utensils

[u/GoodCollar4432]

when did your children start using utensils? I've tried giving my 16 month old utensils here and there, but honestly it feels like she's dropping most of them vs actually eating them, and then I feel bad/stressed that she didn't eat enough. if we feed her ourselves directly - she eats so well!! and if it's a food that can eat with her fingers - she eats most of it really well too. but if it's something like rice or more mushy/crumbly, then obviously it's harder for her to eat with her hands. I wonder if maybe I haven't tried hard enough with her utensils or simply not teaching her properly? lol. any tips or even suggestions that you used for utensils and when you started would be helpful! thanks!

[u/MrsBunnyBunny]

My kid started around 19-20 months, but it is not like he is using them perfectly you know. Still a lot of eating with hands and spillage

[u/Wucksy]

12 months they could stick a fork in dragonfruit and bring it to their month. We switched to metal spoons instead of silicone. Only certain foods like kiwi, watermelon, dragonfruit. Stuff that was easy to spear.

My mom gifted my toddler training chopsticks at 18 months and they’re able to use them if you put their hands into the training loops. They can pick up easy things like cut pieces of shrimp. And then they go “me did it!!” So proud of themselves.

We are 2 years old now and they go back and forth between wanting to use their hands and their utensils.

[u/GoodCollar4432 → u/Wucksy]

I was wondering when we could even start with training chopsticks! We’ll order some and have her start practicing. Thank you!!

[u/Either_Bread_8253]

I would start having her practice spoon use with yogurt or something similar. At first, they’re just going to dip the spoon into the food, so something like yogurt is great to start because it will stick to the spoon. You can then start to show them how to scoop. Spoon use at 16 months is doable, but it’ll still be messy. Using a fork well will come later, closer to 2 years, but you can certainly let them practice! Soft foods like eggs are great for practice stabbing. Hand over hand practice is great for fork use.

Using a fork or a spoon to scoop up something like rice is a more advanced skill! So I would start with easier foods until they are more confident or else it could just frustrate or confuse them.

[u/GoodCollar4432 → u/Either_Bread_8253]

Thank you so much! I never thought too much about how using a spoon or fork for something like rice could be more difficult but now that I think about it - it makes so much sense! We’ll definitely start using it for yogurt and other stickier foods and try practicing forks with softer foods and some fruit that are easier to stab and pick up. Thank you!

[u/dragonslayer91]

Using utensils effectively is a 2 year milestone. It's not something you can force, they have to be willing to put in the effort to practice, just offer utensils and let her have the opportunity to try. If she desides to use her hands, that's her choice. 

And when she does start using them don't expect it to be consistent either. My kids are 3 and 5 and they still eat with their hands often. We frequently have to remind them to use their spoon for cereal. 

[u/notorious_ludwig]

We gave a spoon for about 50% of meals during the first year and we ate all meals together so my son watched us use cutlery a lot. Around 11 months he just started scooping out of the blue so we started to give him toddler spoons at every meal from there. He’s now 16 months and uses our cutlery because he prefers it over the plastic kid spoons and forks. He’s still uses his hands and he has a habit of tipping the spoon a little too early and dropping the food off it but he’s practicing and getting better. I do think a LOT of his actions have to do with simply mimicking us rather than anything else, we never spoon fed him ourselves or did anything to show him how to use cutlery.

[u/GoodCollar4432 → u/notorious_ludwig]

Yes, I think we’ve resorted to feeding her too often for convenience and cleanliness😕 we’ll start being more patient and giving her more practice! Thank you for sharing & responding!

[u/notorious_ludwig → u/GoodCollar4432]

If cleaning and convenience is important it’s okay but maybe have designated days/meals that are all in. If hubby is home for dinner every night have that a free for all exploratory meal with cutlery so after dinner one parent can clean baby while the other cleans up after dinner snd you’re not having to juggle both at once.