Crying using a spoon

[murphy36]

I've started encouraging my 10m old to use the spoon during meals, so he can feed himself.

He's fine with finger foods, loves them.

He likes playing with the spoon after meals, but whenever I try and give him a spoon with food on to eat or a bowl/spoon he just cries until I feed him.

Any ideas?

I just wouldn't bother with the spoon tbh

So he does eat from the spoon if you feed him?

Get more spoons, so you and he can have the same spoon. He can then hold one or two and you can still use one to feed him.

Let him play with the spoon in food, encourage mixing.

MsBug - not sure I can handle a baby eating porridge without a spoon.

He eats from the spoon fine if I use it.

Sometimes he has a spoon and puts it in his mouth. But if I have one with food or I put a bowl of food for him he cries

If he is hungry, he will just want that food in his tummy as quickly as possible, and he has worked out that that means you feeding him!

Let him have a spoon, but you feed him. Or, if you want him to have a go at feeding himself with a spoon, do it when he's not all that hungry - maybe for a pudding, after he has already had a main course.

He's very young op

Way too early to worry about it. My ds is 2 and only just getting the hang of cutlery. I always give it to him and if he uses it great if he doesn't it's fine.

I'd just spoon feed him yourself if he wants you to and let him use his hands and clean up after. Feeling messy stuff - even porridge - is all part of learning. Get a bin bag under the high chair and let the little one go for it.

It would have been way too young for mine to use a spoon. At that age we mostly finger fed, and gave them a spoon to play with while shovelling food in with the other hand Have you googled porridge fingers? They are amazing and much easier than spooning in porridge for a reluctant feeder! Alternatively I would feed with a spoon and give them one to play with themselves - sometimes towards the end of the meal, once he is less hungry, he might play with it a bit more.

Don't rush with the spoon. We did literally nothing to encouraging cutlery use and do just started to want to use the spoon himself spontaneously. But only towards the latter part of the feed, so once he's no longer hungry.

Ds started that at about 13 months and he is a champion cutlery user now (nursery remarked how skilled he was for his age).

He is still small. I'm sure soon enough he'll start copying you. I would just feed him now, and wait until he is interested in taking spoon himself. I'm sure soon enough he will want everyone's spoons! Have meals together, so he can see you using cutlery, and at some point he will want to copy. Really nothing to worry about at 10 months!