12 Month Old Won't Feed Himself

I just went through this with my 7-mo-old son. First let me say that I think it's a boy thing. I never had any trouble with my daughter. What has seemed to work with him (knock on wood!) is this: I have started with biter biscuits and zweiback toast because they are longer. I hold it at the bottom with two fingers, close enough that he can grab it, but far enough away that he can't just lean over and eat it without grabbing it. It took a few times, but now he immediately grabs it and puts it in his mouth. In the beginning he would just lean forward and try to put his mouth on it. Then when he started grabbing it, he'd just play with it, not realizing it was to eat. Now he's a pro. We're still working on his pincer grasp, so we'll have to see how that goes. We try to give him something he can eat on his own every time we sit down for a meal. Hope this helps!

Hooray I'm not crazy!!!(my fam thought so) lol I thought it was just my one year old that did this too!! hahahaha he won't hold a piece of bread to save his life but he sure doesnt mind trying to eat shoes, strange i have to stop him every time!!! gross! but I'm still trying, when I hold stuff he does open his mouth like a little bird lol, I tried to teach him since he could eat but he just won't do it, he takes it then tosses.Drives me insane! One wierd tequnique that does work is he like to eat of me knee(washed of course lol), wierd.lol i discovered it one day after bath time, i put a piece of toast small) on my knee and he pointed to it then leaned his head and ate it!! Boys are funny things, my mom thought it was strange and funny but she said I did'nt pick anything up till the age of three!!!!! aww man lol! she said he mustve inherited the lazy comfortable trait from me, funny child, good luck I'm still trying but he screams and gets mad, he drinks from the sippy though but no self feeding, poor us!

It sounds like you've spoiled him to be like this. He's being lazy becasue you've donne it for him. Keep putting his food on the try and let him play with it or try and eat it without your help. He'll get the message. But, if he's not eating, it's not giving in t o keep him healthy, feed him if he doesn't eat, just make him get use to trying

Our daughter did that till one day we were really busy and she wasn't feeding herself so we proped it up for her. She finely figured out she had to hold it herself or she would eat.

M.,

I'm not sure if it's a boy thing or not. My son will ONLY eat food that he can pick up so we have the opposite problem! LOL!

I know it's fairly common for them to do what your son is doing, though, so I wouldn't necessarily worry about it at this point.

Do you eat at the same time as he does? Maybe if he sees you eating he'll get the idea eventually.

Good luck! :-)

J.

I wouldn't say it's strange because I've seen it a number of times. I will say that it's something you must overcome by just letting them sit with the food until they get hungry. I would sit him next to you in a highchair and make sure your eating things you have to eat with your hands. That way he'll see you eating.

Is he coordinated enough to hold the bottle? I would worry if it didn't seem that he has the ability to do it. More than likely he just really likes being babied and he doesn't want to move up to the next stage of development.

Suzi

I am having the same problem with my 12 month old!! He won't pick up food..he is a good eater just won't do it himself. I don't know about the whole bottle thing though that does sound a little weird that he won't hold it. YOu might have to get tough and make him do it. If you find out any good info on how to get our kiddos to eat let me know!! lol

If he's a normal 12-month-old, then he's got the coordination to feed himself. Put him in his high chair with a bowl of chocolate pudding or ice cream. Spoon a tiny taste into his mouth, then walk away busying yourself emptying the dishwasher or something. If he cries, keep talking to him saying, Go ahead and eat it, I'll be right back," and stay close, but let him have some time with the food. I'm willing to bet he'll figure out some way to get that treat into his mouth. It might be an insanely messy way, but we're not worried about neatness here!

Once he's proven a couple times that he can get something really good into his mouth, then try things like applesauce or oatmeal.

The other thing that I wonder about with your question is whether he's actually hungry. Remember that a serving size for a 12-month-old is about 2 or 3 tablespoons per meal, so try to figure out if the amount of food you're giving him is more than he needs. Maybe first thing in the morning would be a good time to work on self-feeding, since he'll probably be hungry then.

Best of luck!
N.

My kids were holding their bottles by around 9 months and I introduced small sippy cups at around 12 mos. so maybe you could try that when he is in the high chair and teach him to grasp it. My dd broke herself from the bottle at a year...however, we thought our son was going to be on it until he could go to the fridge and make his own! lol. For feeding himself, put the food in his hand and then use your hand to move his hand to his mouth and say "bite" and when he takes a bite praise him...then make an exagerated chewing motion so he can mimick that to chew it up...keep doing it over and over and then walk away and see if he does it himself. I taught my kids and grandkids how to chew. I Hope this helps.

I have one of those too!!!! OH MY GOSH I am trying him to get on a cuppie now... I have the playtex with handles he got about half of it down finalllllllly... but had a hard hard time he willlll pick up stuff in time... but sure has heck wont hold bottle... I will read this advice along with you if you dont mind!!!!!

My older son was like this too!!! I guess I babied him too much too!!! eeheheheheh

My son by the way is 11 months now... but that bird thing got me eheeheh that is so him! ehehehehe

I told a friend yesterday she send pic's of her daughter feeding herself.. I told her how cute.. I will send some at say 16 or 18 months I am sure heheheeh