Needing tips to help my daughter start feeding herself with the spoon!

Brenda - posted on 01/04/2010

I have boy/girl twins.... Dylan just started using a spoon 4 days ago and Emma won't do it yet. I am just going to have some patience with her and keep encouraging her to use the spoon. I was worried too until Dylan just started doing it out of the blue.

Chalis - posted on 01/02/2010

My daughter, Corinne, is learning to hold her spoon now. We started out with her just playing with a spoon to get used to holding it. Then we started putting small amounts of food on the spoon, usually something a little sticky (mashed potatoes work the best) so that she couldn't shake it off easily. She likes being a big girl and using our forks and spoons, so I got a couple of demitasse spoons from Crate and Barrel. They are basically spoons for sugar when you have tea, but they are smaller and go into her mouth easier. Give your little one a chance and don't give up. It takes time.

Jo - posted on 12/31/2009

My daughter is nearly 17 months and won't put spoon to mouth. Though with a fork I have pre loaded she will give it ago, sometimes. From what i can tell this is not uncommon and hopefully they will learn in their own time. On a positive note, it has saved my carpets for a bit longer!

Charmaine - posted on 12/31/2009

I wouldn't worry too much at this point. My dd doesn't use her utensil every time she eats. my suggestion is put the food on the plate or tray as you normally would. put the utensils on the tray let you dd feed herself by hand and i bet she'll start using the utensils in no time. pretend your not paying attention to what is going on and you may be suprised and what might happen. sometimes my daughter will eat her whole meal with the fork or spoon and somtime the4 meal dissapears just by her hand feeding herself.

Sonja - posted on 12/30/2009

My daughter is the same way. Lately, I have been putting the spoon or the spork on her tray with something like mashed potatoes on it. She plays with it for a while, but every now and then will pick it up and eat the food off of it. I was concerned at first too, but I know she will get it soon enough!

Adina - posted on 12/30/2009

My son is 16 months old and loves to feed himself with his fingers. He eats everything. But I still always give him a fork to hold. Every few bites he uses the fork. It's alittle difficult for him to get the food on the fork and then actually try to get it in his mouth without dropping it...but we always let him try and we applaud him when he does it right. If he can't do it with the fork then he goes back to using his fingers. Practice makes perfect. Just always give her a fork to hold on to and show her what to do with it. Keep doing that. Eventually she'll catch on. Good luck. :-)

Anita - posted on 12/29/2009

My daugther uses her hand...maybe she following some asian (indian cukture) althigh we use utensils to eat. She still doesnt like to hold her own cup or bottle. Its frustrating when I give her and she just throws them away.

Megan - posted on 12/28/2009

I have been trying to get Landon to use his spoon or fork too! He does not like the baby ones either he has to have one like we do and actually here in the last couple of weeks has started to use it a little more than usual. He doesnt get it all on there and still likes to use his hands more but its a start. i just give him a spoon anytime i put him in his chair to eat that way he can play with it some and figure it out. I also will help him do it by holding his hand. he doesnt like it very much when i do that though but it seems to help him get the idea a little better each time.

Neva - posted on 12/28/2009

We take our two youngest ones to a great daycare that I think our 16 month old picked up using the spoon there and does a pretty good job at. My almost 3 year old drinks out of a regular cup better than the older two did at her age. We put the food on his tray and insist that he feeds himself. He likes to eat, so doesn't have much of a problem.

Loni - posted on 12/27/2009

IT took Brayden a while to do something other than smack the high chair with it. He still won't feed himself but if we put the spoon/fork in his hand he'll put it in his food. We hold his hand while he has it and guide it towards his mouth. Little bits at a time will wean him off of you and onto self feeding.

Eva - posted on 12/26/2009

no help here. lol we give our dd a spoon and some timse she uses it sometimes not so much. she'll learn. just give her time.

Mary - posted on 12/25/2009

My daughter is 16 months too! She loves to feed herself, but not necessarily with a utensil. I just lay one on her tray and she's starting to play with it and try to use it some. Even if I'm feeding her with one fork, I give her another one to hold and try to figure out. She likes regular size forks better than baby ones, she seems to have more success with them too. A waiter gave her a cocktail fork a couple of weeks ago and she ate her whole meal with a fork - maybe I should get some of those!