4 Tools To Encourage Self-Feeding
4 Tools To Encourage Self-Feeding
All set for a new parenting and baby milestone of moving on to solid foods? You can start with spoon-feeding purees and mashed foods, but you can go for self-feeding too, that is, when the baby uses its hands to feed itself with finger foods.
Is Self-Feeding better?
While choosing to spoon-feed your child is all fine, self-feeding allows the baby to experience their food through their sense of touch, taste, sight and smell. A few tries later, you can see your child learn important finger skills, hand-eye coordination and most importantly enjoy their meal as they like.
Self feeding can be an important developmental milestone of toddlerhood and we are all in to prepare you for it.
When to begin self-feeding?
Experts say around 6 months is when the baby would be an appropriate time for your child to explore self-feeding. Basically, as soon as the baby could sit-up on its own and can swallow solid-foods.
There will be spillage, excited hand-waves and colourful facials, but letting them explore their food is the key step to self-feeding, so you will definitely want to stock up on tools important for Self-Feeding. There are tons of products available in the market but these 4 basic essentials are best to begin the self-feeding journey:
1. Bibs: Your little self-feeder is learning a lot but the chances are not all food is entering their mouth. This is when the bibs come to your rescue. Mess is inevitable, so you’ll definitely want some bibs to contain the overflow.
For example: The Silicone Bib by Beaba is a perfect bib for little ones during their first meals. It's made of supple, soft material and is comfortable to wear
2. Meal Sets: Weaning can be a stressful time and selecting the best & baby-safe utensils for it can be very relaxing. You'll want to choose spoons, bowls, and plates that are designed not to break when your baby throws them onto the floor (which undoubtedly WILL happen). Choosing non-slip bowls and plates with suction will not only help prevent them from ending up on the floor, but also help your baby to keep their dinnerware in place.
You can take a look at these playmats by ezpz for more details.
You can also take a look at these Meal Set by Beaba
3. Little Spoons: Your baby will find it hard to eat if you give them adult-sized spoons. Smaller sized spoons are easy to grab them with ease and aid hand-eye coordination. The most unique and most essential self-feeding spoons there could ever be. Discover mealtime happiness with the Pre-Spoon GOOtensils by NumNum. Unlike a spoon, the head is flat, so there's no scooping, no balancing, and no wrong way to hold it! Encourages the little ones to be explore and feed independently.
4. High Chairs: Things to Look for when buying a High Chair
- Comfort - You want your baby to be comfortable in their High Chair so they can enjoy their Mealtime
- Easy to Clean - Mealtimes will get messy and a chair that is easier to clean will be a cherry on the cake at times
- Simple Design - A chair that fulfils the basic requirements is what you should go for instead of some complicated designs
- Can be pulled to the table - Part of doing baby-led weaning is introducing family meals to your baby. Get a High Chair that can be moved anywhere in the house
And to make it a lot easier for you, we have listed the best international high chairs that’s both parent and baby-approved.
That's all! These 4 essentials are all you need to get you and your little one started on the newest milestone of starting solids.
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