Oh, yes. My son was that way. I just let him do his best... it was the only way I could get food into him. He usually ate meals in his diaper and I practically had to hose off the high chair several times a day. It was horribly messy, but we got through it!
Is there any way you can make what she's eating into a finger food? I don't mean just cutting it up, but changing how it's made so that she can do it herself.
It's been a while since I went through this, but my grand baby does this from time to time. I just give her healthy finger foods and a sippy cup.
Best of luck to you with an independent child! 
It's a good thing, but can be trying.
Michele
It's the first of many independent stages they will go thru. When they are 2-ish, they will want to dress themselves .... just plan extra time when you are getting ready to allow for how long it takes them to do it and how long it takes you to fix it. 
I don't ask this critically, but are you one of those really neat fanatic moms? I know one of those and they hated the mess the baby made when eating. She wanted to remain in control and feed the baby "properly" rather than allow the baby to go thru the learning process. Let them learn .... as shelbur10 said, all you need is lots of paper towels and a water hose!
Me? I'm one of those laid back moms .... when mine wanted cheerios or pretzels, I just threw a handful on the floor in front of them ... if I put them in a dish, they'd end up on the floor anyway! It drove my MIL nuts!
There is plenty you give a one year old that they can do themselves. My third and fourth child barely even tasted "baby food" because by then it was easier to just give them some of whatever we were having. Just make sure you cut things well and that they soft enough to "chew."
Just give her something she can eat by her self and watch her eat. My now 15 year old used to eat cheerios of the floor too and she lived. I now have a two year old that want to dress him self and I let him, so every morning he goes to his day care with his shorts backwards and shoes in the wrong feet, I think it's sooo cute. They are little only once
Oh sweetie, get used to it. I've felt your pain and it doesn't get much better. The good news is that she won't starve. Just give her peas and cooked carrots and crackers. Like koolaidstains, I dont think I even bothered with babyfood for my third. Oh, spaghetti noodles and spaghettios are good too. Just don't fret over mess.
My one year old likes to feed his self too, with a fork. It's messy, but it's sooo cute. As long as he's not losing weight, he's getting enough food. LOL about the kid who goes to school with his pants on backwards...we're doing that with our three year old now. But she wants to wear the same shirt everyday, her hard rock cafe shirt from vacation. and she doesn't understand that shoes have to go on certain feet.
My DS (same one who fed himself) is five now and refuses to learn to snap his pants. I have to look at him come home from school every day with unsnapped pants. 
Being that boy's mother has really taught me to relax my standards! I'm just too tired to fight the little battles. 
I'm confused. Other than, maybe, soup, I can't think of a single thing that a one year old could eat but couldn't feed herself. What sort of foods are you talking about?
My DS (same one who fed himself) is five now and refuses to learn to snap his pants. I have to look at him come home from school every day with unsnapped pants.
Being that boy's mother has really taught me to relax my standards! I'm just too tired to fight the little battles.
Shelbur my son is 7 and just started wearing snap pants! Target has a brand of reasonably priced elastic waist jeans (Cherokee), that are great wash after wash, I've passed them down to my 4 year old who told me flat out that he does not want jeans with the snap! Like someone else said they are only small once so the "big boy" jeans will come in time. (Also an occupational therapist that I work with said that boys jeans are really the worst, and a lot of little boys just don't have the fine motor skills they need to snap those pants).
i know mothers have went through this type of situation for years...but it is nice to hear lol
Kylie eats a lot off the table..but for the most part for lunch and dinner she gets either gerber 3 veggies or the gerber graduate meals which are wonderful. thank god that a few of them are designed for "pickup" she shakes her head and pushes the spoon away if i try to feed her...so in the end i dump it out on her tray...a little at a time mind you because other wise she squishes it all up and slings it in the floor...ill admit i am having to learn to lower my standards lol...a clean house is not always possible iwth a one year old. we were married nearly 5 years before we had her so i was used to things being clean and straightened all the time lol. but i will survive...i just keep reminding myself that women have been doing this for years and years and it will all work out lol...
kyliesmom, I hope you don't mind, but I ran across an old pic that I will post...hopefully it will demonstrate that things could be worse!
Look at it this way, her independent streak will eventually make things easier for you. I have two kids, one that is now 7 and wants me to do EVERYTHING for her and my little guy who wants to do everything himself. In the long run, he's easier.
But anyway, here's the pic of my Matthew eating spaghetti by himself when he was almost a year old. Be sure to take the pics now, trust me, one day you will laugh!
kyliesmom, I hope you don't mind, but I ran across an old pic that I will post...hopefully it will demonstrate that things could be worse!
Look at it this way, her independent streak will eventually make things easier for you. I have two kids, one that is now 7 and wants me to do EVERYTHING for her and my little guy who wants to do everything himself. In the long run, he's easier.
But anyway, here's the pic of my Matthew eating spaghetti by himself when he was almost a year old. Be sure to take the pics now, trust me, one day you will laugh!
hehe, that's a great one! I found one here myself of my oldest when he was little. It's not as messy but I know we've got a spaghetti one around somewhere, just can't find it
Omgosh that last post looks like my oldest. I cant figure out how to down size my pics so I can't send them. Drat.
Well, I have a 4 & a 2yr old and they love to eat spaghetti. Man it is a mess everytime they eat. I have to hose the kitchen off when we are done. Braedan(2) wants to eat with his hands and Keagon(4) want to twrill his spaghetti like mommy. Messy.
It doesn't get any cleaner from this point on!! LOL
Omgosh that last post looks like my oldest. I cant figure out how to down size my pics so I can't send them.
goto www.shrinkpictures.com 
Yalls children are so georgous!
My 1 1/2 yr old daughter is also very independent when it comes to food - if it's cereal or mince etc , she won't let me feed her but she just plays with it & hardly eats anything ( at least she eats vegemite sandwiches !! ) I try to give her as much finger food as possible, but she's very picky ! 
My boys were all much better eaters...
Thanks so much Monica0271!
You are welcome . I got that off this site & it has helped me.
i have a 1 year old DD as well. i usually give her a spoon to play and practice with while i feed her with another spoon. other than cereal and the gerber meals, i also give her grape jelly sandwiches on wheat bread. she LOVES them. for a while, she would hold the sandwich and take nice dainty bites until it was all gone. then, suddenly, one day she tried to shove the entire thing into her mouth! so, now i cut it up into bite-sized pieces.
another thing i give her is the mini eggo waffles. i break those up into bite-sized pieces as well.
good luck 
Do any of you guys have trouble trying to get your toddlers to eat meat? My 1 y.o. DD (20 months actual, 18 months adj.) will barely eat any meat at all. We have to hide it in her food sometimes or give her chicken nuggets to get her to eat meat. She likes crusty foods...garlic bread, toasted breads, pizza crust, etc., so she'll usually eat a few bites of fried chicken nuggets or corn dogs but that is it. Has anyone had a problem like this?
Stephanie
My sister said her youngest son did that. It was her observation that perhaps we were born knowing what foods to eat but our mothers are shoving everything down our throat until we eat it or else!
As long as he's getting protein via other foods, don't worry about if he eats meat or not.
BTW, when my kids were little, my pediatrician told me that a 2-yr old can get by on a tablespoon of food a day. So if your kid is eating at least a tablespoon of food a day, he's normal.
HaileysMom-
my DD is a little younger than yours so she probably has less teeth but she loves spaghetti sauce so if there is ground beef in that, she'll eat it. she'll also eat small bites of soft chicken. people have told me that she's going to go through stages on how she eats. she used to eat everything we fed her now, she's starting to pick and choose. 
if its protein you are worried about, you could try to get a little yogurt into her diet. also, milk will give her protein if she drinks a lot of that.
i wouldn't worry about her not eating meat. sounds like she just has a mind of her own and this is only the beginning.
Neither of my kids started eating meat on a regular basis until they were 3 or 4. They would eat an occasional cheeseburger (or processed meats), but that was about it. I think it was a texture thing. It's hard to chew
As long as she's getting a balanced diet, I wouldn't worry too much about it. She will probably outgrow it.
I just take my "cue" from the kids. If they want to feed themselves let them, messy as it is!
If they don't want to eat don't fret as it's not in our nature to starve ourselves.
Limit their meals to breakfast lunch and dinner and only have healthy snacks after these meals.
IMO if you fuss too much it becomes a big issue and nobody wants that, it's hard enough rearing them!
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