Teaching them to use utinsels......

Hi - My boys are now 18 mo. It's been a long time since I have done this. How old were your children when you did this and do you have any suggestions or tricks to help make this easier? Have you used any items and/or brands that worked great? (I bought some suction bowls but they didn't work and of course, the mess then ended up on the floor!) Thanks!

 

I show them a few times with the utensils and then let them try.... they are 2 now and very good at it! Just let them have them and let them try..... that's the only real thing I can think of.

 

I started with utensils around 14 months. They took to forks right away and they're pretty decent with a spoon now also. It doesn't take long at all once they have the fine motor skills for it. We're just starting with dishes because I wasn't in any rush to deal with flinging plates.... one battle at a time!

I like the Gerber utensils. They have stainless steel tips and non slip handles, the forks are actually usable, and they are reasonably priced (approx. $4 a set which includes a spoon, fork, and butter knife). I've found them at Wal-Mart & BRU.

 

We gave them forks and spoons at about a year. It took them a while but I wanted them to get a feel for them. No real trick to it... just keep offering them and they'll get the hang of it.

 

What kind of foods did you use at first with utinsels? Reading the answers to my post, I was curious as to what foods you used for them to practice with? When did you try cereal in a bowl? Thanks

 

We're in the middle of this now ... Jadyn has got a fork and spoon down perfectly! We still have to help her get the food on, but last night she ate a pudding out of the cup by herself. Pudding is thick enough that it allows for easy pick up. Liana, however, isn't ready and just plays with either. We still let her try, but usually have to take it away. She'll be the later bloomer on this front. Both use plates for every meal. Bowls with suctions are used with cereal that they eat with hands at this point. Suctions on all cups are so easy to remove, at least by my two!

I just let them make messes - within reason. Learning to eat is supposed to be messy.

 

Definitely start with forks! Mine had a really hard time mastering spoons, and they are still not so great with thin stuff. For spoon practice, use thick foods like oatmeal, custard-style yogurt, etc. that will cling to the spoon. For forks, especially the plastic ones, you need foods that don't take a lot of effort to stab. Green beans are good for that, and some pastas.

Sometimes we would get the food on the fork or spoon and give it to them to get into their mouths (still do if we're trying to coax them into eating something!). That's helpful if they are frustrated by food that is hard to get on the utensil, but they can still practice getting it into their mouths.

It may be messy, but just keep trying. Eventually they will catch on! 18 months is definitely an appropriate time to start. (And suction bowls never worked for us, either--they always learned how to pull them up!)

 

Yogurt, pudding or oatmeal are good spoon foods. We started using spoons at a year and at 14 months they were doing very well with them and are pros now.

 

We started around 15 months or so with utencils. I made thick cereal with yogurt and applesauce for the spoons. And partially cooked veggies and pasta and meats for forks. My boys started to use them WELL around 2 years - a fewmonths ago. I am so amazed how well then can eat yogurt, oatmeal, plain applesauce with a spoon and most meals with a fork. Oh and they have been drinking from a regular cup since about 2 at the table also. I still do give them sippys during the day of plain water.

 

QUOTE(~* dfaut *~ @ May 6 2007, 10:45 AM) [snapback]245378[/snapback]
I show them a few times with the utensils and then let them try.... they are 2 now and very good at it! Just let them have them and let them try..... that's the only real thing I can think of.


We did the same! My kids are pretty good at it now.

 

I started with spoons and what my dh calls "sporks"... they are gerber I think, and the forks have a curve for scooping up... I introduce them to the spoons with foods that are a little less messy at first.... and then work my way to things like yogurt and cereal... that being said my twins didn't figure them out, or have any desire to try them until we started putting milk in their cereal at breakfast.... Then for awhile my dd still wanted me to feed her the cereal... but magically while staying at my mom's house three weeks ago she suddenly became a pro at using her spoon... guess my mom must've ignored her too much at meal times! Now they are getting much better!!! Thank God, b/c it's really nice to be able to eat my meals again!!!

 

I started mine early, although I can't remember specifically how old they were. I gave them plastic forks and spoons that came with a child dinnerware set we got. I would put food on it and let them get used to putting it in their mouths. Eventually they wanted to do it all themselves.

 

I just let them play with the spoons/forks while we're eating. Sometimes they'll try getting food on them. They'll get it!