Can your 15 month old use a spoon yet?

Leah - posted on 11/24/2010

Yes my son can and he does get a little bit messy. I think of it as this: I'd rather be cleaning up his mess then not allow him to learn how to feed himself and learn some fine motor skills. He has to learn eventually. One day he just grabbed the spoon from me and he was trying to feed himself from the bottom side of the spoon so I took it away to turn it around and he started screaming his head off. He LOVES to feed himself so I let him.



Juts get over the fact that he'll probably make a mess and just let him feed himself and have fun with it. You don't want to be feeding him forever.

Lisa - posted on 11/24/2010

My son doesn't like to feed himself, but I'm starting to think maybe that's my fault for not letting him do it very often! He does finger foods pretty well, but my problem is that he has never been very interested in food! I have always fed him stuff from a spoon because I feel like he eats more when I am feeding him and we have always struggled with him not gaining enough weight. I also don't like messes, so that's something I'm going to have to get over too. We've been working on him feeding himself with a spoon and he's taken a couple of bites that way, but he gets preoccupied with the way the food feels squishing between his fingers and then I have to take it away from him! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Donna - posted on 11/19/2010

We usually give finger foods, and believe that baby doesn't quite have the dexterity to effectively feed herself yet. Sometimes we give her a spoon and she seems pleased to try to eat like the grownups, but she is learning and mostly stirs the food around or chews the spoon.Oatmeal is a good first spoon food, it sticks to the spoon easy, and can be eaten with fingers when the spoon just isn't doing it. It will come. I think the best thing to prevent food throwing is to pick everything up at that point. All done? my daughter sometimes refuses certain foods and wants them OFF her tray, but is still eating other things. she solves this by dropping the pieces she doesn't want into the cup holder on the tray, or dropping them to the eagerly awaiting dog. Don't have a dog? indispensable for cleaning up after baby. Yes, feeding baby is messy. They always change her clothes at daycare and say, oh at this age they want to feed themselves and its a big mess. I guess its just a mess for a while. we will have to live with it.

LaTeasa - posted on 11/18/2010

you have to try one day. remember that children will make a mess. practice makes perfect. I don't even get upset at my daughter. I've been letting her feed herself (with some foods) since she was about 8 months. She uses a spoon pretty well now but still would rather use her fingers.

Angie - posted on 11/17/2010

Yes, but he's VERY messy with it. He outright refuses to eat from a spoon unless he's doing it himself, though. He feeds more of it to his hair and the floor, but he's getting the hang of it! I've been giving him a spoon to hang onto for every meal since he was about 6 months just to get him accostumed to it, but only for the past few months has he actually used it to eat with. I will give him bowls of yogurt or applesauce or oatmeal, but not until the end of the meal after he's eaten the "finger foods." It's almost like a dessert then. If I give it to him at the beginning of the meal, he'll completley ignore the rest of the food and get distracted by the bowl.



It is messy, but they will never learn if we don't give them the opportunity to do it!! Introduce silverware to your son at least, even if it's just something to hold onto or play with at first. Then let him feed himself and get really messy on a day where it doesn't matter if you have to clean a bunch of sticky oatmeal from his hair!

Jessica - posted on 11/12/2010

My 15 month old has insisted on feeding herself for at least 3 months. She does much better with a fork, but can do a spoon as well. It's messy and a lot of it ends up in her lap or on the floor, but it's important to let them do it and learn.

Tasha - posted on 11/12/2010

I never really tried it all the way...I mean I give her the spoon to play with while I feed her. I have tried to let her "feed" herself while I hold the spoon with her, but she hasnt fully tried on her own. I wouldnt put to much stress on yourself about it though. Every kid will develop at their own pace.

Melissa - posted on 11/10/2010

my son has his own spoon while eating. he sometimes puts food in his mouth and we praise him on it, but most of the time he just throws the food on the floor. he's a finger food baby more than a spoon/fork baby

Kayla - posted on 11/10/2010

I always gave my son a spoon or fork with foosplats plate or in a bowl since about 6 months in the begining he wasn't doing so great but as he got older he mastered it ... I've never had a problem with him throwing his plates or utensils ... He did it once I smacked his hand (not hard) n said no in an angry voice and he hasn't done it since( Been about 4 months now)

Shaniqua - posted on 11/10/2010

my son thinks that a spoon is a catapult..... he doesnt use it to eat jus yet

Chantal - posted on 11/10/2010

I think I started giving my son a spoon around 12 months. He obviously wasnt very good and made some messes but now with practice he has become very efficient and even eats with a fork. There are times when he starts to play with his food or looks like he is going to grab the bowl I know he's done eating so i just take everything away and ask; All done? and usually he gives me the sign for all done. So yes, there will be messes but you could get a mat or sheet to put under the highchair while he is practicing. It's one of the milestones! Go for it!

Sarah - posted on 11/10/2010

Iv always given my girl a bowl and spoon with food in so she could learn to feed herself, im lucky as i cant remember the last time she threw her bowl or food on the floor and she rarely eats from a bowl with her fingers but it took months of reinforcing good behaviour and how to eat 'properly' my friends little girl is 7 months older than my girlie and she never really uses a spoon but i just thought that if i encourage it from day one then its one less thing to do later!
Yeah i would just get cloths and long sleeved bibs and floor mats at the ready and go for it, i had a sppon myself and she had 2 spoons and whenever she used her hands to eat i just put her spoon back in her hand and helped her to 'scoop' which is our key word when we r eating. Also look for the sucker bowls which stick to the table
http://www.shopzilla.co.uk/8B--Baby_Feed...

Eva - posted on 11/09/2010

I guess I should of read this before I attempted this morning and gave my son a bowl of soup oh no as soon as I gave it to him he dumped it all on the floor grab the nodles and walk all over the apartment throwing noodles everywhere.

Kimberly - posted on 11/09/2010

I don't let my daughter have a bowl of food in front of her because every time I try she throws the whole lot on the floor. But I do keep the bowl in front of me, put the food on the fork or spoon and then hand her the fork or spoon to use herself. I don't do this with messy foods, just eggs, melon, etc...but it seems to keep us both happy at the moment.