Using utensils?

Jack and Lily are 10 mos and self feed table food at all three meals. They really will not let me feed them anything with a spoon with the exception of yogurt and cottage cheese. I was looking at another poster's absolutely adorable 1st b-day pics and her twinkies were self-feeding the cake with a spoon. I cannot imagine Jack and Lily having any luck with that.

When did you start trying to get them to use a spoon?
How did you do it?
When did they get the hang of it?

Thanks

 

I didn't bother until 14 months. They were doing fine with hands and I didn't see a need to add silverware to the mess on the floor. As the mess decreased, I introduced a fork. They "got it" immediately and loved stabbing the food. The spoon took longer (they had it down at 18 months).

 

A friend whose son was always advanced in motor skills tried just after his first birthday, and he got it right away. My older DD took MUCH longer -- although I can't remember exactly when....the fork was a lot easier than the spoon.

 

We started letting our twins feed themselves with a spoon at about eight months because neither would allow us to feed them. They didn't have the pincher grasp down so they were getting very little solid food until we gave them their own spoons. I use three spoons for every meal. I load up three spoons and hand two over. Whoever finishes her spoon first gets the third and we rotate. They don't always get the spoon in their mouths right side up, but they're pretty good at self feeding now (at 11 months). I couldn't do soup or anything, but purees and chunky sticky foods work just fine until they decide to bang their spoons on the table. That part is messy!

 

Great question! My mom keeps asking me when I'll let them use utensils. We haven't tried yet, but it never occurred to me to try a fork first, but it makes sense that they would be easier to use compared to a spoon. I'll probably try in the next month or so since they seem to have better aim when picking up food now.

 

My dd is surprisingly good at using a spoon. I used to give them a spoon to hold just to keep them from trying to grab the spoon as I fed them. Turned out Eloise was pretty efficient at getting food in her mouth, and Lincoln is like 50/50 at getting food in his mouth with it. They just use their hands to pick everything up and generally use the spoon for fun.

Reyna

 

I haven't even tried. I think in a month or so, I'll start using plates on their high chairs and then start introducing silverware. I hadn't even thought of the fork first! What a great idea!

So, not to hijack but did most of you just put food on the tray of high chair? When did you introduce a plate on the high chair? I have those kind that stick to the surface but haven't used them yet.

 

We still don't use spoons or forks. They just think they are toys or something to chew on still. Hopefully someday they can be civilized eaters!