What is your baby doing?
- Responding to your gestures such as waving
- Understanding the word ‘no’
- Drinking from a cup without your help
- Telling you what he wants by crying or pointing
- Cruising round the room holding on to furniture
What not to worry about – playing with food
Many of us have issues with playing with food, mostly instilled from our own childhoods. However, babies play with food for a reason. It’s about experimentation and learning and their way of discovering what new food feels like as well as what it tastes like. Having said that you can install rules such as getting them to eat more than they play, use a spoon not their fingers, or simply learn that they cannot throw food across the room.
How you can help your child at this age
1. The idea of imitation is just starting to take root—so role-play toys or something from your cupboards will help inspire pretend play and enhance your child’s imagination. Try pots and pans from your kitchen, or plastic fruit, kitchenware and tools.
Try early learning toys that encourage your child to grasp concepts like letters, numbers, shapes and colours.
Start teaching your baby the concept of taking turns and sharing when you play games together and read books.
Troubleshooting - “My baby is turning into a fussy eater.”
From the age of 10 months toddlers can suddenly become resistant to trying new foods or foods they have previously eaten. “The good news is”, says health visitor Liz Costagliola from www.healthvisitordirect.com “the majority of babies and toddlers grow out of this stage so don’t give up. Keep offering new food (you may have to offer it over 10 times before she accepts it), don’t force her to eat it. At the same time let your toddler feed herself. It’s important for her to touch and play with food, as this will help her to accept it.”
Next steps
.jpg)
Bounty
Bounty
