Shes driving me bonkers!!

[ktmum]

Ok DD is being a total pain in the bum when it comes to food and i know ive posted before but i really could do with some more help.
She wont use any sort of cutlery!! :oops: IS IT NORMAL
Shes eating with her fingers and wont let me feed her anything from a spoon. Every mealtime I offer her a spoon and fork which i get flung at me in most cases.
Im really worried shes not getting enough to eat although touch wood up until now her sleeping has been unaffected.
Is it normal for toddlers who were great eaters to suddenly become picky moody monsters!! :x
Im offereing her loads of different things but most end up on the floor :roll:
Im at a loss at what to do to get her to eat better and to top it all off DH just gets annoyed with her ( Its his depression) and it makes the whole situation worse.
PLEASE HELP
Karenxx

[evanskimberley]

Hi Karen, how frusrtating for you.Does she sit with you for meal times to see you eating with cutlery?
How about trying something totally new, like soup or cous cous or something runny that she can't eat with her fingers and introduce the new food with cutlery, take it away if she won't eat it with the spoon and say, we eat this with a spoon, you can only eat it if its with a spoon, look mummy's eating hers with a spoon.

[15milner]

At that age,  Matthew was trying to use cutlery, but using his fingers was much more efficient.  (As my mother said - fingers came before forks and spoons)  he still uses fingers at 2 yrs 1mth at times when its just plain easier than trying to prod at something or scoop.

I can't remember where I read it - on some development milestones charts that using a spoon / fork was a milestone for age 2 (or to be suing it by that age)  I have to think back, but at 17months, Matthew was eating yoghurt pretty well - if you count getting it all around his mouth, sticky cereal like readybrek..

It will come.   With regard to eating - some days they eat, some days they don't.  I don't push it. 

i hear your frustration.

alex

[N Lou]

Its annoying isn't it? :?   But totally normal!

Connor went through it and it frustrated me no end and made mealtimes such a trauma.  At the end of the day i just relaxed about the whole deal, if he wants to eat with his fingers then fine, it won't do any harm.  If kids are hungry, they will eat.
One thing i discovered was cutting out or at least cutting down on snacks before lunch.  As it was, he just wasn't hungry enough to want to eat and ended up just playing with his food.
If you make mealtimes fun, no pressure then it will make it alot easier.  Connor gets a spoon and fork at every meal and he'll use them, sometimes only for 5 minutes and then goes back to using his fingers.
one of his favourites lunches is soup but he loves to dip bread in and eats it that way.
Try not to stress too much and just keep showing her by example.  She'll get it eventually.

[tylersmommy]

It sounds like she just isn't ready for cutlery yet, and that's okay. Like Alex said, I've also read that using utensils comes later, like around 2. Tyler's 2, and we aren't really there yet...oh well. He'll use them sometimes and more food ends up in his lap than in his mouth, so I actually prefer it when he uses his fingers! Come to think of it, Tyler showed zero interest in cutlery until he was around 22 mo or so. And yes, the pickiness is normal too. Your best bet is to give her a choice between 2 things. If she isn't verbal yet, just hold them up and let her point. Try not to let yourself fall into the trap of offering her everything under the sun just so that she'll eat. If she isn't hungry, so be it. Toddlers are notorious for eating everything in sight for a few days, then refusing to eat for a few days. It's normal as long as she isn't losing weight or showing signs of illness. Hang in there!

[ktmum]

Thank you ladies im glad im not the only one