8 Month Old Seems to Not like Being Spoon Fed

Well, my DD is 11.5 months, and is the same way. But I don't stress about it. I'm still BFing--and that's all the nutrition she really needs at this age. Same with the 8 month old boy. All the nutrition he needs is coming from his formula. He doesn't "need" anymore. My DD self feeds--crackers, cheerios, spagetti, chicken nuggets, etc--i just cut up what we eat. I wouldn't really worry about it.

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My son didn't get food until he was closer to 10 1/2 months old. They can live just fine on milk until they are about a year. Most countries don't even have baby food. Babies eat when they pick stuff off their parents plate. We never did baby food...it really isn't necessary. There aren't very many calories, and the fat that baby needs for a healthy brain are also absent.
If you really think he needs food I suggest cutting up small soft fruit and veggies and letting him feed himself. My son HATES being spoon fed. He always has. He will let me feed him yogurt...but only because it is his favorite thing to eat.
Try not to stress too much...he will eat when he is ready. He wont starve...even though it seems like he might. I hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

My son wouldn't be spoon fed either, I couldn't get him to eat baby food. I fed him those fruit and veggie puffs and cheerios until he could handle chunks of cooked fruits and vegetables. He was and still is very independent and likes to do everything himself. It could also be a texture thing, now that he is 2 he still doesn't like anything mashed (i.e. potatoes).

So, let him eat with his hands/fingers from baby food in bowl. If he's hungry, his hands will find his mouth. Peace, Love, Joy! K.

My daughter was exactly the same way, and she would never let us spoon feed her. Even to this day, at almost 2 yrs old, she still has to do absolutely EVERYTHING herself. She never really liked babyfood much, so I just searched until I found softer foods that she could handle herself. She was always a big eater and big baby, so she was eating soft solids when she was 5-6 months old because milk and cereal were just not enough. I found things like tofu, bananas, cheerios, cooked veggies like carrots, green beans, and peas, rotini pasta(because it was easiest for her to pick up and less mess) just plain or with a little sauce, canned peaches and apples, and just basically anything softer in texture that would break up easily. She loved feeding herself although it could sometimes be messy, and I would always just give her a fork or spoon to play with while she was eating. Now, at not quite 2, she uses her fork and spoon both pretty well. Sometimes, I think they just like to be independent and do things for themselves, even at an early age :o)

My now 13 month old son did the same thing. It was real battle trying to get him to eat baby food and he never did. Finally we went straight to solids. I tried every trick possible but he wouldn't eat off of a spoon and wouldn't touch baby food (and he still won't let me feed him off a spoon). I offered him soft and easy to eat solids as an alternative, at first he wasn't sure and just played with them but by nine or ten months he was proficient at eating them, and now he eats solids better than any of his peers. He also didn't like anything I cut into tiny pieces so I had to get creative finding foods that would be safe for him to eat. He at a lot of peas, banana, mandarin oranges, canned peaches, cooked carrot, green beans (especially the fancy canned kind), hamburger (patty or ground beef), chicken nuggets cut into long strips, freeze dried fruit, crackers, cheerios and puffs....those are just some of the foods he liked and would eat. Biter biscuits were also helpful in getting him proficient at eating. At first it bothered me that my child didn't want to eat baby food but he did great with solids (eventually) and I didn't have to transition and now he is a champion eater. There were a few choking incidents (ate too much too fast) at first so keep any eye out but I still let him feed himself and he learned not to do that. I guess some babies just want to be independent. Best of luck!

Put the food on his fingers, let him lick or suck it off. Put something you know he likes on the spoon (my son loved ice-cream) and just place it in front of him. His curiosity may get the best of him. He'll be on the spoon in no time.

L.,

Make this a joint effort because he wants to be independent. Make sure he always has something to feed himself, usually cheerios now, but he will get better as time goes on. You can slip in spoonfuls of whatever while he is concentrating on picking up cheerios.

You can also give him a baby fork and spoon (soft plastic kind) and let him wave them around and eventually dip them in the bowl while you spoon feed him. Gradually he will take over for you, without the battle.

Good luck,
S.

Hey! We have a few things in common! I also do in home daycare (almost 11 years now) and my husband is in the Navy reserve. I really love doing daycare. I hope you will too. Now for that baby, have you tried putting him in a high chair instead of holding him? You may also give him a spoon to play with while you feed him with a different spoon. Also, some kids are very sensitive about anything that goes into their mouths. Make sure you are using a plastic spoon with no rough edges or a rubber coated spoon. And yes, it will pass. He may just be frustrated at the change in his eating routine. Good luck!

Let go honey ~ spoons are over-rated. 8 month olds don't have all their teeth and those that are coming in are tender and sore most of the time. They also don't like things coming at their faces that they cannot touch and control themselves.

When babies eat they are not only getting food into their bodies (sometimes way less than we think they need), they are playing with textures and colors. Eating time is playtime for all children until they reach the age of reason. Let go, let go, let go!

Offer him a variety of foods he can feed himself such as cut up bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, peas, cooked carrots, small pieces of cheese, etc, and give up on the spoon feeding for now. Some kids just need to be more independent, and it sounds like he's one of them.

Hello, Both of my kids at 3 months were eatting cereal and jar food- 6 months they were doing finger foods and jar food and some veggies from the table. We would always give them their spoon but Like I said I started at 3 months with a spoon-
I would say just put their spoon on the tray and try it Good luck

My son does the same thing. He'll only eat a few things off a spoon. When we do feed him with a spoon we give him a spoon too. It seems to distract him enough to keep him from swatting. Now that he's older, 11mo., I'll also put a smaller amount of food on the spoon and let him try to do it himself. So he can practice feeding himself and I'll be able to get food in him. For the majority of his meals I just give him finger foods. When he was younger 8-9mo. I made sure to give him little pieces to be sure he was able to eat them without choking. I just cut up things like bananas, avacodos, sweet potatoe, corn, peas, grapes, melon, bread. Meal time is much easier now! Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Hi L., Maybe you should try to just give him finger foods. Cook up some carrots or other veggies and cut them up and let him feed himself. I do daycare also and have a 8 month old girl and she don't like to be spoon feed so that's what I do. She also likes cut up bananas, small pieces of toast. Hope this helps
M.

Hi
My daughter doesn't like to be spoon fed either. She wants to do it all by her self. So I give her foods that she can eat with her fingers.She has this i can do it myself attitude. So I would give him finger foods. Now that my daughter is 1 I give her a spoon to try and use and she can get in her mouth alone. It all comes back to them wanting to be independent. Good luck

There is a special feeding spoon that the NUK company makes. I have never seen it in the stores, but if you contact them, they could probably send you one. It doesn't really look like a spoon at all, but they can learn control of holding it and get the concept down of feeding.

I am not going to be much help... my daughter was the same way and I fed her just a bottle till she was 10 months because she refused to eat from a spoon. My daughter was on formula so the doc recommended that I mix the rice cereal with the formula enough that she could drink it like a thin milk shake. That was the only way I got other foods in her.

All of a sudden at 10 months she started eating baby food, and she fed herself. She is very stubborn so I guess she just wanted to wait till she could feed herself. By 13 months we were done with the bottle completely and she ate baby food as well as easy mush stuff from our plates.

Maybe certain foods irritates his tummy and that is why he gets mad. Something to look into... with this not being your son I guess you could maybe ask the mother to talk to the doc for advice and let you know what he/she says.

Is he teething or has he been sick recently. My 9 month old just went through a food refusal after he was sick and I notice he refuses the spoon more when he has teeth coming in. If you are getting stressed he is probably feeling that also. I also will give my son a spoon to hold and play with while I feed him and that seems to work. He will open hs mouth to put "his" spoon in and I sneak a spoon of food in then. Good Luck.

L.,

Once my kids started finger foods, they would never go back to being spoon fed. I wonder if his Mom would let you give him regular food cut up really small and let him feed himself. I did this with my seven kids at about this age, and they all survived!

L.,
my son went through a stage like that when he was teething. The gums are so tender, that even touching the spoon with them might cause him a great deal of discomfort. This also is an akward age, as you said they can't control their motions well enough to feed themselves, but maybe allowing him to hold a spoon while you feed him with another would make him happy?
And if all he wants is his bottle, then that should be okay too. As long as you offer him options of solids to try, he will get all the nutrional needs met with his formula.

Good luck,
Nicole

When my son was that age he didn't like the spoon. So I would put cereal or baby food on my finger and he would eat it that way just fine. Try it, it might work!

I seem to remember something like this with one of my kids. I think we tried different types of spoons. It seems silly but, try thicker plastic spoons (like IKEA - the spoon is plastic - but not like the disposable kind) or maybe try the kind where the end of the spoon is more rubber like. He might be teething. Also, have more than one spoon available, he might want to try feeding himself! Good luck!

My advice would be to listen to the baby- he is clearly communicating that he doesn't want the food. A baby doesn't need more than milk (or formula) for the first year, nutritionally speaking. Earlier eating should be based on the baby's interest. When they start reaching for other people's food you know they wnat to try. Forcing them could set up a power struggle situation later - not good to do with food!

It sounds like he wants to do it himself - so I would let him. Support that desire for independence and learning - it will serve him well in life. Give him soft little bits of banana, tofu, cheerios, apple, cooked carrots, peas, etc. and let him have at it.

Of my 4 children, one son began eating solids at 7 months, one son at 10 months, one daughter at 12 months and one daughter at 8 months. None of them wanted to be fed - they put the food in their mouths themselves. Now, many years later, they are all strong and healthy children ( and they have maintained a very healthy independence!)

It's always a good thing to try to see things from your baby's point of view. He can't talk yet but is communicating the best he can. Maybe eating out of a spoon isn't the most important thing right now. Imagine being small and helpless (well not quite helpless) and someone trying to push a big spoon full of who knows what in your mouth. Shudder! Not a good feeling.

I have several children who did this same thing. The solution for us? Give them finger foods to eat and ditch the spoon. We don't do baby food personally but any small finger foods would work for this child. Maybe you could request that his mom sends some cherriors or sliced apples or sliced bananas or whatever solids he eats. This will help develop his pincher grasp and hand eye coordination as well as get other food into him. I had several kids that were strictly nursing at this stage and all developed just fine. Some kids aren't ready for the more solid food until later. That's my experience anyway.

My mother in law has done daycare for 17 years. She has found that the way children act with their parents can be totally different. She also has found that the parents don't always tell the whole truth. I worked with her for awhile and when she had trouble feeding them she would give them the bottle and then sneak in a spoon of food and so on. They would get used to it and eventually didn't need as much of the bottle. She had a child that didn't like to eat anything except for baby food even when she was older, so that is what her parents fed her and she had all sorts of problems getting her to eat later. Since she wasn't used to it she started gagging on anything with texture.