QOD: When should I let my baby start feeding himself?
After your baby has started solid foods at around 6 months, it won’t be long before he or she shows signs of wanting more texture or more independence.
When babies are developmentally ready, often between 6 and 8 months, you can start to offer soft, easy-to-dissolve food items in bite size pieces. By 10-12 months, you can offer chopped table food.
Most babies are ready to self-feed between 7 and 12 months. Of course, always read your baby’s feeding cues, respond to them appropriately, and look for signs your baby is ready to up the texture and become more independent with feeding.
Pro Tip: Self feeding can be intimidating because it is messy. Feeding your infant in only their diaper when appropriate can make clean-up easier!
Reviewed by Dr. Sara Connolly, September 2020
I’ve always started to encourage self feeding for my girls as soon as I felt they were ready. It helps develop their motor skills and promotes independence. Unfortunately, I know many people who continue to put off self feeding because they don’t want to clean up the mess that might come along with it, depending on the food being offered.
Self feeding can be messy and I agree that the mess can be a turn off for parents. Feeding them in a diaper alone, and following the meal with a bath can be helpful as can feeding them while they sit in a highchair so that the mess is more easily managed.