Your toddler is increasingly likely to want to feed themselves now. Here is how you can help encourage self feeding and the benefits it can bring.
From 12 months your toddler is able to eat most adult food and
will enjoy joining in with family meals. Eating together is a great
opportunity for your toddler to learn to feed themselves as they
will want to copy what you are doing.
As soon as your toddler shows signs of wanting to hold their own
spoon and feed themselves, let them. Being able self feed at an
earlier age is associated with higher intakes of energy and some
nutrients1. It also helps to develop your toddler's
finger movements and hand-eye
co-ordination. It may be messy at first but the more
chances your toddler has to practise, the better. Remember to
always supervise your toddler when they are eating.
Your toddler may already have shown interest in self feeding and
may be experimenting with some easy, first finger foods such as
rusks. Here are some ways you can encourage self feeding skills
further.
- Continue to offer your toddler finger foods
such as strips of toast, small cubes of cheese, strips of cooked
vegetables or pieces of fruit.
- Try giving your toddler one spoon while you feed with the
other. You can load your toddler's spoon so they can try to feed
themselves.
- Let your toddler practise self feeding with a food they can
manage and will not make them gag. Thicker textures, such as fish
pie or cottage pie, can be good as they will stick to the spoon for
longer, giving your toddler a bigger chance of success.
- Offer food such as peas, cubed vegetables and smaller pieces of
fruit so that your toddler can practise picking up small items
between their finger and thumb. Your toddler needs to have mastered
this pincer
grasp in order to use a fork and spoon
successfully.
1 2004 Betty Ruth Carruth, Paula J.Ziegler, Anne
Gordon, Kirsty Hendricks. Developmental Milestones and Self-Feeding
Behaviour in Infants and Toddlers Journal of the American Dietetic
Association. 104:S51-S56