I know oatmeal and yogurt are super awesome foods for your toddler, but I infrequently offer them to Scribble because I hate the mess. How do you handle messy foods? Should I just put lumps of them on his tray? Or spoon feed (I'd prefer not to do this; we did BLW so I don't want to regress) Or give him the spoon? He knows how to use a spoon but is still pretty messy with them. If I fed him yogurt and/or oatmeal every morning I would have to bathe him before his morning nap!
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Give him the spoon and get a big bib! You wouldn't eat oatmeal or yogurt with your fingers, would you?
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@Mrs. Sketchbook: I spoon feed or give it to her in a pouch. I use the little green pouch which is refillable
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@looch: I HATE bibs! Just one more thing to get moldy in the laundry pile. Or for me to have to clean and hang after every meal. He usually eats just in a diaper or a ratty onesie. I get that he needs to be spoon practicing....but in the morning? Seems so impractical! Dinner is better so we can go straight to the bath. Maybe I should start doing breakfast for dinner? But then he would flip out because he prefers to eat the same thing as me...
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@Mrs. Sketchbook: He could totally surprise you! My son was good with a spoon pretty much from the time he got his hands on one.
One thing you could try is Greek yogurt, or maybe strain plain yogurt...makes it a little thicker and it sticks on the spoon better.
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I would try offering a pouch.
I give LO greek yogurt too. I guess i don't mind the mess. i just take off her shirt/bib and we go straight to the sink to clean up!
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I usually spoon feed M yogurt, oatmeal and soup. She has no problems still feeding herself.
If we're just going to be hanging out at home I let her use the spoon and like @looch: she was quite good with it from the beginning. Minimal mess. I usually don't change her for the day till after breakfast. Then take a washcloth and wipe her face and hands down. No biggie.
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i don't think spoon feeding those types of food would cause a regression. my lo eats yogurt and applesauce several times a week, which are spoon fed to him. he still stuffs his face on his own with everything else!
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He is ok with a spoon. Ironically he was better a few months ago when I started offering him mashed foods on a spoon and let him self-feed. Now that he is older he likes to play in his food so runny stuff is more of a problem. I usually use a measuring spoon since it is deeper so the food doesn't slip off in the transfer. And we also do Greek yogurt.
Still, most mornings it is just easier to make an omelet! Or to do fruit or nut butter or waffles, etc. Perhaps I am excessively mess averse!
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@locavore_mama: glad to know I'm not the only one who waits until after bfast to change! We do the same.
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Shirtless. In a bowl that sticks to his tray table or directly on the tray. Mix it with something with texture that the yogurt will sort of stick to. Cheerios, chunks of fruit and then dump it together and let him have at it. Offer a spoon.
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@Mrs. Sketchbook: makes sense!
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We have a couple of Tommee Tippee bibs which are kind of a silicone and just rinse off in the sink, and they have big pouches for catching messes. We did (and still do) a lot of yogurt, and I agree that Greek yogurt is better for fewer drips. I was having the same issue with switching to a regular cup (DD is 2.5 and for awhile I was just so averse to spills) but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she got the hang of it. Even my MIL was surprised, because she's still giving my 5 yo niece a sippy. So yes, my advice is to accept some mess (or spoonfeed
).
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@Fronkinzankinsbride: mixing it in is a great idea! We have a stick-on bowl but he rips it off with ease. Maybe it is the brand (nuby).
I wonder if making yogurt drops and freezing them would be a good alternative? Would be good for snacks....
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We generally just take off her shirt or put a bib on. We wait to change her out of her PJs until after she's had breakfast.
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Naked meals. Now that winter is coming, we'll dig out the old and stained stuff to wear during meals and such.
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I usually give him yogurt for dessert after dinner. He will sometimes use a spoon but I just accept that he'll be a mess, and he takes a bath after dinner.
For oatmeal I usually make oatmeal bars...something he can grab.
Or we just take a morning bath
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@lovehoneybee: sounds like my kind of plan! We usually do baths after lunch. Nightime is too hectic for baths on many days! Maybe I'll do yogurt at lunch then!
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@sarac: we also do naked meals most of the time! We have his onesies hanging from every chair in our kitchen lol!
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@Mrs. Sketchbook: We're kind of a naked family, so it's not new. I also gave into those yogurt tubes because they're so non messy. I use the chobani ones because they have (slightly) less sugar and a ton more protein than most.
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Same as @BabyBoecksMom: breakfast is in pj's and other meals are usually just in diapers. I found a nice tall stool at Ikea, so he stands on that to get sponged/rinsed off after meals and on non-bath nights. Otherwise, we just embrace the mess and send him into the tub afterwards.
We also do a lot of cottage cheese at lunch, which isn't super messy, especially if we utilize our dog for a quick baby cleanup
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If I want to keep M clean, then I'll feed him myself (yogurt only, oatmeal I always let him do himself). However, he usually doesn't let me so I just let him do it himself. Big bib and shirt off are the way to go. He's BLW entirely and didn't regress with one yogurt a day fed to him at daycare.
For oatmeal, I cook it a little drier so it's not as runny and messy.
ETA: breakfast is always in his pjs and not in his clothes for the day yet. And the Dex baby bib is excellent for BLW. Just rinse in the sink and hang on a cabinet knob.
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