How to teach your child to eat by himself

Babies have to learn a lot of things when they are very young, and mothers must be careful. Nowadays, parents are very busy and have no time, so they have to send their babies to kindergarten when they are three weeks old. Before that, they must be taught to dress themselves and eat. These are not easy things. Cultivating children to feed and dress themselves from an early age develops the baby's abilities and lays a good foundation for the child to go to school.

1. Give him a spoon

You can give your baby a small spoon as long as he is willing to take the spoon from you. At first, he might just treat it as a toy.

Play with it, bite it, wave it or hit it with a drumstick. However, no matter how he uses the spoon, don't try to stop him from using it on the grounds that it's improper table etiquette.

When your baby is about eight months old, he has learned to put the spoon into the bowl and try to put food into the spoon. At this time, you can put a small amount of vegetable rice into a spoon and let him try to eat by himself. While he is busy feeding himself, you can put the vegetable rice in another spoon and train your baby to eat by himself by alternating the two spoons.

If you don't forbid your baby from putting his hands into the food you carefully prepare and then putting his hands full of food into his mouth, he will soon associate food with his mouth, and you can slowly let him start eating by himself. No matter how the food enters the baby's mouth or how much food is eaten, as long as the baby is happy and enjoys the food, that's enough!

3. Let your baby eat whatever he wants

When your baby starts to self-feed, his food combinations may be quite strange. For example, a baby might put vegetables into chocolate pudding before putting them into his mouth. Or throw the rice into the juice and then try to scoop it up with your hands and eat it.

When your baby is full, he will push the food away. At this time, you can put the dish away. Don't force him to eat or keep him sitting in the high chair and hope that he will finish the food in the bowl and plate. If you leave him on the high chair after he has eaten his fill, he will devote all his energy to wreaking havoc there, and his destructive power is quite astonishing and terrible, and your patience will certainly not be able to withstand such powerful destruction and devastation. Therefore, the wisest choice is to let him leave the table when he is full and satisfied. If you are worried that your child is not eating enough or is malnourished, you can rest assured. Because your baby will never let himself go hungry, and as long as you prepare a balanced diet for him, he will never be malnourished. If this still doesn't convince you, you can measure his height and weight regularly. As long as your baby's height and weight are within the standard range, he is not malnourished.