Spoon work not working

What foods did you use to help them learn to self-spoon feed? I've been using oatmeal but it doesn't stick to the spoon as I'd hoped.

Did you have every meal be a self-spoon meal, once a day, once a week?

Did you make the entire meal a self-spoon meal or just the beginning until they get frustrated? Do you give them a few spoonfuls to take the hunger edge off? Do you finish up the meal with feeding them the remains of the meal?

Why are toddler spoons too wide to fit into a toddler's mouth? :huh: I found some spoons that were narrow enough to fit into their mouths, but they're too deep and they can't get their upper lip to scrape the food off into their mouth ... Am I the only one who has a problem with all toddler spoons? :80:

 

i didn't start giving the girls utensils until about 17 months & it's only recently that they've started to show any actual ability with them. until then, they got finger foods rather than foods that required utensils. if you'd like them to keep practicing i would say offer a spoon at every meal, regardless of what they're eating. just having a chance to play with them will help them learn. GL!

 

Thanks for the response, Rachel! So you just gave them spoons during their finger food meals for a while until they showed interest, or did you try some spoon-oriented food like oatmeal?

 

I agree with Rachel. I offered spoons at every meal even if the meal was not one you would eat with a spoon. Good luck!

 

I gave a salad fork or spoon with every finger food meal so they got used to seeing it and could start learning to use it by watching us use them. Just about a month ago I started giving them a bowl of yogurt or pudding with one or two meals a day and they're using their spoon very well. I love the Baby Bjorn spoons as they hold a good amount of food. Mine will use the fork for one bite and their fingers for the next few bites, but they're practicing and enjoying it.

 

We did the same and just offered them at every meal. However my two still have trouble with spoons and mostly use forks. They are very good with them now and I hate the mess spoons make so I honestly don't give them much that requires a spoon. Also my ds's therapist told us it was more important for him to use a straw, so we use a straw for most things that could be spooned as well, such as yogurt and applesauce. GL!

 

Our daycare provider was the one who actually started giving my twins utensils with every meal...even before they turned one. She has ones that were double sided (spoons on both ends so they don't dip the handle). They do practice with it a bit. They might scoop or try to a couple times...sometimes they actually get food in their mouths, but then they go at it with hands the rest of the way. I have started giving them utensils also...I figure it's good practice!

 

Those Baby Bjorn spoons look great! I'm going to have to order some even though DH will totally roll his eyes. *g*

 

my girls refused to let me feed them anything from about ten months on so i didn't bother with anything that they couldn't pick up & eat themselves for a long time. once we started giving them spoons & forks around 17 months (which actually happened because they started trying to grab ours & would throw tantrums if we didn't hand them over at meals) then i cautiously started offering small amounts of yogurt, applesauce, etc in their bowls. as they got less likely to accidently dump their bowls on the floor, i've started filling them more. now they can polish off most of their yogurt with a spoon pretty easily - Danika's even started tilting her bowl a bit to get a better angle with her spoon to get those last few bites.

 

I started giving my guys forks at about 1 year; I find it's *much* easier for them to learn to use them than spoons. We have a set of Take and Toss forks/spoons (like THESE). They are nice and short so they're easy for toddlers to wield; the spoon bowls aren't too big, and the tines of the fork are pointy enough to pierce a piece of food but not sharp enough to be a weapon!

We usually give them forks at every meal; they can decide to use them or not. They're *still* not very good at spoons, but we offer them about once a week for practice. We don't normally serve them foods that are eaten with a spoon, but about once a week we'll deliberately give them yogurt, pudding or ice cream for dessert so they can try. Nate is getting better about getting food to his mouth, but Jack would rather fling the spoon around.

 

My two didn't use spoons for the longest time because they were much more proficient with forks.

We used the take and toss for a while, then moved tothese. These also have matching plates and bowls and for the price you can't beat it.

 

We gave out boys spoons early on. We would let them have one to hold/play with while we fed them, after a while they figured it out and started trying to use their spoons themselves. Now they’re pros with their spoons! We started with the Boon Bender Utensils have since switched to the Tommee Tippee Explora spoons since they are a bit larger.

 

We use the take and toss ones too and I find that they have a lot more success with forks than they do spoons. I give them forks or spoons (depending on what the meal is - but usually it is finger foods like we have been giving them forever so forks are better) with every meal, but rarely do they use them for long. They have gotten quite good at getting food on the fork and spoon and getting it to their mouths but eventually they get frustrated and just dig in with their hands and I don't mind that at this point. Part of it is my laziness - I know what foods they like and are easy to prepare and usually that is foods that are able to be eaten with fingers (although that includes mashed potatoes so my definitions of finger foods are probably a little off). We also still feed them separate from our dinner time and they rarely (unless we go out to dinner) see us eating - I think if they did they would definitely want to use utensils because they are in that stage where they just want to do everything we do!