When did your lo start using a bowl and spoon?

[vadensmommy]

I recently bought three bowls that will suction to the table, but I've been too chicken to let dd use them!  She'll be 10mo next week.  I guess I just don't relish the thought of having to clean up the mess.   

[First Time Mom]

We started solids at 6 months and went slow (didn't want to impact bfing). Just before 9 months dd wanted her own spoon and bowl so I let her feed herself with cereal (didn't actually get much in her mouth). By 12 months she was so good at feeding herself with a spoon and fork she was "feeding" her dolls pretend cereal. I have a friend with a 22 month old who still only gets 1/2 her cereal into her mouth using a spoon, has never tried a fork. Just goes to show you how different all los are! I say let her "play" with her food, it's the best way for them to learn.

[* Paula *]

We started to give DS his own small bowl and spoon at around 11 months.  We would have his main bowl, and would just put a small amount in the small bowl for him to play with.  He would practice and try and get food in his mouth, and while doing that we would get the majority of the food in.  This way he was learning, but still getting a good meal at the same time. 

HTH's

[Freya'sMum]

Dunno exactly, but it was early on because we did BLW, and was no more messy than just putting it on her tray!

Ax

[aisling]

Pretty much straight away.  He could use a fork and spoon on his own at 1yr.  Mess comes with babies and toddlers, so never noticed any more than usual.

A x

[Ennypen]

I gave William lot of opportunity to eat with a bowl and a spoon and a fork right from about 10-12months... but I can honestly say he still prefers to eat with his fingers.. and absolutely flatly refuses to eat anything but cereals in the morning from a bowl with a spoon to this day!!!

All of our LOs have their preferences and learn at different rates.. so if I were you I'd give your LO the opportunity to experience it.. and let her learn at her own pace.. and if that involves mess.. which it undoubtedly will (and should really so your LO gets a great sensory experience too).. just think you are providing a valuable learning experience and the mess will soon disappear and you will have a wonderfully confident eater on your hands (at least thats what I hoped I would have lol...)

Lots of mommies put a waterproof mat under the high chair or a cheap shower curtain.. to stop mess getting all on the flooring.. and also dress their LOs just in their vests or even just a nappy.. if its warm enough, so it cuts down on the stained clothes and you can just pop them in the bath after their meal if they are particularly messy and baby wipes or a flannel jsut dont do the trick!

Ive heard lots of moms also say that a baby fork is easier for a LO to master than a spoon too.. as they can stab at chunks of food to eat rather than have to angle the spoon correctly and have all the food fall off on the way to the mouth..

H xxx

[tylersmommy]

I gave up early on and started letting Mackenzie eat wearing nothing but a diaper. I'd just give her a quick rinse in the sink after her meal and get her dressed again. Honestly, the first couple of times, I thought it was a pain but I got used to it. She's had her own suction bowl for awhile and has always eaten with her own spoon. Now, at 13 mo, I can put a regular bowl on her tray and she happily eats out of it and leaves it there. She's great with a spoon but still needs help with the scooping.

I was also a big chicken about letting her try to do it herself. I'm a total neat freak. But it was soooo worth it! She hardly ever needs a bib now and rarely makes a mess.

[vadensmommy]

Ooh I am just tickled with all the responses
I didn't know about blw till more recently, so dd is just no really starting to get the hang of different fingerfoods.  I may start out with the fork and some of her solids in the bowl - we'll have to see.  I think eating in just the diaper is a great idea, we just may have to turn the heat in the house up a bit since it is starting to get cold.  When dd was born somebody had given us a plastic mat that you put on the floor specifically to catch food that falls.  Silly me, I returned it.  I may just use towels or something for a while   Thanks ladies!

[Ennypen]

 

[vadensmommy]

HAHA
I put the smallest suction bowl on her tray this afternoon for lunch with some turkey, pasta, broccoli, cheese sauce and a few other odds and ends all mixed together.  She started dropping everything on the floor (see my other post lol!)  Broccoli sure did make a fun splat sound though hehe.  So I took everything out of the bowl (because she was having too much fun emptying the bowl piece by piece of food onto the floor) and put it on the tray instead, and she did better eating it.  So every now and then whenever I actually feel like cleaning the floors I'll probably give her the bowl.  I did give her a fork as well, but that is completely new and so of course it ended up on the floor too.  What a mess!  We shall carry on. 

[* Paula *]

Sounds like fun 

She will soon get the hang of it.