Revisiting self-feeding

Andy will be three years old in two and a half months. I would love to see him put any kind of food into his mouth. He won't even lick his fingers with yogurt or whipped cream on them, nothing. Lately, we've been seeing him put toys in his mouth, so I thought I should revisit self-feeding.

Every now and then, I try and see if Andy will hold a fork or spoon with my help. I put his hand on it first, but then he usually protests right away and pushes my hand away forcefully. He would also immediately drop the spoon, and not let me bring his hand anywhere near his mouth. Every month I revisit it, and its always the same.


Today, he is grabbing the spoon when I present it to him with food on it. Oatmeal and yogurt have been what we're working with today. He is maintaining the grasp, and letting me put my hand over his hand without resistance. He is also letting me lead the spoon up to his mouth, then opening his mouth and eating the bite. This is HUGE. He always pushes the spoon away in anger, and refuses to eat it.

I told him how proud I am of him for eating with a spoon. He seemed to like the praise. I had him eat almost his whole bowl of oatmeal this way, and later for lunch his yogurt. Constant repetition is what the therapists always say. So, I've got to start doing this more and more. I always see regression with him too, so I am awaiting that resistance again.

He also picked up a large cracker off his tray and brought it to his mouth, which was SO awesome to see. I have been waiting so long for this. I finally feel like, wow, maybe he will actually start to grow out of this infant phase! Thank God, I can't wait.