Jun202012 By Noah's Mom, MD 45 Comments

Help Your Child Learn To Self-Feed: A Few Quick Tips For Children With Down Syndrome

When we were introducing solid foods with Noah our pediatrician recommended to start with puffs, a classic. They dissolve almost instantly in the mouth and are easy to handle. I think our OT was a bit shocked when we told her with excitement that Noah was advancing his diet. I couldn’t quite figure out why until we tried the puffs. These things are not quite as easy to pick up as they look. As hard as Noah tried, he could not get them to his mouth himself. We gave up on self-feeding for a little while after that as I assumed that he was not ready.

Type of grasp determines food choices

I finally had an epiphany one day when I was at my best friend’s house.  She knows all the cool stuff people are trying and had a book lying around called The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook: 130 Recipes That Will Help Your Baby Learn to Eat Solid Foods – and That the Whole Family Will Enjoy, by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. (Long title, huh?) I was skimming through it and with their help it finally clicked what I was missing. I needed to match Noah’s grasp development with his foods.

It’s messy

I am not going to lie, my biggest fear with starting self-feeding with Noah was the MESS. I have seen this kid eat off a spoon and it isn’t pretty, so I could only imagine what he will do when he is in control. So the first step in deciding to let your child self-feed is getting a really good mop and lots of paper towels. It also helps to let them eat in only their diaper…your washer and dryer will thank you later. I have all but abandoned bibs as they only keep one section of him clean and Noah is able to target every area outside of that with excellent precision.

When to start

I quickly realized that I had no idea what I was doing or where to start. It is best to try self-feeding when a child is able to support themselves while sitting. Since this is sometimes delayed in children with Down syndrome I don’t think they need to be sitting on their own so much as being able to sit well when supported in a feeding chair or high chair. They also should be able to reach out and grab things and have fairly good aim at their mouth.

It’s messy
I am not going to lie, my biggest fear with starting self-feeding with Noah was the MESS. I have seen this kid eat off a spoon and it isn’t pretty, so I could only imagine what he will do when he is in control. So the first step in deciding to let your child self-feed is getting a really good mop and lots of paper towels. It also helps to let them eat in only their diaper…your washer and dryer will thank you later. I have all but abandoned bibs as they only keep one section of him clean and Noah is able to target every area outside of