How did you start self-feeding with baby?

[MLBW]

Oh, I'm not talking about self-feeding with a spoon--that would be way too much for him right now--just with hands etc. Anyway, I guess no one has any tips here to offer so I'll just keep with my method. Thanks for your input.

 

[MLBW]

Maybe I was thinking he was a bit more advanced because most of the local kids I meet here are barely standing up on their own at 1 and some are not even started on solid food--maybe it's a cultural thing. I just see them kinda sitting there like little lumps and in comparison my son is way advanced. I am all for potty training him earlier because I don't think you have to pack a toilette wherever you go--in my aunt's case--her children could all sit on a regular toilette--when they were young with a little help--but by the time they were 2--by themselves. His Chinese grandparents started putting my son on an adult toilette in the mornings when they knew he had to go when he was about 3 or 4 months old so when he's at their house he uses the toilette a lot. It's not unfeasible--waiting to potty train your child until they are like 3 is sort of a modern Western invention--and precisely because people don't have 5-10 kids anymore (usually)--and yes, when you have a bigger family and you wash all the diapers BY HAND you don't delay in potty training (back in the "olden days"). Besides people in Mainland China and around the world who do "elimination communication" don't pack a toilette wherever they go--they just find a bush ;0) (probably not recommended in HK unless you want to pay a $5000 HKD fine or spend time in jail). Anyway...my aunt isn't the only one I know who has their child self-feeding by hand the majority of the meal at less than one-year-old. It is a good point that it's all up to whether the child wants to or not--my son is very ambitious--today he was packing a full-sized broom around the house "sweeping" the floor for me--when he eats he really eats--but he misses his mouth about 50% of the time--at least it's fun to watch so the entertainment value helps a lot! :0)

 

[Matty]

Trust me from experience. When potty training in HK, especially with a younger child with less control, carrying a travel potty is a sensible idea.
Public toilets here are few and far between.

 

[MLBW]

Trust me from experience. When potty training in HK, especially with a younger child with less control, carrying a travel potty is a sensible idea.
Public toilets here are few and far between.

So, what do you do, strap it on your back and carry it? How about cleaning it afterward? I say, there is always McDonalds which has a toilette and toilette paper (usually). I'll tell you what, when we get to that point, I will let ya'll know if I'm lugging a baby porta potty around or not. ;0)

 

[Portia]

No real tips on how to start them self-feeding, but I have a tip for later. My LO has just turned two and I noticed a big difference in his feeding skills once I gave him a metal fork as it was just so difficult to get food onto the plastic ones. I also use two spoons to feed him. I load one up with food for him to pick up or use it to push some food onto his spoon just to speed up meal time a little.

 

[MLBW]

No real tips on how to start them self-feeding, but I have a tip for later. My LO has just turned two and I noticed a big difference in his feeding skills once I gave him a metal fork as it was just so difficult to get food onto the plastic ones. I also use two spoons to feed him. I load one up with food for him to pick up or use it to push some food onto his spoon just to speed up meal time a little.

Thanks Portia!

 

[pooch]

i didn't potty train my son until he was 2 yrs 4 months old. he took to it really well and we have never needed to take our own potty with us. I think that may be partly as he was trained a little older and therefore has more control. or just lucky on my part. I do carry a spare pull-up nappy just in case of emergency with no toilets nearby but we are yet to need it.

back to self feeding... when my son was 12months old he would eat pasta with his fork and sometimes with his hands....He found using his small baby metal fork MUCH easier than the spoon and mastered it first. He would also eat whole bananas (holding the banana and biting mouthfuls off)....and toast cut into fingers (with avocado or cottage cheese or some other topping). these were all quite dense filling foods. It is not enough on its own - mashed meals are still required - but if you offer things along that kind of line it might help you progress his self feeding ?

 

[mel_g20]

On the potty issue, we have a small foldable port a potty. It has a special bag and a pad which soaks up the urine, which can be dropped in a bin. We mostly use toilets, but sometimes if we are out with no toilets around it is perfect.

 

[Matty]

As I said a Travel Potty, foldable, fits in your bag.
You can't always expect a young child to be able to hold it while you find a Mcdonalds and sometimes stand in a queue.
It gets much easier by the time they are nearing 3yrs.

 

[MLBW]

As I said a Travel Potty, foldable, fits in your bag.
You can't always expect a young child to be able to hold it while you find a Mcdonalds and sometimes stand in a queue.
It gets much easier by the time they are nearing 3yrs.

It's funny how this eating thread turned into a potty thread. Anyway...we go out but unlike the people who live in the "heart of the city" we tend to stick closer to home during the week because well...it takes a lot more effort for us to go out --no car--have to wait for the mini-bus (fold up the stroller and get on)--then either transfer buses 2 or 3 times or take the MTR and transfer at least 3 times so probably when we start potty training we'll also stick to the homefront more often. I'm not going to pack a toilette around on my back, I think. I wonder how the teachers and parents who start their kids in some sort of school at 1 1/2-2-years-old (we have one friend that has her child in full-day nursery school at 18 months!) deal with this or even kindergarten at 3. Does the teacher have to change dirty diapers all day long? In that way it would be more like a daycare, I would think. At least when kids start at 5 they are potty trained for sure.