Spoon feeding

[velvet]

I was wondering at about what age did your babies start to eat by themselves with a spoon?

My 10 month old used to always grab the spoon but we taught him not to.  Now he eats wonderfully when we feed him but I am worried that he'll take longer to eat on his own.

[tylersmommy]

I think the "average" is 18 mo-2 yrs, but it can take much longer for them to really become proficient at it. We also taught Tyler to stop grabbing at the spoon when he was younger, or we'd give him one of his own to play with while we were feeding him. At 22 mo, he's just now figuring out how to use the spoon by himself, but he's not consistent at all yet. I'm not too worried that it's taken him a bit longer to learn to feed himself. I just provide him with plenty of opportunities to practice now that he has the dexterity, and I know that he'll figure it out by the time he goes to college!

[cwolff]

I am just starting solids with dd, and the only way I can get her to "get it" and open her mouth is to let her grab the spoon.  Otherwise she doesn't understand that she needs to open her mouth.  So should I not allow her to grab the spoon?  And then how do I get her to open her mouth?

[tylersmommy]

I think it's okay if you're letting her grab the spoon when you're first starting out. We did, but once Tyler got older (like around 9 mo, maybe?)and started to intentionally use the spoon as a food catapult, we had to put a stop to it. He just didn't have the coordination to get it anywhere near his mouth, and he really took great delight in flinging food.