won't eat fingerfoods...

[einalem]

DS is 14mths old now and won't eat alot of finger foods by himself. He'll eat biscuits/vitawheats/toast by himself but if I give him steamed veggies he'll just look at them.

I know he likes the taste of them, as he'll eat them if they are chopped up.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can get him to enjoy eating his food this way?

Thanks in advance

[Chickadee]

When you say "chopped up" how do you mean? Mashed or just diced small? If he'll eat diced veg then just serve them that way and let him pick them up with his fingers. My DD loved peas and corn that way, just on their own.

Don't know if this will help or not but another tip would be to reduce the portion size. Maybe only 2 or 3 veg sticks or a teaspoon full of diced veg at first. Sometimes if you offer too much they just refuse, but if they start small they will tuck right in and ask for more.

[einalem]

he eats the food diced up, but not with his fingers, he prefeers me to feed him. It is very frustrating, he'll only do it on occassion. I'd like to encourage him to do it more often

[Chickadee]

Throw away the spoon. Try sitting down together with a plate or bowl of something you know he likes and you both eat from it with your fingers. Make a game of it - I used to really exaggerate when I'd put the food in my mouth, making a big chomping noise that DD would then imitate. You can also try popping some into his mouth, with or without airplane noises, and let him finger-feed you too in the same way.

DD (2) didn't want to eat with us last night so I resorted back to this game, and she loved it still. Probably ate the equivalent of a few spoonfuls of peas and also some pasta, yay!

The big thing though is not to force it. The more you stress out over food and him eatting (or not eatting) the worse it will get.

[einalem]

thanks for that, I think we'll have an indoor picnic for lunch when he wakes up