Hi again Suzanne
Ds has just started to get the idea of a fork (usually pinches mine
). He has the idea that you have to 'stab' at the food, but he's not quite there with the execution of it
. He actually prefers it to a spoon, he's pretty much rejected being spoon-fed at all now (spirited
), so I often use it if he hasn't had enough to eat - he'll take it from the fork, or enjoy playing with it.
What I've been doing is let him hold it, and then guiding his hand to pick up the food, I really think he's getting the idea, and that he just needs a bit of practise - you just need to be quick to make sure that it ends up in his mouth rather than in his eye or up his nose
.
It depends on the food whether ds can get the food on the fork/spoon or not - something like yoghurt is easy, he sticks it in, coats the spoon and gets it that way. Something like rice or peas is different - I often have to help (although he did get some peas in his mouth today with a spoon on his own - I was so excited
.
I think the best way to teach them is guiding the hand (but not necessarily doing it for them), and also by eating with them - they're great imitators and if they see you doing it, then they'll want to too.
HTH
