers call their baby’s pediatrician for advice. While babies do get constipated, many of the incidents that lead to a call to the doctor aren’t constipation at all, but rather a normal change in a baby’s bowel movements. When baby really is constipated, however, it can make for a very unhappy baby and thus an unhappy mother too.

How Long Can a Baby Go Between Bowel Movements?

It isn’t necessary for a baby to have a bowel movement every day, and a space of a few days between dirty diapers isn’t anything to be concerned about. In a breastfed baby, bowel movements can occur as little as once a week, and a space of up to two weeks can be normal. Because the body absorbs breast milk so thoroughly, there is often little waste leftover to form stool. For this reason exclusively breastfed babies rarely become constipated.

How to Recognize Constipation

Merely not having a bowel movement for a few days doesn’t necessarily mean baby is constipated, as many new mothers believe. Constipation occurs when stool becomes backed up in the intestines in a large enough amount to cause pain and discomfort for baby. This is usually noticeable in baby’s behavior and mood. A constipated baby may become fussy or even extremely upset when attempting to pass a stool. This is because the stool has become hard, dense, and difficult to pass. If your child seems to strain when having a bowel movement but is not crying or in pain and passes soft stool, constipation isn’t a problem. In this case, infrequent stool is probably normal for your child at this stage of life.

When your baby starts to pass hard, small stools that are heavy and dense, and is showing significant distress when passing them, constipation is likely, even if the stools are being passed fairly frequently.

Treating Constipation

Most pediatricians will recommend a small amount of fruit juice such as apple juice to get things moving. Remember to closely follow your doctor’s recommendation for the amount of juice, because too much can swing the pendulum in the other direction and cause diarrhea. In severe cases, a glycerin suppository may be recommended to soften the stool and clear out the bowels.

Treating a one-time case of constipation is usually fairly simple and straightforward. If your baby has regular, recurring constipation, however, it’s a good idea to take a look at what you are feeding. A change to a different formula is a good idea, as an intolerance for one of the ingredients in formula is a common culprit in constipation. Your baby may not be able to tolerate cow’s milk proteins and will do better on a soy formula.

If changing formulas does not seem to alleviate the problem, it’s probably time to talk to your baby’s doctor about the ongoing problem, and work together to find a solution. The constipation could be caused by a blockage or another condition affecting the bowels and causing them to fail to move stools along properly. These are rare problems, but warrant investigation if common methods fail to successfully treat your baby’s constipation.

Many babies will encounter constipation at some point, whether from a problem with formula or when starting solids, another constipation culprit. Fortunately, most cases are easily treated and do not become serious problems.

Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

October 25th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Although your baby may have been on a cow’s milk based formula since birth and has tried other dairy products such as yogurt, you should still hold off on giving your baby cow’s milk for the first 12 months of life. Cow’s milk can cause a number of problems, and differs from other dairy based products in its safety for babies.

Cow’s Milk and Baby’s Body

Under one year of age, your baby’s digestive system simply isn’t ready for cow’s milk. The proteins can be difficult to digest and can cause gastrointestinal problems. In large amounts, cow’s milk can damage the lining of baby’s stomach, resulting in internal bleeding. This is only one of the ways in which cow’s milk can lead to low iron levels in baby and serious consequences.

Cow’s milk is also known to block the absorption of iron, which is essential to your baby’s blood. Iron helps to create new red blood cells and also hemoglobin. Low iron results in low levels of red blood cells and a reduced ability for oxygen to be carried throughout the body. This is known as iron deficiency anemia, and it is common in babies who do not get enough iron through baby food diet. Cow’s milk can cause iron deficiency anemia through both blocked iron absorption and also by causing stomach bleeding that leaches more iron from the bloodstream.

As your baby grows past one year, the digestive system will be better able to handle the proteins in milk, but the risk of anemia still exists, so cow’s milk intake should always be regulated.

Why Some Dairy Products are Safe

Not all dairy carries the same risks as cow’s milk. In foods like cheese and yogurt the processing methods that are used in manufacturing break down the protein and the lactose, making them easier to digest. This is why many lactose intolerant people are able to eat these foods and yet can’t drink milk. The same applies to cow’s milk based formulas, however there are still some babies who can’t tolerate even the dairy protein in these formulas and need a different option.

The main difference between milk and other dairy products is that yogurt and cheese are unlikely to be eaten in large amounts, and are even less likely to replace formula or breast milk. During the first year, your baby needs all the nutrients that are provided by these sources. Cow’s milk does not provide everything a baby needs nutritionally. After one year old, babies are able to use cow’s milk as a beverage because they are eating larger amounts of solid baby foods that provide a much better nutritional base. A baby who starts drinking cow’s milk too early may skip formula or breast milk feedings and lose important nutrients.

Until your baby is a year old, the only beverage that is really required is breast milk or formula. Along with meeting all of your baby’s nutritional needs, they also offer plenty of fluid intake to keep baby hydrated. Once your baby is a year old, you can start to replace these feedings with cow’s milk and wean from the breast or bottle. At this time you should still be cautious that baby gets less than 24 ounces of cow’s milk every day. This will prevent anemia and also make certain milk isn’t replacing meals.

Favorite Snacks for Babies and Toddlers

Favorite Snacks for Babies and Toddlers

October 24th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When your baby has graduated from breast milk or formula and is eating three meals a day, snacks will become an important part of the daily routine. A small, healthy snack twice a day, usually mid-morning and mid-afternoon can be a healthy addition to your child’s diet as long as you make smart choices that will both please your child and provide important nutrients.

Look for snacks that are kid-friendly, provide sustained energy, and that are easy for your older baby or toddler to eat. Snack time shouldn’t take a long time, or a lot of preparation, so having snacks ready to go will make it easier to choose right.

Favorite Snacks for Older Babies

When your older baby is ready to start snacking, he probably still won’t have all his teeth or be able to chew some of the snack options grown ups enjoy. Still, there are plenty of snack options for babies that are healthy, easy to eat and great tasting too.

Your baby’s favorite snack might be one of his first finger foods. Cheerios, the popular early choice for babies learning to pick up foods with the thumb and forefinger, will continue to be a much-loved snack for some time. They are easily portable, don’t require refrigeration and are made with healthy whole oats. Other similar dry cereals will work just as well, just be sure to watch out for sugar content by reading the nutrition label on the cereal box.

Add some protein to your baby’s snack with small pieces of cheese, which will be very popular with older babies. Use caution to cut the pieces small enough to avoid a choking hazard – try cutting thin strips rather than cubes or chunks. Yogurt is another excellent snack option for older babies that adds protein.

Bananas are an excellent snack choice that babies love. One of his first baby foods, he can now handle slices of banana, which are easy for him to hold and also soft enough to prevent a choking hazard.

Favorite Snacks for Toddlers

Once your toddler has cut her molars, a whole new world of food opens up, and that translates to snacks as well. Favorite toddler snacks will be a little more advanced than those you offered her as a baby. Now is the time to look to all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, and take previously loved snacks a little further.

Popular snacks with the toddler crowd include thin cut apple slices – add some peanut butter or a yogurt dip for a little extra protein, berries such as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, and grapes (cut up as they are still a choking hazard). Your toddler may also be ready for some raw veggies, such as thin carrot sticks and cucumber slices.

Toddlers still love cheese, and you can now offer slices paired with healthy whole grain crackers. Mix it up with different types of cheese for new tastes. Try melting cheese on the crackers in your toaster oven, and topping it with a small chunk of tomato for a different twist on a traditional snack.

The ability to self-feed with a spoon makes a cup of yogurt or applesauce an even more appealing snack for both mom and toddler alike. She will love feeling like a grown-up eating her own snack, and you will be free to get other things done!

Snack time for babies and toddlers is a great time for fun foods that are both healthy and delicious. The purpose of snacks is to keep your child going in between meals, so keep them small – remember it’s just a snack, not a second lunch!

Choosing Certified Organic Food

Choosing Certified Organic Food

October 23rd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

A renewed focus on healthy eating and healthier foods in recent years has resulted in a wider market for organic and natural foods. Many of these organic foods can now be found in standard grocery stores rather than only in upscale markets or health food stores. This makes choosing organic food for your family easier than ever before. To decide if organic is the right choice for your family, it’s important to understand what exactly organic foods are, what the requirements are for a food to be labeled as organic, and what the difference is between organic and natural foods.

What is Organic Food?

Organic food is grown and processed following strict guidelines that regulate the use of pesticides, hormones and fertilizers. This system of farming is aimed at reducing pollution and delivering food that is free of chemicals and additives believed to be harmful to our health. Organic farmers do not use chemical fertilizers or pest control methods, instead choosing more natural options. Organic foods include fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs and grains.

How do I Know If a Food is Organic?

The USDA labels all organic foods according to a set of guidelines for the growing and production of the food. In order to receive the USDA Organic label, the food in question must be at least 95% organic. This means 95% of the ingredients must be from organic sources. Some foods may be labeled specifically as 100% organic, generally fresh produce which has come directly from an organic farm certified by the USDA.

Some foods may contain organic ingredients, but if they are less than 95% organic can not carry the USDA label. Even if the package says organic, there is no guarantee that the food meets USDA standards unless the label is present.

You may also see foods labeled as “all natural”, which is not to be confused with organic. This generally means that the food contains natural ingredients and does not have any synthetic additives. It has no bearing on how the food was grown, and there is no USDA certification for all natural foods.

Are Organic Foods Better?

This is a controversial subject, and proponents of organic foods strongly believe that organic food is healthier, tastes better and is safer for both the environment and for human consumption.

Nutritionally, organic produce is the same as conventionally grown foods. Because organic food is not treated with preservatives, it tends to spoil faster than conventional foods. Although avoiding residues from pesticides is one of the main selling points of organic foods, the small amount that may appear on conventionally grown food is unlikely to be harmful. Because farming organically costs more, the extra cost is passed on to the consumer, which is the reason for the higher price tag on organic food. Many people believe organic food tastes better, but in blind taste tests, most people can’t tell the difference.

Choosing organic food for your family is a personal decision, which requires taking into account the potential risks of conventional food to both health and to the environment as well as your family’s budget. Luckily, for those who choose to buy organic, the rise in popularity of organically produced goods has made them a lot easier to find and may also affect the price of organic food in favor of the consumer in the future.

Appropriate Serving Sizes for Toddlers

Appropriate Serving Sizes for Toddlers

October 21st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Toddlers are obviously much smaller than grown-ups, and it stands to reason that they will therefore require smaller servings of foods than an adult would. Many parents, however, serve toddlers much larger portions of foods than they should really be eating. This doesn’t matter all that much if they are having a double portion of vegetables, but when it comes to portion sizes of some other foods, it can lead to serious problems.

Serving Sizes and Labels

The nutrition label of most food products states what a serving size should be for that particular food, but beware! The serving size usually stated on the package refers to a 2000 calorie per day diet, and most toddlers need about half of that. In fact, on average a toddler’s serving of any food should be about ¼ of what a standard adult serving should be. Don’t go by the label; instead learn how to properly measure the appropriate amount of food for your toddler.

The Right Serving Size for Toddlers

For each food group, you can learn to recognize what a serving size looks like by taking the time to measure out your toddler’s food for a while. Eventually, you won’t need to measure as you will easily be able to recognize what constitutes an appropriate amount. Here are some easy measurements you can perform to start serving proper portions.

For dairy foods, your toddler needs the equivalent of about 16-20 ounces of milk in a day. Not all of the dairy servings need to come from milk, but if your toddler is fond of milk you might find that no other dairy is really needed. If your toddler doesn’t like milk, you can replace a serving of milk with a serving of cheese or yogurt. The average serving size for either milk or yogurt is about ½ cup, or 4 ounces. ¾ of an ounce of cheese will also make up the equivalent of one serving of dairy.

Proteins such as meat or beans aren’t needed in large quantities. A serving of meat for a toddler is about 1 ounce. Other protein sources that make up a serving include ½ an egg, a few tablespoons of beans or a tablespoon of peanut butter. Your toddler only needs two servings a day, so keep a close eye on how much protein you are serving.

For grains, you can measure out ¼ cup of cooked cereal such as oatmeal, or ¼ cup of rice or pasta. ½ of a slice of bread or the same amount of a tortilla make up another serving of grains.

Fruits and vegetables can be the hardest to get into your toddler, but it’s a bit easier when you realize how small the serving size actually is. A serving of fruit juice can make up one of your child’s fruit servings for the day, but should be no more than 6 ounces. For the rest of your child’s servings, about ¼ cup of cooked or fresh fruits and vegetables provides a serving. This is equivalent to about half of a banana or other whole fruit.

For foods like candy, baked goods and other snacks, there is no real serving size as they are not part of your child’s balanced diet. Add these treats with caution and bear in mind that a small amount is as much as your child needs. A toddler doesn’t need a whole cookie, and will likely be happy to get anything at all!

Teaching Healthy Eating Habits to Toddlers

Teaching Healthy Eating Habits to Toddlers

October 20th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

If there is one thing that doesn’t come to mind when you think about toddlers, it’s healthy eating. Toddlers are well known for being picky eaters, and even those who ate whatever you put in front of them as babies have a habit of turning on you when the toddler years start. The healthy eating cause is not lost; there is hope for even the pickiest toddler. It takes a real commitment to healthy eating as a parent, and a little extra patience, but you can teach your toddler healthy eating habits.

Just Keep Trying

The biggest mistake parents make is to give up and simply not offer the healthy foods anymore because their child doesn’t like it or won’t eat it. By removing the vegetables from your toddler’s dinner plate, you send the message that it’s ok to skip them. As frustrating as it might be to see those healthy foods simply left on the plate meal after meal, day after day, consistency and perseverance are vital to getting your toddler to eat better.

Make sure that every meal includes a serving of fruit or vegetables, even if your toddler immediately announces that he doesn’t like what is on his plate. Although you can’t make him eat it, you can make sure he gets the message that these foods are a part of the diet in your house, and they aren’t going away.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Toddlers are famous imitators, and they want to be just like mom and dad. So it stands to reason that the number one way you can teach your child healthy eating habits is to adopt them yourself. Your toddler needs to see that you are eating the same healthy foods you have piled on his plate. The more often he sees you eating your vegetables, the more likely he is to emulate you.

Even if you don’t particularly like a certain vegetable or fruit, don’t let your toddler in on the secret, or soon you will hear from him that he doesn’t like it either. The best lesson in healthy eating is the one you don’t try to teach directly; instead it is found in the day to day habit of watching you eat healthy foods. You not only need to eat the right foods, but avoid the unhealthy ones. You can’t very well tell your toddler he can’t have potato chips before dinner if he sees you snacking on them.

Don’t Offer Bribes

While the habit of offering a sweet treat after dinner in return for eating her peas might work in the short-term, in the long run you will find this backfires. Eventually, she will stop falling for the bribe. Or worse, she will come to expect that there will always be a treat in return for eating what is on her plate. This doesn’t teach your toddler healthy eating, it merely teaches her to expect a reward for what should be a normal behavior. This can translate into other aspects of life, and before you know it you will find yourself bribing her to do everything from take a nap to put on her shoes.

If you really want your toddler to make the choice to eat healthy foods, you will have to do it the long way, with patience and determination. Stick to serving healthy foods, eat them yourself and eventually your toddler will get on board too.

Helping Your Baby Learn to Self-Feed

Helping Your Baby Learn to Self-Feed

October 16th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Although it will likely be a long time before your baby is really able to eat without any assistance, the early attempts at self-feeding are an important first step to your baby’s independence. From learning to pick up foods with her fingers to figuring out the fork and spoon, self-feeding is a process that takes a long time and lot of practice. Help your baby get started with the right foods and a little help.

Learning the Pincer Grasp

Around 8-10 months of age, your baby will start using her thumbs and fingers to pick up small objects, including foods. You will see a progression from baby using all of her fingers to scoop food into her fist, towards a more precise pincer grasp that uses only the thumb and forefinger to pick up objects one at a time. This pincer grasp is a good sign your baby is getting ready to self-feed with finger foods.

Offer a small pile of small but easy to grasp food like Cheerios cereal for your baby to practice on. At first, she probably won’t get much into her mouth, but it’s the practice that matters. As baby masters this skill, she will soon be able to eat a wide variety of finger foods without assistance. You should always keep a close eye on baby during these early attempts at self-feeding, as she is not used to the foods and there is a risk of choking. Make sure the choice of baby foods will soften quickly in the mouth to avoid serious choking.

Using Utensils

From the earliest feedings, your baby will probably show a great interest in the spoon. To get him used to the idea, bring two spoons to every feeding, and let him play with one while you feed him with the other. At first, that will be the extent of his spoon skills, but as time goes by you can let him start dipping his own spoon into the food and attempting to bring it to his mouth.

When you move on to chunkier foods, consider giving your baby a small fork (choose one that is intended for babies and not for grown-ups, with a short, easy to grasp handle and tines that are not too sharp) to attempt to pick up food. Because using a spoon requires more steadiness and skill, your baby will likely figure out the fork a little faster. This will encourage him to try harder with the spoon, as each success teaches him a little more and gets him excited about self-feeding.

Good Foods for Early Self-feeding

When teaching baby to self feed with a fork, try foods like pasta, small chunks of cooked vegetables, small pieces of fruit and cooked beans. For learning to use a spoon, it’s best to try thick foods such as oatmeal and yogurt. Thinner foods will be much harder for baby to keep on the spoon and will make a huge mess while frustrating your baby.

Stick to small bites of soft foods that are easy to chew, and bear in mind that early self-feeders often stuff way more food than they can handle into their mouths, so be on the lookout. Most babies will spit it out, but there is always a risk of choking. All self-feeding should be closely supervised until your baby starts to master it – and even then, stay close and keep an eye out!

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