Self-feeding and Communicative Development From 12 to 24 Months of Age: An Observational Study

This study examined the relations between independent eating and communicative development, both concurrently and longitudinally, using observational methods. In total, 182 Italian mother-infant pairs (Mage = 12.33; 48% females; 100% White) participated from 2020 to 2023. Infants’ gestures, vocalizations, and self-feeding episodes were coded during mealtimes at 12 months. Mothers reported on language development at 12, 18, and 24 months. Self-feeding was concurrently and positively associated with infants’ deictic gestures and simple vocalizations during the meal. Notably, self-feeding at 12 months was positively related to sentence production reported by mothers at 24 months (but not to parent-reported vocabulary size at 12, 18, or 24 months). The results suggest potential language benefits from allowing infants an active role during the mealtime.