Baby won't hold food

My baby will be one in about two weeks. Currently he wants to eat whatever we are eating. When I give him some, he refuses to hold it so I have to feed him. All other babies that I know about his age are holding their own food and eating it themselves. What should I do?

He will hold all other things given to him but when it comes to food, he refuses to hold any!

Mine too!!


Our baby is also 11+ months.

He only ate pureed food until about 2 weeks ago (he used to gag or throw up at the slightest texture)

Now he will eat more mashed food and some 'finger food' but he will only eat if I hold the food for him, and sometimes still gags.


But he has no desire to feed himself, pick up food, hold food, or hold the spoon. He is quite happy sitting back and opening up while someone else does the lifting!!


This morning, I was having toast. He totally wanted to bite/suck on a piece I was holding - but would not hold it himself, and would not eat the banana I had for him - he wanted what I was eating, not his food, and he wanted me to hold it for him.


But, since this is a big step up from purees, I can't really complain.


All babies develop differently - our baby was a very fast crawler, stander, walker, etc... but not such a progressive eater. At the end of the day (or year, 18 months, 2 years, whatever) they will all be walking, standing, crawling and eating on their own... they just do things in different order.

i think this takes time and as crj says, babies do it differently.


my 9 month old has finger foods (great with biscuits, cheeses, toast etc but not great with slippery food). recently he rejected his meals until i realised that he wanted to participate in his own meals. so i did:

1) put a bowl (those with suction base so it doesn't topple) on his high chair tray with a spoon and some of the food you will be feeding him

2) hold the main bowl of food in your hand

3) be prepared for this to be seriously messy but the idea is that he does what he wants with his bowl/spoon/food and you still feed him his main meal with what you have. what is happening with mine is that he is trying to spoon food in his mouth or tries to scoop food into his mouth with his hands.


i think if you want to encourage your baby to self-feed, you can try to do this as your baby can take control of his food and at his own pace..before you know it, he will be self-feeding!

thanks for the replies, that is a relief. i will try to let him play with his food more as he does sometimes want to grab his feeding bowl.

s1 - you know, I sometimes think we are the lucky ones - at least they are easier to feed than if they were grabbing at the food already :) ha ha

i agree with crj!


another example of how babies are different - i see very young babies who can actually hold their own milk bottles and drink from it. my boy can drink out of his munchkin straw cup very well but doesn't know/want to hold his own milk bottle.

Babies are usually attempting to self feed by this age. Give your baby lots of different finger foods. Place pieces of cooked vegetable and crusts on his high chair tray. Provide a spoon and bowl to encourage self feeding even while you may still be giving some food. Place pieces of food from the family meal in his bowl. He may make a mess while experimenting, but that's fine.

Try to eat meals together as a family. Babies and children often learn by example and will follow your lead.


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Hi all, Babies are all diferent. My first was such an early self feeder, very coordinated with his hand eye coordination etc. but I have actually held off with my younger one.....simply because it's such a mess and he's just turned one. He loves to self feed with little bits of cereal and little crackers. Easy to eat finger food. But he also didn't have any teeth at all till two weeks ago so I have been more hesistant to give him too much. But He's a fantastic wee eater as opposed to my eldest who didn't eat nearly as much and had to do it himself from a younger age.

Besides he's my baby and I'm in no hurry this time round!

A simple answer is, "I guess if he's hungry he'll figure out how to eat." A second answer is, "why should he hold it if he can get you to do it for him?" A third answer is, "watch the baby for signs of hungriness and readiness, including putting things in his mouth and tasting them; follow his lead." Baby will never learn to enjoy different tastes and textures if they're not offered and experimented with. When my oldest was old enough to sit up, my nanny (I was working then) would make a bowl of porridge, put it and a spoon in front of her when she woke up from her afternoon nap, give her a spoon she could hold by herself (a baby spoon with a split, curved handle is best), and then let her "have at it" for as long as the baby wanted to try and hold the spoon. We are talking "major mess." Nanny would put old newspapers all around on the floor, because the floor would have to be mopped otherwise. After the baby finished "eating," Nanny would clean her up and take her out for her afternoon walk in the pram. At supper, we would give her baby size portions of finger foods -- either cut up small enough so she wouldn't choke, or mashed -- to eat on her own. Sometimes she needed some help eating, yes, but her eating was always the result of her own initiative and something she was eager and ready for. Second baby wasn't as adventurous, didn't care to start solids until she was over 1 year old, but she was willing to eat when she got hungry enough. 3rd baby was a picky eater but still found things she enjoyed eating on her own, never needed spoonfuls of mush shoveled down her mouth.