How do I get a 22 month old to feed herself

[knat]

My dd is 22 months old and can use a spoon but chooses not to. Even if I leave her she won't use it to feed herself she would rather go hung ry I think. Today when I gave her the spoon with some food she put it back in my hand and would only eat it if I fed her. I feel that at this age she should at least be feeding herself partly with her spoon - any advice or comments?

If she isnt underweight I would leave her alone to eat on her own. If she is hungry she will eat. If not wait until next meal time.

i would give her her food and a spoon and leave her to it

she may go hungry for a few meals, but once she realise shes NOT going to be fed she WILl start doing it herself

when lots of praise is in order!

My dd couldn't use a spoon, and my HV was concerned about it when we went for dd's 21 month check-up as she thought she should be feeding herself by that point. The HV's suggestion was to give dd a fork instead of a spoon, as children can find it easier to keep their food on the fork than they can on a spoon.

I thought it was a load of rubbish, but it worked, and within a couple of weeks of giving dd a fork to eat with, she was using both a fork and a spoon.

It might be worth a try.

my dd (21 months) also likes using a fork and she always wants to 'stab' food with it. I know its not a nice word to teach a child but it helped her to start using it!!

Now we are not allowed to help in any way shape or form with anything that she wants to do - includes eating, getting down the step at the front door, going up stairs, taking her sandals off, etc, etc - little madame!!

thanks for the suggestions. She is capable of using both a fork and a spoon (although with practice I'm sure she would be much better) but it's more a case of doesn't want to - she's not that interested.

My 2.4 yo isn't much interested in feeding himself, and I don't view it as a big deal. I just put breakfast (his favourite meal) in front of him and let him eat at his own pace. I still feed him for most other meals, but am slowly cutting back (without drawing it to his attention).

Have made a big deal of what a big boy he is to feed himself, and got some "special forks" just for him (actually they are cake forks that I got at the local second hand shop). Your dd might like something prettier. If you make it fun/a game, she might be more inclined to do it herself. DS can use both spoon and fork, but fork seems to work much better.

Oh, I also let him choose whether he wants to eat at the table with us, or at his small table. Also have some plastic knives that he likes to practice with (he loves them).

i would take her and let her pick some cutelry maybe like barbie or whoever she likes. then maybe leave her to it for one meal a day