Spoonfed

With all this finger food, which is so great for introducing textures, I don't want to forget about liquids and purees - that's a texture too. But it's quite hard to get into a baby who is now totally suspicious of a spoon and will only feed herself. Solution? Give her the spoon! We have a little red plastic spoon that came from Mothercare (it's from the Annabel Karmel range) but the best thing about it is that it's short, making it much easier for her to hold and still get in her mouth.

I mix some apple puree with full fat plain Greek yoghurt and try and put it in her mouth on the spoon. She is having none of it and tries to take the spoon from me. This, as you can imagine has limited success and results in yoghurt in the ear. I try again, and eventually we find a sort of compromise where I hold the spoon to her mouth, she takes it from me as I give it a little push in the right direction. She sucks the spoon like it's a bone or a wedge of veg and gets a good load of yoghurt and fruit at the same time.

I feel like this is a real step forward because now she can feed herself mushy foods as well as finger foods, meaning there is very little I need to leave off the menu now!
Learnings

• Get a short spoon
• Be patient