My daughter is nearly 14 months old and is still spoon-fed.
She drinks on her own and can eat finger foods, but when it comes to something more mushy or liquidy, I still have to feed it to her with a spoon.
I have tried showing her how to use a spoon and she just makes a huge mess by sticking her hands in it.
So how did you guide your children to use a spoon? And at what age (approx) did they have it mastered?
Thanks! :o)
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🥇 Best Answer
If she’s playing in it, pull her hands out of it and say “no” then give her the spoon back and let her try it again. If she goes back to playing, then take the food away and feed her yourself.
Next meal, let her try the spoon again. If she plays in it, tell her “no” and let her try again. If she goes back to sticking her hands in it, feed her yourself. You get the idea.
What we consider “playing” is actually how toddlers learn. So, you have to teach her by correcting her when she plays in it so that she can learn that we don’t play with food. Eventually she will get the idea that food goes on the spoon, and the spoon goes in our mouth.
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My daughter is only 6 months so I’ve only just started her on solids but whilst feeding her I always give her a spoon to play with…yes it’s messy but I think it will help her familiarize herself with cutlery so when the time comes she can use it properly.
She already brings the spoon to her mouth and sometimes after I’ve finished feeding her properly I’ll help her guide it so that she’s using it properly.
My mum took the same approach as me with both my little sisters and they both started using their spoons properly at 13 months.
x
My son is 12 months old and doesn’t use a spoon completely, Everytime we eat i put a spoon on his plate and give him a few bites with it and he continues to try by himself, He’s gotten it a few times but he watches us and wants to be a big boy and just keeps trying himself. My mother teaches kind of a one on one parenting class and says most kids don’t use spoons until they are about 2, Every baby is different though and some will use it before and some go longer before using it. Try feeding her finger foods with a spoon and see if she tries it by herself
I just let him make a mess, it’s what kids do. He’s 21 months old and while he doesn’t have it mastered he can use both a fork and spoon properly. I just offer one or the other when he eats so it’s there for him to use if he likes.
Just keep showing her the proper way and don’t worry if it gets messy, it’s bound to happen.
Toddlers make a mess, it’s how they learn. Using a spoon and remaining clean just doesn’t magically happen, it takes practise and that means making a mess. At home strip her down to her diaper, put something on the floor under her chair. then let her learn.
My oldest is 2 and has been using a spoon since he was 6 months, had it mastered by 9months. He now has the toddler knife, fork, and open cup mastered.
when my daughter started solids at 5-1/2mo, i gave her a spoon for each hand and allowed her to make a gigantic mess while i fed her. she was using them handily by 9mo (by which i mean food got into her mouth even though a good part still ended up on cheek, chin, and eyebrows).
sometimes, you just have to accept that a large part of parenting is messy.
Buy an inexpensive vinyl or plastic table cloth and put it on the floor under the high chair. It will make clean-ups much easier. Just shake off the crumbs outside then throw it in your washer or hose it off.
We’re still feeding our little guy (11 mos) with a spoon here, but always give him his own spoon too. Hopefully, he’ll be less messy when he does completely feed him self. It’s going to take time is all. Meanwhile, table cloths are helping alot with the clean-up’s.
Hope this helps a little!
My baby girl is 4 months and I feed her rice cereal about twice a week and when i’m about to put the spoon in her mouth she grabs the spoon and puts it in her mouth. She still misses though but it makes me happy how she is trying to. So i guess you have to start early so they will learn. I was lucky 🙂
I let her hold it and helped guide her hand to her mouth a few times and she got it from there. She’s 16 months and still some ends up on her upper lip or her cheek or dripping down her bib but that’s okay! She gets quite a bit into her mouth and that’s how they learn–by experiencing. Just help her do it a few times and then let her go from there.
when we started my son at 6 mos it was mostly finger foods since we are doing baby led weaning. BUT, I did give him chicken broth/soup with bits of veggies in it. I just make sure he has a good bib on, load the spoon up for him and let him go for it. Most of the time he flips the spoon over to get the food- like upside down and then sucks on it?! this doesn’t really work with broth, but it does for the yogurt he is eating now 🙂 Anyway, he gets super messy but better and better with practice! I would just keep handing her the spoon with thicker foods on it ( oatmeal, sticky rice etc.) and let her figure it out… it will be messy but eventually she will get it. !
good luck and perhaps think about putting a towel or shower curtain under her high chair while she figures things out !
ps- DS1 is almost 3 – I give him utensils, and he knows how to use them, but he still preffers his hands … I really have to hound im if I want him to use the spoon all the time. SO yeah, just because they can doesn’t mean they will either LOL 🙂
Source(s):
mom of 2 boys 3 yrs and 9 mos.