Dr. Mama is better known as Rachel Zahn, MD, a pediatrician and mom of three grown kids. She is also the Angels
Assistant Director. For more parenting advice check out her website
MamasOnCall.com.
Dear Dr. Mama,
My 13-month-old has me ready to scream! She's an adorable, flirty little darling with the biggest brown eyes you ever saw and she's got me jumping through hoops to get her to eat.
Here's the picture: At mealtime I put her in her high chair and offer a wide variety of healthy, child-friendly foods prepared to exactly meet her toddler needs, like bits of cooked carrots, pasta pieces, soft peas, and on and on. BUT she refuses to pick any of it up and feed herself. She plays with it, smashes it into the tray, even paints her face with it - she just won't swallow more than a bite.
After a few minutes I get frustrated and grab the baby spoon to move things along. She seems perfectly content to sit back and let me feed her. Once in a while she grabs the spoon from me and plays with it or tries to feed me with it, but she won't use it to feed herself. Then I'm stuck placing food in her mouth while she happily entertains herself. It's driving me nuts and seems to be getting worse rather than better. How can I get her to feed herself??
Pleeeease help us over this hump. I picture myself spoon-feeding her for life!
Thanks so much.
Overwhelmed in Oceanside
We're thrilled to open the Angels home to our new social workers, Kathleen Thompson and Jessica Furland. They are already getting to know our north county families who they will support. 
