Development milestones associated to food intake

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Development milestones associated to food intake

	Mouth Patterns	Hand and Body Skills	Feeding Abilities
birth – 3 months	Has tongue thrust, rooting, and gag reflex Begins to babble	Needs head support Brings hands to the mouth	Coordinates the suck-swallow-breathe action while breast or bottle feeding
4 – 7 months	Transfers food from front to back of the tongue to swallow Opens the mouth when sees spoon approaching Begins to control the position of food in the mouth Uses up-and-down munching movement	Has head and neck control Sits with support Brings objects to the mouth Begins to sit alone unsupported Tries to grasp small objects such as toys and food	Takes in a spoonful or strained/pureed/mashed food and swallows without choking Drinks small amounts from a cup (with spilling) held by another person Begins to eat mashed foods Eats from a spoon easily Begins to feed self with hands
8 – 12 months	Uses the jaw and tongue to mash food Uses rotary chewing (diagonal movement of the jaw as food is moved to the side or center of the mouth)	Sits alone easily Easily grasps and/or brings small objects to the mouth, such as finger foods Begins to hold a cup with two hands Has good eye-hand-mouth coordination	Begins to eat ground/finely chopped/diced food and small pieces of soft, cooked table food Bites through a variety of textures Demands to spoon-feed self