Is your child using a spoon/utensil correctly yet?

Darcel - posted on 06/18/2010

My son can get food on the spoon but turns it upside down to put it in his mouth. Of course most of the food falls back on his plate. I tried correcting his technique and he got angry. So I let it go. I give him a fork and a spoon at each meal and let him figure out what works for him. Sometimes he uses his fingers, other times he uses the fork or spoon.

Sarah - posted on 06/17/2010

My son is the exact same way I talked to his doc about it and she is thinking on having him see an OT and get some therapy for it so I would talk with your doc and see what he/she says about it.

Arrakis - posted on 06/01/2010

My 21mth old daughter knows how to use a spoon and fork. We gave them to her from the first time she was in a high chair. We never really taught her how o use them, she just watched us and copied. Whether she uses them all the time or not is a different story!

Cynthia - posted on 06/01/2010

I have the same problem as you lol! My son will try for a it but can't do it right so he just wants me to feed him or he grabs it with his hands!

Melissa - posted on 06/01/2010

My son's been using forks and spoons for awhile now. I was quite lucky, he just took the spoon off me and wanted to do it himself and i just helped show him how to hold it. Poor little guy gets quite annoyed sometimes tho because he tilts the spoon slightly while trying to get it into his mounth so most of the food falls off the spoon before it actualy reaches his mouth, but most of the time he'll just ignore it and try again. Your doing the best you can by trying to put it back in his hands and show him how to do it. All i can say is just keep trying, i know it might not seem like it but he'll get it eventualy. (:

Chatty - posted on 05/29/2010

My daughter is almost 21 months and she's been ABLE to use her utensils since about 13 months BUT that doesn't mean that she does....LOL! Some things she will and she's quite good at it but when I'm not looking she still prefers to ditch the fork or spoon and use her hands! I'm always reminding her, " Use ur spoon! " and then she'll pick it up an start using it again.

You may wanna try different utensils.....some are shaped better than others and make it easier to use. I know my daughter would get frustrated if the fork was sharp enough to poke her food and pick it up so we tried a few different brands before we found a Gerber set she really likes!

I wouldn't worry to much about it....all you can do is encourage the appropriate behavior! Hang in there!

Tina - posted on 05/28/2010

my son eat's with a fork and he learned on his own so try with a littls fork just put it on the tray and walk away.

Katy - posted on 05/28/2010

We had great results when we bought kid silverware from target.com. Non plastic helped him and we think made him feel more like mom and dad. We bought forks and spoons and he uses both well cause they're really the right size for little toddler hands. best of luck!

Tassia - posted on 05/28/2010

I would give my daughter a spoon when she is eating something like rice and a fork when she is eating someting like pasta. I never showed her how to use either. I would give her dinner and put the utensil down and we would all eat together. She uses both her spoon and fork well. I would say from one year till 16 months she was using her hands mostly and just play with the spoon,when she started using her utensils at first most of the food ended up on the table or chair or floor. Around 16 months she no longer wanted to eat in the high chair, she wanted to sit at the table with me with a booster seat and she started eating with her utensils exclusively and now she is great at it.

Erika - posted on 05/27/2010

My son refuses to let me feed him anymore, so he does really well with a spoon. If he's eating something like mac and cheese, and he's having a hard time with the fork, he'll just use his hands. He learned by just doing it himself. I've been offering him his own spoon since he was a little under a year, and he just does it. Honestly, with the mess involved, I was never too keen on letting him do it himself. But now he does great.

Wendy - posted on 05/26/2010

My son does well with a spoon and his other hand to help. He does throw the utensil o nthe floor and just use his hands sometimes, but he will also use the spoon - depends on what we are eating or how we might have prepped it for him. He only really started doing well with utensils in the past month or so.

Kathy - posted on 05/26/2010

Thanks ladies I'm gonna try a fork. Everyone seems to say their kiddos do better with those. Thankyou.

Luna - posted on 05/26/2010

Mine uses his fork as and when he can be bothered, mostly he eats with his hands but always holds the fork and tries to put the food onto the fork with his other hand, as long as he watches us use our forks then I figure he'll work it out eventually, I don't stress about things like that, as long as he's eating then I'm happy lol

Angie - posted on 05/26/2010

BTW.. He still uses his hand to eat too, but he never lets go of his utensil.

Angie - posted on 05/26/2010

try a fork! that helped our little guy. He is starting to use a spoom for thick soup and wet cereal. He is very intersted in a knife, but I think that we are going to try and wait until about 3 to start that.

Jacqueline - posted on 05/25/2010

I gave my daghter a spoon when she was 10 months old. A baby fork at 14. She is 20 and uses a fork better then her spoon however she can use eating utensil very well. Its funny watchin her eat cereal in the morning. Sometimes the milk goes every where and she very dramatic. So she open her mouth, gasp and look at me like why did I do that lol.

Mary - posted on 05/25/2010

Serenity uses her fork and spoon. We have been letting her "use" them since we started her on solids at 9 months. She's really good now. But if she's having a messy day she'll use her fingers. It just depends on your baby.

Shaina - posted on 05/24/2010

My daughter is doing very well with utensils. She's used them for awhile. We always just gave her them to see how she did with them never made her use it. She kind of just watches us and follows. Sometimes she'd rather use her fingers still though =)

Nicole - posted on 05/24/2010

I would say for my son it depends on what it is and what kind of day he is having.
He is far more consistent with his little bunnykin fork then his spoon.
I would say he uses his fork 75% of the time and his spoon (correctly) about 30% of the time.
All we do is offer the spoon back to him when he drops it or tosses it away in frustration. On good days he takes it back and tries again on not so good days he puts it aside and uses his hands.
They won't really be completely proficient in using utensils till after they are two. For now just be glad he attempts using it at all.
With spoon teaching, we stuck with things like yogurt and applesauce at first because even if you just dip the spoon into the bowl/cup something sticks to it and they have something to try to put in their mouth.

Don't stress over it too much and just keep modeling spoon usage, encouraging appropriate use of it and let it go if he goes back to his hands after a few scoops.

Good luck!

Jennifer - posted on 05/24/2010

give it some time. I introduced a spoon once she was from a stage 3 jars (10 m-11m) and just let her play with it. I know she was starting to use it well around 15 months but some time she still struggles. just buy the childrens folk and spoon and let them try it is a huge milestone and coordination for them to get used to. Now I can't feed her at all with out a power struggle over who gets to hold the spoon. like everything it just takes practice.

Janice - posted on 05/24/2010

Just like yours, my son is trying. Sometimes he feeds himself perfectly, other times he'll be lucky if he gets anything in. I just sometimes hold his hands to direct the food into his mouth. I wouldn't say that I taught him per say. He just watches us when we eat and he tries to do the same. But I know in time he will get it, after a while he'll start eating with his hands too, but its funny. I try to not be bothered by it and just let him have his fun. He is doing way better than day 1, i can tell you that.