Forks?

For a long time now, we have been using the "disposable" first years plastic silverware and they have worked well for the girls. Well, recently, they have really taken to feeding themselves and are doing great with it. The problem is that the forks are really hard to spear the food with. What did you do when this happened? Did you start letting them use your regular forks? Does this mean they are ready for "big people" utensils? Please let me know what worked for you. TIA

 

For a long time now, we have been using the "disposable" first years plastic silverware and they have worked well for the girls. Well, recently, they have really taken to feeding themselves and are doing great with it. The problem is that the forks are really hard to spear the food with. What did you do when this happened? Did you start letting them use your regular forks? Does this mean they are ready for "big people" utensils? Please let me know what worked for you. TIA

 

i've been using real metal toddler forks for several months now. if they can't spear the food then they end up using their hands to force it onto the tongs of the forks. I am over here debating whether or not to introduce the smaller adult forks/spoons... Some days the fork they use is their hands! EWW!

 

I found metal tong forks for toddlers at the Dollar Spot in Target. They came in a 2-pk. with a spoon. I don't think the spoon is deep enough for my 22 month olds, but the forks work great.

The First Year Take and Toss spoons are deeper, so they use those. The Take and Toss forks are hard for them to use. Metal tongs seem easier for them to master. They still have a long way to go with the spoons.

 

Thanks! I looked at our Target and couldn't find any of the metal target forks. My Target doesn't have a great baby dept. I guess I will try the adult ones and see how they do. If they can handle it, great, if not, I will look online about getting toddler metal forks. FWIW, mine do resort to their hands when they give up on getting the food on the fork. So, you aren't alone.

 

I started with the small take n toss forks and then about 18 months I used adult forks (the salad size). I know in their 1 year video Michael would only eat his cake with a fork. It was easier for them to spear the food with the adult size forks and I was always right there to supervise dinner anyway.

 

Yes, we had the same problem. The plastic ones and the ones with the bent in safety feature don't stab food very well.

So we used toddler forks for a while and still do -- we had two types that worked well: these (in Sponge Bob and Dora) and these (which you can't really see in that picture, but those are the exact ones, and they liked them).

Then came the day they started asking for "big forks" and we gave them small salad or dessert forks. Until I found a set of kids silverware at a Henckels warehouse sale, which are just right and really pretty (I'm hoping to hold onto them as heirlooms for the next generation, they are that nice).

 

I didn't find that they could do any better with a fork. I chopped up the food enough so that they could scoop it with a spoon. Even my older boys have fork issues and prefer spoons.

 

Most nights my girls eat with the salad forks from our regular silverware. When we eat out they use the regular fork at the restaurant.

 

I started giving mine the salad forks from our old flatware set and they do fine with those. Their spoon skills are coming along but it seems tough for them to remember not to turn it over on the way to the mouth. Forks are more forgiving and so they will happily poke any food that can be poked (even the unlikely graham cracker ).

 

We have toddler metal forks as well. They do really well with them. They have a harder time with the spoons.

 

Wow, maybe I should start with forks -- Sarah is doing pretty well with a spoon and I just assumed spoons were easier than forks! (Amy still just uses her hand as a shovel.) OTOH, I don't feed them much spear-able food yet.

 

We use the following, in that order of preference:

1) Pottery Barn Kids fork and spoon (they don't have them online, but they are still in the stores; they have a chunky handle)
2) Disney Store forks and spoons (they are small and have sharp tines so that the food actually gets pierced by the fork)
3) Salad forks

Everything else that we have purchased (plastic ones, dollar store oes, Gerber ones) we have given away. They just don't work as well.

 

Because my boys are in such a habit of banging on the tabletop with the metal utensils (drives me nuts), I usually only give them plastic. I have found that the small plastic disposable forks (the kind you buy for a picnic, or get with takeout food) spear the food really well and I can wash them in the dishwasher.