Reasons why letting your little one make a mess is so important: ✨ 👉🏻Babies learn through touch. 👉🏻Babies naturally crave autonomy. 👉🏻Grasping and coordination skills developed. Decreasing sensitivities to tastes and textures start with the hands. ✅ ✨Studies have shown that babies who are able to explore the food with their hands without limitation are more receptive to consuming that food later on. ✨Babies who are allowed to play with their food will be less likely to develop texture aversions. ✨Allowing them to have autonomy by self-feeding with their hands helps them learn self-control and trust their body. ✨When babies are allowed to learn how to feed themselves they are able to control how much they are going to put in their mouth without pressure from caregiver. ✨Self-feeding helps the child be confident in their unique abilities and trust their hunger cues. Grasping and picking up foods help develop fine motor skills. ✅ ✨Allowing them to play with food helps them learn how to use their fingers and hands for complex movements. ✨By scooping food with their whole hand, by developing the pincer grasp, and by practicing using utensils, babies are training their muscles and learning valuable coordination skills. Research posted in comments. #babyledwean #babyledweaning #babyfood #babyfoods #toddlernutrition #infantnutritionist #blwmeal #blwfoods