Use baby cereal as a thickener to assist new self-feeders

From Whitney, one of the beloved Rookie Moms:

We had a 22-year old college grad as a substitute nanny for 6 weeks this summer. To my surprise, she taught me a few tricks. The most useful was:

Mix infant cereal (the dry flakes) into your child's applesauce or yogurt to make it thicker for a toddler who is just starting to feed himself. My son has not yet mastered keeping the spoon face-up as it reaches his mouth. The thicker substance increases the odds that his food will still be on the spoon. Plus, it's extra nutrients.

Comments

[JDP]

baby oatmeal is also good for helping little hands get hold of things like bananas. Combine some fruit in a little oatmeal, and toss to coat the fruit well.

[Lisa]

I do this all the time, too! I mix cereal flakes into anything runny, from yogurt to jarred baby food, to avoid it being flung all over the dining area.

[Kristie]

cheerios work well too, for older toddlers. I mix some in my son's yogurt, and stuff is more likely to stay on the spoon.

[Tabetha]

I crushed cheerios and used them also. Whenever you thicken food, though, you may also need to increase the amount of fluids they take in.

[aaron]

We use instant oatmeal. Or son loves oatmeal, so we buy large boxes at are warehouse club here in town. We use the plain flavored ones.

[Mandy]

I use baby cereal to thicken everything! Yogurt, applesauce, soup, etc. We never spoon-fed my toddler as a baby, or gave rice cereal alone (yuck!) but it works great to add texture and vitamins to runny food.

[Carly]

Another good thickener for self-feeders is using tofu! Blending tofu with fruits and veggies is also great for clinging to the spoon; and the fingers, and the hair and the walls......... ;-) We found this idea at www.wholesomebabyfood.com

[Heather]

I used this hack this morning and it was great!

[TastesLikeCrazy]

I use a version of this hack with my seven month old daughter.
Our "version" is I mix in enough of her cereal so that it is a thick (think adult oatmeal) consistency. Then, I spoon it into her net feeder. She gets to feed herself, but it doesn't run all over the place.
Another great idea is to mix the cereal with a no sugar added prune/apple juice. My daughter loves it and it helps keep her "regular".

http://TastesLikeCrazy.blogspot.com