Baby feeding driving me nuts!!!!!!!!!!!

[Schlomo78]

I have an 8 month old who is really driving me nuts when I try to feed him-lately he keeps clapping his hands over the spoon and its going everywhere!! I don't know why he does this,he knows hes not supposed to and it makes me aggravated -the only thing I can think of is that he loves feeding himself things like rusks and those organix snacks (7m+) and he maybe is trying to grab the spoon off of me.(???) He's not old enough to grasp the concept of how to feed himself with a spoon-what can I do? I'm at my wits end and feeding time has become something I absolutely dread!! Sooner or later this will rub off on him and I'll have a real problem mealtimes.

Help guys!! :O)

[meltoadhall]

he is learning and playing - just give him his own spoon to hold and slip in a mouthful now and again, babies make a mess, and he can grasp the concept of putting a spoon in his mouth.
Wait until he starts feeding himself properly, thats messy :)
relax and go with the flow.

[annie0000]

We used to get my son doing little jigsaws and puzzles in his high chair to distract him while we fed him, but this was more because he was a very poor eater. I agree with meltoadhall, give him a spoon and let him help while doing the majority of feeding yourself. If this doesn't work, get the jigsaws out!

[redcrx]

what makes you think hes old enough to grasp concept of a spoon? Babies learn things at different times and he may just have an idea of what a spoon is and how hes supposed to use it.

Why not let him try it, hes got to learn sometime.

Give him a little baby spoon and a yogurt and cover yourself and anything around you. Feed him yourself at the same time but please try not to get frustrated by it, hes learning something new.

All babies have to learn by trial and error.

[Schlomo78]

Hi guys, thanks so much for all your advice. I never even thought of giving him a spoon for himself, I'm a first time Mum and not really all that sure what I'm doing, lol, but do sometimes tend to get stressed over silly things as I feel like I'm not doing a very good job sometimes as I'm so unsure of myself! Thats why Answerbank is so brilliant!!

I gave him a spoon whilst feeding him last night and he was pretty much an angel-I dipped it in his food every so often and let him chew on it and he was a lot more content.
Thanks again for the great advice and making my life that little bit easier!!
Take care and have a great summer everyone (when it gets here!!)
xx

[aims1202]

you've been given good advice for this already and its worked. just remember you are a good mum and doing a good job, your baby sounds like a normal lovley little thing already showing his independence! Dont worry so much and think that your not a very good parent, its meant to be a learning process for you both, just stay positive and enjoy every moment. what seems like a big problem today will be forgotten very quickly and then it'll be something else. if you think of it as not a problem but an exciting challenge it'll be much easier to handle.
good luck