Timid mama and baby

The other day I saw a lil kitten out side I went out to see if it was friendly and it ran under a car. When I went back inside to get some food what im assuming was mama ran up to the front step of my porch. When i went back up she ran into the bushes and was watching me.
I put the food at the end of the porch and sat in one of my chairs (which is maybe 3 feet from the food) she came right back up and started eating but would run when I took a step toward her. When I got up to go inside she ran ran and came back when I was in and then baby came out to eat too.
This was a day ago I left food out again last night but neither came back and noone ate the food all night.
Will they come back? I want to make mama an outside cat (get her to the vet to be spayed and get a tick collar on her) and maybe try to find baby a new inside home. And if they do come back how do I get them to let me near them. From what I read online I think the baby may be 8 weeks old.

Hard to say if they will come back.  Do you feed cats regularly at your house?  Could be they belong to a neighbor and mom is teaching kitten how to find food.  They could have been dumped by a callous owner too.  For you to be able to touch them they have to trust you which usually entails a few weeks of regular feedings.  It depends on if they are truly feral or just stray.

This is the first time I have left food out sometimes if I drop meat I'll put it out but not often, we have alot of stray cats around the house so it hard to say of they have a home they both looked well feed. This is the first time I have seen a kitten around thou.
Should I just leave food out nightly at the time they showed up for awhile?

I would not leave food out at night.  It will attract every critter imaginable.  The feedings of feral cats is usually dawn and dusk.  By leaving it out over night you have no idea who/what ate it.

The best advice is to begin a TNR program to trap, neuter/spay and return the cats back to their environment.  If your area is over run with stray/feral cats, the population will only continue to sky rocket.  The cats needs to be spayed (kittens too). 

In order to befriend a feral it will take lots of daily work and lots and lots of patience.  Caring for a feral cat involves spaying/neutering, regular feedings and shelter from the elements. 

You also could post a few fliers in your area to see if the cats belong to someone.

Thank you for caring about these sweet little kitties.

Thank you I will look into that. Do they have organizations that help with that? My town has such a bad problem there is a ban in place on feeding the cats but I couldnt let this baby stay out there with no help.

And ill put dry food out for the during the day and would setting up a tarp under my stairs to keep them from the rain be enough shelter? Or should i try to build them a wooden house.

Try doing a search in your area on cat rescue organizations.  Many of them will help you to trap, spay/neuter and then return the cats back to their original environment.  This time of year they are often so very very busy.  If you have the funds and can borrow a humane trap, the process of trapping is not too difficult.  Most of us then use low cost spay/neuter clinics or the humane society.  Do you know if you have a humane society near you or ASPCA?

As far as food, if you can afford it try to get some wet kitten food.  During the heat of the summer it will often spoil so you can't leave it out too long, but do try to give a bit of wet along with the dry.  Also fresh water.

The momma will need to be spayed soon as she can as she will go into heat again and then more kittens will be born.  Try contacting a rescue group or humane society to see if you can borrow a trap.  Or maybe you know someone who has one. 

As far a shelters go, for summer they don't need too much as they can get under decks and porches.  Yet they do need something to keep the food dry.  You can do an internet search on feral cat shelters and feral cat feeding stations.  Also if you see the link in my signature for my blog, I have some pictures of many shelters and feeding stations.

Thank you once again for helping these kitties.

Any updates on the mama and baby?

I saw what I think was mom yesterday she was hiding in my garage that left open and bolted when my boyfriend got home no sign of the kitten thou :/ and I put food out when Vin said he saw her but she never came to eat it

Thanks for the update.  You can keep leaving out some food during the day, but I bet they might have another food source. 

I think the might be someones pet or shes been dumped she isnt fearful of people like the other cats in the area.
amd ill deff keep trying to feed her and i have some wet food i can leave if i see her cone for the dry