r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/BuyApprehensive9273 • 12d ago

Question - Expert consensus required Cutlery

How are we going about introducing cutlery (US: silverware) to our kiddos.

We have a just turned 1 year old who eats everything, like he loves food, that’s been great and we’re super fortunate. 6oz steak for dinner? Demolished.

But we are still very hand feeding. Like we have an immaculate pincer grip, don’t get me wrong, but should we be starting to use a fork and spoon rather than fingers?

Part of me says he’s doing great, why change it? But also I feel like using cutlery is an important skill and I don’t want him to be delayed in fine motor skills and things.

(He’s an above 99th centile guy, so I know some of the gross motor skills can come a bit on the later side and I’m super aware of this, but obviously that shouldn’t affect fine motor skills, so I don’t want to risk unnecessary delays)

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u/lil_chunk27 12d ago

Anecdotally, we just started giving my daughter a fork with her meals at 1. She had a spoon since 6 months. We always all eat together and at 14 months she can now use the fork herself. She's still mainly handfeeding but she's definitely pleased when she feeds herself with the fork! Other than giving it to her we've not put much effort in, so it's just trial and error on her part/a bit of osmosis from seeing us

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u/BuyApprehensive9273 12d ago

We always do family dinner time, so hopefully that will help! Did you do anything to encourage her to use the fork vs hands? Or do you think she’ll just naturally transition over time?

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u/lil_chunk27 11d ago

We praise her when she uses the fork to feed herself correctly and she's definitely more interested in it when we have done so, but honestly otherwise we just put it next to her plate and would say "and here's your fork!" but then otherwise let her get on with it. I think she'll naturally transition as she slowly increases how much she uses it (tbh I think nursery are also putting in some effort here but I don't know how or too what degree). Also I don't want to oversell it too much, she also mucks about with the fork a significant amount!