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' use of 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.The present study investigates how 12-month-old infants' independent eating relates to their communication development over the first 2 years of life. The research involved 182 infants and used direct observations during family meals, along with parent-reported assessments of fine motor skills and language abilities. Results showed that infants who ate more frequently independently at 12 months produced a significantly higher number of vocalizations and gestures during meals at that age and exhibited better sentence production at 24 months. For the first time, such associations were found adopting a multi-method approach and a longitudinal design. The findings of this study suggest that encouraging autonomous eating may support both motor and communicative development.