Learning to let go of the mess!

So 1 meal a day I try to give the boys forks and another meal a spoon to practice with. Its nice bc Jack seems to "get" the spoon and JT the fork. I however, go INSANE :crazy: at the mess they make! How do I learn to let it go? or better yet...when do they make less of a mess??? :rotflmbo:<---riiiiggghhht! I know i know...NEVER!

 

Mine are 25 months and they still make a mess....but less of a mess than they made at 18 months, and at 18 months they were making less of a mess than they made at 16 months.

One trick I found was to only put a small amount at a time in their bowl. So, if I was giving them yogurt - instead of giving them the amount I'd expect them to eat, I'd only give them 1/3 of that amount. When they finished that serving, I'd put another 1/3 in their bowl, and so on.

Good luck!

 

I do the same as Jori, I put small amounts on their plates and bowls. They still make a mess but not as much as they used to.

 

I am right there with you. I put the food on the their fork/spoon and let them put it in their mouth. I know I need to let them do it, but it just goes everywhere!

 

We rarely give spoons; they love to scoop and fling food around, but very little eating actually gets done! :lol: I do offer forks at every meal, and my guys are pretty good about forking bits of food and getting them to their mouths. They do throw the forks occasionally, but the food mess isn't too bad (plus we have a dog to clean up the windfall ).

About once a week we will "treat" them with spoons and bowls of pudding or yogurt, but we mostly feed them finger foods at meals right now.

 

ours don't really get the spoons/forks by themselves yet either... I think we were making better progress back at 18 mo... but now at almost 22 months they love to eat their oatmeal w/their hands... BIG MESSES!

 

Thank you for posting this. I also am having a hard time letting them make a mess.

 

Good for you for starting; we haven't been brave enough to give them utensils yet! (Though they do like to hold spoons, so we sometimes give them one to hold while we feed them oatmeal, applesauce or yogurt. They mostly eat finger foods though.)

 

I would just offer it to them during every meal. They are both pretty good at forks now. My DD is great at a spoon too, she still occasionally uses her hands but not as much as she used to. My DS on the other hand, he always turns his spoon upside down right before it gets to his mouth, so plop right all over his clothes. A mess yes, but not as much of a mess that they use to make . My broom, and bounty paper towels are my BEST FRIENDS. So the message in all of this, practice makes perfect, endure the mess buy Bounty , and they will get it! I braved cereal w/ actual milk in it last week. It was a huge success.... mostly. No milk on the floor anyways.

 

I'm just impressed that you guys use plates and bowls, much less utensils! I give them forks and spoons and they are getting the hang of it but they eat directly off their tray - everytime I have tried dishes they throw them constantly (even the ones that are supposed to stick to the tray) and waste the food I just slaved to prepare so I don't even bother!