Help! My Baby Won’t Eat Finger Foods
We received a message this week from Danielle in the UK. She told us
My son is 10 months old and doesn’t seem to be interested in finger food at all. I’ve tried him with a number of different things, at different times of the day but he just wont eat it. Do you have any tips on how I can get him to eat by himself?
We thought we’d post our reply to Danielle here – if you’re facing the same challenges with your little one, then you may find it helpful…
As long your little one is still drinking plenty of milk, then his nutritional needs are still being met at this point. I’m assuming that he’s also taking solid foods from a spoon – but just doesn’t want to try feeding himself with foods that he can pick up?
If that’s the case, there are a few things you can try…
1. Offer him finger foods at breakfast time (before you offer cereal or any other foods that he usually has for breakfast). He will likely be happier and more responsive to new experiences after a good night’s sleep!
2. Sit with him and share the finger foods with him… if he sees you eating them, he may be more inclined to try them!
3. Invite some of his little friends over for a play date and have a “finger food snack break” – babies love to mimic others, and seeing his friends feeding themselves may be all the encouragement he needs.
4. Try offering finger foods BEFORE giving him purees/mashed food from a spoon, when he is at his hungriest.
5. Wait at least an hour after giving him milk, before offering him finger foods, so that he has had a chance to regain his appetite.
This being said, the most important thing to remember is that babies tend to develop on their OWN schedule – it is not vitally important that he feed himself yet, so it may be worth simply hanging on until he’s ready, offering a selection of finger foods from time to time.
And do try to hide any impatience you may feel at his refusal of finger foods – otherwise, the situation may turn into a bit of a battle, which is no fun for either of you!
Do YOU have any tips for Danielle? If you’ve had difficulty in introducing finger foods, please do share your experiences!
Pages on our site to help you deal with feeding problems…
How much should my baby be eating?
Gagging problems and introducing lumpy foods
My baby won’t eat from a spoon
My baby won’t eat vegetables
Baby feeding tips
How to cope with messy mealtimes
Category: Feeding tips
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Hi, I have the same problem as Danielle, except that my baby is 21
months old! I have tried everything, leading by example, having
babies round, giving him only finger foods for lunch- he didn’t eat
lunch for 3 weeks! He will only eat variations of pasta with tomato
based sauces and Farley’s Rusks.He puts his hand out to stop me
giving him something new, but seems very cheerful yet determined
about it. My doctor said don’t worry as he’s well-fed but surely
he needs a more varied diet and it’s meaning as time gets on he
seems more set in his ways. Any help would be great. Thanks.
Michaela, is he having a lot of milk or juice? I’m asking that because of your comment about his not eating any lunch at all for three weeks – it made me wonder if there’s something else that’s filling him up…
Hi Christine, He only has a drink of squash mid-morning. I suppose I could substitute this for water and see if it made a difference. I think he’s just a boy who likes to do things at his own pace. He will only walk if i’m holding his hand, yet he can count to twenty and knows most of his alphabet! He’s so advanced in some ways and so not in others.I went to see my health visitor on friday and she’s sending someone round to observe him and give me tips. Thanks for the reply. M x
Hi Michaela, yes – it may be worth swapping that squash for water, it might help increase his appetite a little. And there IS a theory that babies tend to put aside the development of one set of skills when working on another – in other words, his counting/alphabet skills (which I think are wonderful, by the way!) may have taken precedence over other things (like eating!). It’s great that your health visitor is being so helpful, but it really does sound as if you’re doing all you can and that, as you say, he’ll eat when he’s ready. Please let us know how he gets on
Hi, my little man is nearly 11 months and wont eat finger foods either! ive tried everything and i understand how frustrating it is. hes at nursery 3 times a week and his carer tries him all the time, he sometimes picks food up and will lick it but i dont think he likes the texture in his hand. good to know im not on my own! good luck!
My baby is almost 11 months old and will not take any finger food or anything with lumps. He gags everytime and then spits it out or throws up. Everything has to be pureed. I thought maybe has some oral sensitivity but he lets me brush his teeth and puts tons of textured teething rings in his mouth. Any tips of what I should do would be welcome or even any great resources (books) that you would recommend that would help me get him through this. Thanks in advance
Hi Danielle – have you discussed this with your doctor, just to rule out any physical cause? Also, did you check out the link to the ‘Gagging Problems’ page above – there are a couple of suggestions there for increasing texture. If any moms out there have some more ideas for Danielle, please do share
THANK GOODNESS!!! Sometimes I start to think I’m alone in my problems! Everyone seems to be telling me “Well, so-and-so was eating finger foods by Rachel’s age. Maybe sometihing’s wrong with her!”. She’s only 8 months old and I THOUGHT we were doing fine until we started having to deal with “outside influences”. She loves to play with food but never puts it in her mouth. I figured this was FINE…I viewed it as learning what the food was about (texture, smell, look etc.) but then everyone else started in on me! I feel SO much more confident in my normal answer of “She’ll put them in her mouth eventually”. Now, if I could just get them off my back about not holding her own bottle…..
Don’t worry Diane, it will be fine. My son is 2 1/2 and has been to the Occupational Therapist for 6 months. Only yesterday did he decided to eat new things! He ate chicken noodles, an egg sandwich and cake at nursery. Today he ate a banana and a pink biscuit! This is unbelievable to me as he has tried nothing new for months! I always thought it would happen all at once, if it ever did! Try not to worry. I thought mine would still be eating only pasta at 18! There’s always something though- now to stop dummies at night. Don’t listen to anyone else, she will do things in her own time. xxx
Hi all, I am having exactly the same issues with y little girl, she is nearly 11 months old and will not finger feed, she picks the food up and plays with it but does not put it into her mouth. She will however eat it if i put it into her mouth and is the same with her juice and milk bottles (will drink them if i give them to her) she is advanced in other ways though like imitating actions that i do like coughing, laughing pointing and also imitates simple words like cat so i’m not worried in that area, its as though she chooses not to do it, she is the same with her weight bearing on her legs, will do it occasionaly but not if i want to show anyone i’m not sure whether its her stubborn streak coming through….please help xx
I didn’t have a chance to read through all these comments and answers, but I have an 8 month old girl who is crawling all over the place, she is pulling herself up to stand, she nurses, but eats baby food and baby cereal with no problem at all! She has been a fantastic baby! She wants to put everything into her mouth, she is always putting finger food in her mouth, but she hates the texture and she spits it out immediately. Cheerios, cracker bits, gerber puffs, freeze dried snacks, watermelon, everything! Today she wanted the watermelon so badly she practically crawled up my leg, she sat and gnawed on it for 20 minutes, but the moment a piece was in her mouth, she was spitting it out. I think it’s a texture thing. I was always so worried that she might choke that I constantly made sure she never put anything in her mouth, and now i’m afraid that it’s my fault she’s developed a dislike for the texture of anything! She is actually pushing 9 months now that I think about it. She’s been crawling and standing since she was 6 months old! I just dont feel like she should be struggling with this. Will she just decide to accept solid foods?
I appreciate your insight
I think it’s still early days Vanessa – at not quite 9 months she’s still experimenting and it’s quite common for babies to still be spitting out anything with texture at this point. I would continue to offer her plenty of finger foods… perhaps even sit and eat them with her… and try to mask any feelings of concern, in case she is picking up on your anxiety. Offer foods that are very easy to ‘gum’, which really reduce the choking risk and are easy for her to eat. In addition to the foods you have tried, there are more ideas here: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/finger-food-for-baby.html
How is she with texture in foods she eats from a spoon? If she’s still eating fairly smooth foods it would be useful to provide more texture there, too (mashing or chopping, for example).
Please let us know how you both get on – I’m sure she’ll be over this soon and happily tucking into everything
Thank you. That makes me feel so much better. She likes her baby food thick, i am always putting cereal in her smooth fruits and veggies. I can start steaming and mashing my own to introduce new textures. I appreciate the link, i’ll check it out! I know she loves the flavor of everything, so i’m glad to know that she should start to ease into the textures as time goes on. I am always trying to sit with her and share her finger foods. She has a blast picking them up, she loves putting everything in her mouth, but them it just pops back out. I’ll keep trying and check back in. Thanks so much! :]
You’re very welcome
I have a 14 month old. He will eat the gerber graduates entree foods as long as it is pureed. He will want a bit of certain things that he sees others eat. But If you put a finger food in front of him he wont do anything with it.
When he was first born the nurse had to teach him to suck.. so Im hoping that he knows how to chew food. He eats good when I feed him. But I dont think that he actually chews it its more like rolling it around in his mouth and then swalling it. He use to gag and throw up when as much as a noodle he would try. But that seems to be getting better. I know how you feel.. I worry because my son wont eat finger foods are table food with out it being pureed first. Good luck.