17 month old throws and plays with food

[Mummydee9263]

My 17 month old boy always throws and plays with his food. I am trying to get him to use a spoon. Can anyone help me with some tips? I feel like he should be eating independently by now?
He will hold the spoon but I have to scoop the food my self and feed him, meanwhile he is throwing the food everywhere with the other hand. Any tips much appreciated xxx

Omg you have literally described me and Dc same age. I pile the food on the spoon as he holds it and probably 3/10 time's, he will manage to aim it right in his mouth and the remaining failed 7 attempts will be everywhere. I let him use a fork as well where he has recently learnt how to stab the food and it will stick on at the end of the fork and he will put it in his mouth. Once he is full, he will start playing with the food and throw it everywhere. He aimed the broccoli on the wall where it got stuck. I have to clear his high chair table when he starts messing around really quickly to avoid further mess. I really hate this phase. Good luck

Thanks for the reply glad to hear I’m not the only one! Sounds exactly the same problem , my son also throws food at the walls I had to wash tomatoe stains of the wall yesterday. I wish I had started teaching him to use the spoon earlier on, maybe it would be easier to teach when they are younger. Sounds like yours is getting there with using the spoon well. Good luck

To be honest my 17 month little girl has completely mastered the spoon and still absolutely delights in throwing food around. Spoon mastery isn't the answer - they still have a free hand....

That’s interesting I guess it’s just something they have to grow out of, I’ll just have to start enjoying the lovely food wall art

Mine could feed herself with spoon and fork at 12MO. Now at age 2 she's less neat than she was then and prefers to be as gross as she can She will scoop food up with a spoon and poor it onto her hand or she'll spoon her drink into her mouth. We're not doing any more than reminding her how to eat like a grown up. The bigger deal you make of it the more they'll probably do it. It can be a right mess sometimes but I think that's all you can do really. They're still at the age where they're into sensory exploration so just let them crack on. A dish cloth and soap is cheaper than £5 a week for messy play sessions x