Help! My Baby Won’t Eat Finger Foods
Apr 30th, 2009 by Christine
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
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