Help! 16 mo going to daycare but they will not spoon feed him. Need ideas!

[foodiezen]

Please help! I need some ideas, mamas! DS is 16 months old and will start day care next month. I love the day care but they will not spoon him any food. He must feed himself. They will only help him eat any food that I send that requires eating with a spoon. I feed my little one a lot of soft foods that I spoon feed him with, such as soups, pureed soft foods, saucy pastas, etc. He has no trouble with picking up food and eating it. So he usually snacks on small crackers and pieces of fruit. Please give me ideas what I can give him for lunch that he can completely eat himself...plus he is a big eater! TIA! --Katherine.

[MoJo]

I think the hardest part would be things that need refrigeration or heating up; I don't know if that is an option.

My 19-mo old has preferred to feed herself with her hands for many months (and is just now attempting using her own spoon), so most of her meals have been the sort of thing she can pick up and eat.

Breakfast is often cereal, fruit pieces, maybe eggs, milk.

Lunch is almost anything I can cut small enough for her to eat. Lunchmeat (only the kind without nitrites), cheese, toast, cooked veggies, etc. Of course, you could send breakfast foods.

DD loves bananas, cuties, cheese, boiled eggs, and whatever I happen to be eating.

She also eats things like yogurt and applesauce with her hands successfully, but she gets so messy I wouldn't send those to daycare with her.

I'm guessing others with daycare experience (which I don't have) will have a lot of other suggestions!

[KrisM]

If you're not already, start giving him a spoon. DS is 18 months and is messy, but can eat yogurt and applesauce by himself with a spoon.

Other finger foods:

chicken
ham
cheese
scrambled eggs
fruit
peas
corn
cherrios

Most anything can be cut into small pieces. If we have pizza for dinner, I cut his small and he eats it by himself just fine.

[boolady]

If you're not already, start giving him a spoon. DS is 18 months and is messy, but can eat yogurt and applesauce by himself with a spoon.

Other finger foods:

chicken
ham
cheese
scrambled eggs
fruit
peas
corn
cherrios

Most anything can be cut into small pieces. If we have pizza for dinner, I cut his small and he eats it by himself just fine.

:yeahthat: DD's daycare was the greatest motivator for me to stop hovering with the spoon and let her go at it, and to let her really work on self-feeding.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It sounds like you aren't letting him eat messy foods by himself. Totally understandable but I think you should just let him self feed. Especially at day care when they will be the ones that need to clean up. :) It doesn't sound like he needs to be spoon fed but that it is your preference. Am I reading that right?

I used to strain soup so my ds could eat it. Worked great. Sometimes I put only a touch of sauce on foods. There are ways to serve what you already serve and have them be less messy.

But, you could just let him go to town and just deal with the inevitable clean up.

Beth

[BeachBum]

Interesting. My boys are 12 months next week and I don't spoon feed them anything and haven't for a month or two.

For breakfast we do homemade waffles, scrambled eggs, oatmeal and fruit.

Lunch is usually cooked veggies (carrots, celery, asparagus, peas, lima bean, black eyed peas, green peas, avocado) and some sort of protein. Sometimes we will mix pasta with the veggies with a little olive oil.
We grill a bunch of chix breast at a time then freeze. Then we cube them. Same thing with pork tenderloin. When we run out they eat diced ham.

For dinner they eat what we are eating, or a modified version of it.
They particularly like soups with chunky ingredients. I just serve them with a slotted spoon. They are less picky than my 4 yr old!

ETA: Here is a thread on another message board that may be of some help too. I love getting new ideas!
http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45253

[Katigre]

Here are some things DD feeds herself:

beans
pieces of meat
soft fruit (like a juicy pear)
cheerios
crackers
tomatoes
orange slices (just a few - more will be too acidic for little bodies)
banana
cheese pieces
pieces of bread (pita bread, tortillas, slice of bread)
peas
corn
muffins
soup with the broth mostly removed so he can pick up the pieces of it
pasta pieces (elbow sized is the easiest for DD to eat)

I would say to stop spoonfeeding him altogether - really, there is no reason for a 16 month old to need to be fed with a spoon unless there are special needs involved. They should be self-feeding at this age and learning to use utensils.

[foodiezen]

Thanks everyone for your replies! It is helpful to get ideas.

In response to Beth (SnuggleBuggles)--sorry, I haven't figured how to quote yet--I do let him eat with baby utensils but he is not proficient at all. So, I will let him do his thing with a baby spoon/fork (which most of it lands on the floor, him, or me) but I end up feeding him most of it. I just need to change my approach some to help him eat more on his own and accommodate the daycare. Thanks for all of your input!

But Boolady is correct, daycare will be a great opportunity for me to stop hovering with a spoon!

Happy long weekend! --Katherine

[SnuggleBuggles]

We don't do much in the way of utensils...if it's really good it just gets shoveled in with one hand while the spoon is held idly in the other hand. :) Very messy but it gets the job done.

Beth

[foodiezen]

Thanks for the link, BeachBum...it was helpful to get more ideas!

SnuggleBuggles...I reread your first post...you're right...I think deep down inside, I really don't want him to make a mess. He already makes a mess....I can't imagine what it would be like to lose "control" of feeding him. But just as all of you said...I just have to let him be!

[DrSally]

Finger food, all the way!
DD is that age and is showing an interest in using utensils, but I don't expect her to get much on the spoon/fork. She self-feeds finger foods. I understand not wanting to get things messy, but it's part of the learning process. They won't be messy forever.