At what age do babies usually start feeding themselves?

Question

My daughter is 8 months old. She will feed herself finger foods (small pieces of bread, rice puffs, baby biscuits etc.)

Occasionally she will try to grab the spoon when I am feeding her and attempt to put it into her own mouth. But then she'll lose interest in feeding herself from the spoon and won't show interest again for another few weeks.

Should I be encouraging her to feed herself at this age, or should I wait until she's a bit older and shows a bit more interest?

Answer 1

all children are different, i think as long as she can sit it a high chair then she can be allowed to try to feed herself , put her food in two bowles, a small one for her and the main one for you to feed her, give her her own spoon and you feed her with another, it's all trial and error ,let her have a little go in her own time.at the same time you will be feeding her so she wont be going without... good luck by the way if you dont have a washable floor put an old shower curtain under the high chair

Answer 2

babies do everything at their own pace. at this point the fact that she feeds herself finger foods is what you should be expecting. there is no problem in giving her a spoon when you give her some foods. but dont worry if she doesn't use it she is still young. you don't want to push too hard that may make your baby less likely to try. if she doesnt seem interested just wait a little while and then give her the spoon again.

Answer 3

what she's doing now is normal because both my Son and daughter did that the same way i just waited until they were ready and that was when they kept grabbing the spoon all the time and then i would let the spoon go which would teach them to hold it on there own but they were a little older when i did that. so try that with your little girl and see how that works. good luck

Answer 4

It varies with the development of the child. My six month old grabs the spoon from me every time I try to stick it in her mouth. Most babies, however, do master the self feeding usually between 9-11 months.

Answer 5

When I was feeding my baby at that age we both had a spoon. That way I could make sure she got fed, and if she wanted she could try using it too. My daughter learned to use utensiles very early this way. Definately do keep a close eye on her when she's feeding herself to minimize choking risks.

Answer 6

I think you should encourage her. The more she tries, the better she'll be. My daughter started using the spoon at 7 months. She did manage to get most of it in her mouth the first couple of times, however do know that she'll miss more then she get in the first few times.

Answer 7

Well it sounds like she's on the right track. Some babies at this age feed themselves but not alot. Around 9 or 10 months she should be doing it and it sounds like she's already got a bit of a hang of it.

Answer 8

Wait until she is a bit older. She is just now at the age where she is connecting the dots in her brain about food....spoon....happy feeling....good taste.

Be very careful also at this age about leaving them to their own devices as far as food. Most choking incidents/deaths happen when children start to feed themselves, particularly grapes. Always, always slice the grapes in half. You need to be vigilant until they are four or five years old, and never allow them to eat alone, or unobserved in the backseat of a car.

Answer 9

Close to the age of 1.But every baby is different.If you want you could just leave the spoon sitting there and let her pick it up or give her an extra spoon to play with.

Answer 10

It can't hurt to encourage her to eat on her own. Just don't push her, if she's not intrested that day let it be. On the days she seems interested let her attempt to feed herself.