My baby is about to turn nine months old, the age at which most babies begin to show interest in taking food with their hands, tasting its texture and taste. It's time to let the baby experiment with the food.
Making the baby enjoy with food is essential to mark a positive relationship with food from the beginning. Most parents report serious problems of their children with food and I think that the key is often at this point.
The baby has to feel at ease and feel that eating is a pleasant, entertaining experience, which he enjoys and in which he participates, and not as an obligation in which he becomes a passive being who only opens his mouth when they approach him a full spoon
At six months, it is likely that the baby will just open his mouth because he cannot do much more, but as he grows up, at eight or nine months, and his curiosity about the world around him is increasing, he will also want participate, take the spoon with your hands, touch the texture and temperature of the food.
The best advice, even if the child gets stained from head to toe, is to encourage him to take part in the feeding process. At this age you can already take small pieces with your hand. Offer soft and easily disintegrated foods such as bread, or fruits into larger pieces so that the baby begins to nibble on them. In this way, he will begin to control what he eats and will not only limit himself to eating with a spoon what he is given and in the amount he is given.
When the baby is interested in taking the spoon, leave it, even if only to bite it, suck it or have it in hand. You must also allow him to try to put it on the plate, take food and bring it to his mouth, although of course he will spill the contents along the way once and a thousand times.
Let the baby experiment with the food It is the starting point for eating to become something stimulating for the little one. You should see it as a pleasant, relaxed moment, in which you feel involved, participating and making decisions. It will begin to establish a positive relationship with food.
