Cheerios and Consistency

My 8 month old scientist is fascinated by Cheerios. The dexterity required to pick them up, get them to his mouth, and let them go is new and exciting. His Daddy and I think it's fun to watch him work on these new skills with his cutely wrinkled little brow.

We had been cheering him in his new endeavor for a few weeks (we started them around 7 months) when we began to notice a disturbing change in his eating behavior. He has grown increasingly interested in exploring how food feels in his mouth with his fingers, whether pureed food or finger food. What's a new parent to do?

We began by looking at things from his point of view. Sometimes we cheer him for getting his hands (and the accompanying Cheerio) in his mouth and other times we look displeased and pull it out with a "hands out!". Why is that behavior sometimes OK and sometimes not? He hasn't seemed to figure that out yet.

So, cute as it is to watch him work on getting that Cheerio into his mouth, we've revoked the privilege. We're working on consistently reinforcing the "hands out" during feeding rule. When we think he can understand the concept of "hands out" when being fed, but not when feeding himself, we'll try again with Cheerios.

After just one meal of no Cheerios and lots of focus on the hands ("hands out" whenever they went in and "good job" for every bite they stayed out), he is doing much better. This is a simple discipline case, but thankfully a baby's world begins simply. If we lay a consistent foundation of rules and obedience now, it will make for easier toddler months and teenage years down the road.

RESOURCES

BabyWise II
How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!