When do babies use cutlery and stop throwing food?

[eddy26]

DD is 11.5 months and loves food :). We did baby led weaning and so she has always fed herself. It's been a joy to watch to be honest.

But recently, now I am 6 months in, I am starting to find the mess a bit wearing. To indicate she has finished DD sweeps her food onto the floor. Plus, because she eats with her hands, she is normally covered in food at the end of every meal. Despite wearing an all in one protective bib. Clean up is a major operation.

The mess was never a problem for me before. I was so pleased she was not choking to death enjoying eating that I wasnt bothered by it. But I now find myself getting a bit impatient. I try not to show it but feel bad that what has started so well might start going a bit pear shaped. Plus, how on earth am I going to take her to my Mum and Dad's for Christmas? Their house is pristine. Cream carpets throughout. Agh!

When and how can move onto the next stage and a) stop throwing everything on the floor/across the room/all over me at the end of every meal time and b) start using cutlery?

Dd4 is 18 months and has just started using cutlery and when she gets bored with just shove it in with her hands, although she still throws the odd bit of food the majority stays on the plate or ends up in her mouth :)

I tried a sleeved bib with my ds (15 months) he justs wants to play with it - its the different texture i think. He's just now starting to get using a fork.

It might sound stupid, but how high up is she in relation to the table/tray? I only recently realised that when ds is at the table (rather than using tray iyswim) the table is level with his armpits - can't imagine that helped

Sorry, bit of a delay Eddy.

I make the porridge really quite stodgy, using less milk/higher heat. Non-stick pot essential. I spread it on a big plate to cool it quickly then by the time it's in his bowl, it's all congealed (mmmm, er, yummy, ahem) and he can just grab lumps of it.

Every last surface here used to be porridgified, too, every day, and it drove me crazy, but now DS barely has an oat out of place. Okay, slight exaggeration. I sometimes find some in my hair when I'm on the bus.

Oh, and I am not a patient person. At least I wasn't until I went through this porridge therapy/endurance thing.

My ds has just turned 2 and we have very little, if any mess.

Mind, I never allowed him to feed himself at all until just a couple of months ago. He obviously ate things like sandwiches, cheese etc (less messy finger foods) by himself but all meals I fed him from a spoon. Once I thought his motor skills may be able to handle a spoon or fork, I tried him (as I said just a couple of months ago) He picked it up straight away and always eats everything given to him (so none available for the floor).

So when should I start to discourage food throwing? DS is 9 months,so too young I think. I'm doing a mixture of spoon feeding and BLW, he is getting better and better with the finger food, but most of it ends up on the floor (including his water cup). At the moment he mostly plays with his food although he takes a lot off a spoon and is a very good eater. Last night he had chicken goujons, the breadcrumbs fell on the tray and he was kicking it like mad to see the breadcrumbs "jump" :o

When will he be old enough to understand that if he throws something on the floor, he won't be able to eat it, so when should I stop putting the food back on his tray? He loves holding a spoon, but it's used as a teether at the moment...

Pootle - I hadn't thought of that. She probably is a bit low. I will have a look tonight.

Marimo - Good tips. Thanks. Thick Porridge it is. Is DD too young for a knife?

Sleepy wombat - It's odd but there are some things like raisins, fruit, yoghurt don't end up on the floor at all I can't think why........

I know I hadn't thought of it untill it was pointed out to me. Try eating with knife & fork with your plate level with chest - not easy!

Hi,

I just wanted to say that DD was a very messy eater and the 2 things we found helped were

1. We bought a booster seat rather than a highchair - the tray was at a much better level for her so she spilled less and once I saw that she was finished (and just before she started sweeping it away) I could whip the tray off, wipe it down and then stick it back on the seat with a bit of fruit to keep her busy while I finished eating.

1. I bought her this bowl and spoon set. I don't know if it's obvious from the pics but the shape of the bowl make it much easier for them to use a spoon - it fits against the edges of the bowl and into the corners so it's easy to scoop up the food without dropping it. It saved DD getting frustrated with her old weaning spoon and she got much better with her spoon really quickly.

She was still messy but it did make a difference. Hope that helps!

I found my DS (15 months) has got a lot better at eating with cutlery since starting at nursery - he copies the other children. He still prefers eating with his hands most of the time as it's more efficient.

He had a long phase of throwing food on the floor but now when he's had enough he puts the bits of food on his plate and hands me the plate or puts it on the side. I'm not totally sure how we managed to achieve this tbh - lots of positive reinforcement and disapproval when he dropped food!