14 Month Old Refuses Food from Spoons and Forks.

Hi J., I know you don't want him to eat with his hands forever but yes he is eating. Why not try taking him to the store and picking out a cool fork and spoon set. Maybe one with a character he likes. Some of mine went through stages where their food likes were very limited. Just be patient and offer the fruits and veggies at another time. My friends daughter only wanted cheese, bacon and sliced peaches. The Doctor said, give her that. These stages do pass. Does he take vitamins? You are a ood mom, keep it up. Grandma Mary

Give him the spoon and let him do it himself. He will probably still eat most of the food with his hands till he gets used to using the spoon, but, so what...he's washable! And even if he does eat with his hands...at least he's eating.

Put foods he doesn't like in front of him (ie: fruits and vegetables) and leave him alone. Sooner or later, he will eat it and hopefully, will like it enough to eat it again.

I'm going through the same with my 14 month old. I've given up trying to spoon feed him because he wants to do it himself, and he will eat his veggies but doesn't like fruit unless it's in yogurt. Tell your friend to just go with the flow. They won't starve to death! :)
Lynsey

Not worth the power struggle. Let him do it himself - even if he wants to pick it all up with his fingers. But - definitely - give him the spoon and fork to have and sooner or later - he'll start to use it - and if he doesn't - when he's older - it can be more directed to use the utensils. My dgtr at that age ate her yogurt with her fingers for a couple weeks because she was so against us feeding her AT ALL, and still wanted that yogurt! Mess - yes - happy mealtime - yes!!!!! Because there wasn't the power struggle and yes - she got dirty - but we have lots of soap!

First order of busness, imo, is get rid of the junkfood...babies don't need cheese doodles and fries! Blecht!! :-)

Second...continue to offer only healthy nutritional food. It's summer, I can't imagine he doesn't like watermelon, honeydew or cantelope...cut up into "his size perfect size".
We give Ava, our 14 month old (and gave our other 2, also)everything...avacado, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, strawberries, she has grapes cut up really small and I remove the skins, peas, beans, corn on the cob...all sorts of stuff, tell your friend to really use her imagination with him and food...

My daughter at that age started with the "spoon business". I gave her a spoon to hold while I fed her - that lasted for a while, now, she likes to do it all herself - which of course, I hate because of the mess...but that's just a part of mommyhood that whill never go away!

Tell her to hang in there and try all sorts of new fruits and veggies (and new meat, pork shops, turkey burgers, steak)...and stay away from the junk - healthy weight or not..why start the yukky stuff?

My son refused to be fed anything from 8 months on. It's messy and a lot of food is wasted, but try just putting food on the high chair tray and letting him self-feed. Give him a spoon and/or fork (we give both) and let him practice. He should be doing this by 14 months anyway. He will eat what he needs and wants! My son is very picky. Keep offering the rejected foods. Eventually he may start to like them. My son did not have healthy weight gain (related to ear infections) but he's still on the charts and he's started to be more open about food. I generally don't hide food, I don't supplement with smoothies or formula or anything, so he has to get what he needs from the food we feed him. He's doing great! Also don't push the food issue. Provide good choices and see where it goes.

Hi J.,

My son is now almost 16 months old so I can offer some advice. Has she tried to give him his own fork and spoon so that he can try to feed himself? My son likes to hold his own fork, sometimes he gets the food on the fork, and then makes it into his mouth, other times he picks it up with his hands, but he will also let me feed him because he's so concerned with trying to use his own fork that he doesn't pay attention.

My son will only eat specific fruits and veggies, the ones that come out the same way they go in, like watermelon and corn. So every morning he gets a fruit smoothie where I put a container of stage 2 baby food and mix it with milk and he drinks it. Sometimes I will also make his pasta with tomato sauce and a container of veggie baby food and he doesn't notice it. I have not yet bought one of those "sneaky chef" cook books, but I have figured out ways to get him to eat stuff he doesn't want by not letting him know it's there.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

C.

Always offer healthy foods. If he always gets chicken, fries and cheese doodles he won't want anything else. Let him use the utensils or just use his hands. Why force feed him?