I was going to suggest that. my son is just 7 months and the other day when he didnt open his mouth to eat, he put his hand to the bowl then in and picked up some food. after a few seconds he took the spoon and ate.. yes it is messy but isnt that worth it for the child to eat?
good luck

Maybe you could try letting him play with food? I know it will be really messy but when i was a children's nurse many years ago, the speech therapists used to do this with toddlers who had issues with food to get them eating...might be worth a try? Just put him in a high chair with bits of banana etc in-front of him and let him put it in his hair and all over the floor!! Don't worry if he puts it in his mouth or not, and dont try to get him to eat it-just get him friendly with food-eventually he should stick stuff in his mouth while playing with it. I hope...!!

my son is 13 month and is not eating properly he'll has 2 bottles of fomula milk one on a morning and one on a night 8oz in each. he has his breakfast about 2 hours after his bottle which is usally cereal but during the day i really struggle to feed him he wont try anything new he wont eat meat and as soon as i put the spoon towards his mouth he moves away i have to dip some on my finger to show him he likes it but he'll only eat things like beans and spagetti out of the tin even though i try him with all sorts eventually i give him and give him what he likes just so i know his had food into him has anyone else had this? what can i do?