When will DD start using a spoon?

[Animom]

Hi, my DD just turned 1 year...when we started solids she was a good eater but last few months have been a struggle with solids as she has become a more picky eater and just refuses to eat with a spoon, all she wants is carbs and that too finger foods!!

i'v had some luck with veggy finger foods (sply prepared for her) but that way she cant eat what we have for lunch and dinner so i have to cook sply for her (which i dnt mind if she wld just finish her food)..so it wld be much easier if she can just eat with a spoon...

my question is how can i encourage her to eat with a spoon? is she too small to handle a spoon? by what age do toddlers become proficient or atleast eat someting with a spoon

Any ideas greatly appreciated..thanks in advance

[anna*]

Audrey is a wee bit younger - she can't load a spoon for herself yet but if I hand her a spoon with something 'sticky' on it (thick soup, yoghurt, porridge - not something that will fall right off like peas) she can get it into her mouth and eat off it. It's messy, but she'll only learn through practice!

[EllenS]

According to Dr. Harvey Karp (Happiest Baby on the Block), forks are actually easier than spoons at that age, because of the mobility of the wrist.  Toddlers develop the ability to pivot the wrist somewhere around 15-18 months. (same age they start turning doorknobs and bathtub faucets) - it's not a skill thing, it's to do with the way the bones grow.  Babies can usually grab a pre-loaded spoon almost as soon as they start solids, because they use an overhand grip - but the scooping action and keeping the spoon flat have to wait till that wrist can turn.
Try her with those fat toddler forks that are not too sharp, she may be able to stab things and get used to the idea of utensils while her wrists are growing.

[Lemonthyme]

The previous comment is really interesting.  My son started using a spoon around 15 months and got really adept with it at 18 months or so.  I wish I'd known that!!!

[Animom]

thanks for the great inputs... may be I'll try some soft fruit she can eat with a fork till the time she's ready for a spoon..thanks 

[creations]

she cant eat what we have for lunch and dinner so i have to cook sply for her

Have you considered just giving her what you have for your meal and letting her eat it with her fingers?  LOs can pick up most things with their hands and most are wiling to.  Some of course don't like their hands getting messy but you don't mention this as a problem.

I introduced a fork at 6 months.  So much easier than a spoon.  Stuff has a tendency to fall off spoons when LOs try to use them.  My own experience with forks is that most of the regular kids forks are too rounded and wide for real eating, you'd need to have huge chunks of food and even then the prongs aren't sharp enough.  There are some more adult looking cutlery sets out there, just like adult ones but smaller and a little less sharp but still stab all foods really well.  At 1yr I wouldn't expect her to load her own fork though.  Even though he started using a fork at 6 months my DS still eats with his fingers a lot at 20 months.  He can stab and feed himself but chooses not to always do it depending on the food and his mood.

[*Becky*]

DS started with a spoon about 12 months and DD around 14 months...she now literally screams if I try to feed her! There is tons of mess but she is getting much better and some now even gets in her mouth