My baby has decided that feeding time is all about control. Oh how I love/hate this stage. Parenting a baby that is transitioning into toddlerhood is fun, exciting, and takes a lot of patience.
For example, I recently had noticed that my little guy had started to refuse some of the foods he normally loves. He would turn his head away from the first bite, or arch his back and shake his head no. I couldn’t figure out what was causing the problem until one day when I handed him the spoon. He was thrilled.
Since then, he has desired more and more control over his spoon, his bowl, and everything else that goes into his mouth. For a while, I was able to get away with just letting him hold a spoon while I simultaneously fed him with another spoon. He would dip his spoon in whatever I was feeding him, and that would distract him enough that he would open his mouth for bites when I would try to feed him something.
But, now, it has just turned into a messy, gooey mess at every meal. Because having his own spoon is no longer enough. Now he wants to have complete control over everything. He wants to not only hold the spoon, have the bowl on his tray and dip into it, but he wants to be solely responsible for getting the food into his mouth.
I’ve given up trying to feed him myself. Now, it is up to him to get the food into his mouth.
Don’t get me wrong, he has plenty of finger foods. And, he enjoys those, but he won’t even eat his finger foods without a fork in his hands now. I’d like to say it is cute (because it often is), but it can also be very frustrating and messy.
Motherhood to a baby is all about letting go. One day they do have to become toddlers, big kids, and so on. I just didn’t think it was going to happen this soon. I mean, the kid isn’t even walking yet.