by Tania Mcloughlin

Created on: March 31, 2009   Last Updated: May 04, 2009

When to hand your baby a spoon to feed himself?

Why does a baby need a spoon!?

I have learned that there is not a desperate need for baby to learn to use a spoon. While a baby is soley fed on a suitable milk food (preferably human breast milk) he or she will choose the time to take an interest in foods somewhere between 4 and 10 months of age (after 6 is best). Breastfed babies with mothers who have a sufficient diet and healthy lifestyle have been known to thrive on breast milk alone for up to 12 months. When the baby begins to grab at foods to explore their taste and texture it will be of no importance if much food is actually going down, and they will begin to overcome the 'gag reflex' which aids the young baby to expel vomit and avoid choking.

The taste and texture stage may be short and sweet, or go on for some time until the young person is ready to swallow more substantial amounts and join in most or every meal time.

Foods you can try at this time is whatever you are eating, but perhaps in a way that is either a. too hard/tough for the baby to get pieces or chunks off, so they suck and gum at it (slices of tough steak or hard cooked carrot), these pieces should be the length of twice the babies fist and wide enough to have a good go at it before it breaking and becoming a risk, or b. Very soft where the baby easily gets small soft pieces or mush from the extremities from gnawing (perhaps frozen banana or pear, the extremities upon melting are very soft). Remember when preparing food that baby will most often grab with the fist to begin with, so making it long enough that it pokes out both ends of their is important, and to encourage the 'pincer grip' offer rice and peas.

You may know your baby is ready for the next step when he or she confidently sucks and even begins to 'bite' part off, or you may notice the baby eating something of yours when you werent looking, and be surprised there is no choking! The baby usually eats foods without choking when he or she is ready, but caution needs to be taken in all cases of eating - even with mush on a spoon!

some foods you can try in the next phases are pasta, forget the sauce or add a little of what you have, plain rice, soft fruits, grapes (the skin is optional, I found my daughter ate it just fine), chewing off bones without shards or sharp ends, the list is endless really, most family foods can be tried, and sometimes modified to suit.

From here your baby will be letting you know when they want to try more, and

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