Parenting & Pregnancy >
Feeding & Breastfeeding
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedWhich comes first: Finger foods or spoon?
Results so far:
| Fingers | 70% | 64 votes | Total: 91 votes | |
| Spoon | 30% | 27 votes |
Fingers
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesI would have to say that's a resounding YES for finger foods first!
Babies look at the world with such curiosity and fascination. Every sight, sound, smell, taste and touch affects them. Babies go from hearing the world around them, to seeing it, to becoming an active part of it...all within the first few months.
I can remember when my daughter was only a couple of months old, putting her in the baby swing or bouncy seat. First she would just sit there, dozing on and off. After a couple of months she would literally entertain herself for several minutes with her fingers. Looking at them, turning her hands around to view them from all angles, tasting them, etc. Within a couple more months, she had figured out that those fingers were more than just things attached to her body that looked and tasted good. She could actually use them to pick things up and pull things down. This included toys, clothes, paper, lint, books, remotes, shoes, etc.
It's funny how you never really know how clean (or dirty) your home is until you put a baby on the floor. Especially one that is able to crawl around. At that point you realize anything within reach is fair game to be picked up or pulled down. And that it generally goes straight in the mouth. Or, if it is light enough, it becomes a musical instrument by being banged on the nearest surface. The harder and louder the better.
Once babies have conquered the art of tasting and banging, they move onto throwing things. During this stage they love to throw things that make noise, things they don't want, and things you don't want them to throw. They especially love to throw the things that will make a big mess and get a big reaction out of you! This is pure comedy to them!
This is a good time to introduce foods they can pick up with their fingers, otherwise known as finger foods. See at this point they have only mastered using their fingers to pick things up and put them in their mouths. They have not figured out how to use objects as tools yet. But don't worry, babies learn most things by watching people. So, as they watch older children and adults eating food with the proper utensils and it won't take long for them to learn how to do that, too.
Learn more about this author, Tzan Alexander.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Spoon
Long before a baby has enough coordination to grab a piece of food and stuff it in their mouth they have already developed the ability to swallow. Why fight nature? Following a baby's cues is the easiest way for a parent to transition from one stage to the next.
Although some experts warn against giving a baby anything other than breast or bottle, giving a few drops of water from a spoon is a great way to get rid of hiccups and even address colic. Then, when the baby is between four and six months even doctors are starting to recommend adding a bit of cereal to their diet. Clearly, this is done by spoon.
Babies grow so rapidly that it isn't all that long between spoon and finger, in either direction anyway. Offering a Cheerio off the palm of your hand and carefully watching what the baby does with it is good indication of their readiness for finger foods. But, offering a spoon has very little to do with what the baby is able to do with their hands and much more to do with getting them fed and moving on with the rest of the day.
There is enough for a new parent to stay busy with aside from spending countless hours watching a baby attempt to feed themselves. Giving them the autonomy to self feed should can only be done under close watch. This means that you aren't able to do anything else. On the other hand, slowly introducing finger foods once the baby is mostly fed will allow that portion of time to shrink to something much more manageable.
Eventually, all babies want to do it by themselves. You'll be wishing they would just let you spoon feed them so that you can make it to the play date on time. Those will be exciting times but, oh so frustrating. Why rush the process? A baby will always be a lot slower and messier at doing the same things that will take the parent a fraction of the time. Eventually, this is unavoidable and a necessary stage in their physical and cognitive development. But, let them take the initiative and drive the speed with which you get there. It will make life easier for everybody.
Introducing the spoon before the finger will also make it easier to introduce the idea of table manners. Even though they all go through the messy, food everywhere, don't help me stage, it has already been instilled in their brains that eventually they will be expected to rejoin the herd and eat like everybody else. When they become more coordinated and better able to reason it will be much easier to explain to to them the benefits of the spoon as opposed to the spaghetti on the ceiling and the floor.
Learn more about this author, Freyda Tartak.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
