Almost 2 year old won't use cutlery

[MumLife90]

So I know I'm probably overthinking this, but my DS who is 23 months hardly uses cutlery. He went through a phase where he was great with a spoon and since introducing a fork it's like he's regressed and solely prefers to use his hands. He will hold the spoon or the fork in one hand and then eat with his free one. Or he'll start using the spoon or fork then use his free hand to take the food off it and then put it in his house. Is anyone else experiencing this? And does anyone have any tips to encourage him to use the spoon and fork? We tend to have mealtimes together as a family or if not, I'll always sit with him. Sometimes we just talk and sing, other times we have a screen on. We are using toddler proof metal forks and spoons as we initial thought he wanted to be the same as mummy and daddy (he used to ask for ours when he had plastic ones) but he's soon lost interest. Any tips would be fab.

I care for my just turned 2 grandson and he's the same.. worse as he sits like a baby bird waiting to be fed!!
But.. as the parent of 4, I can say, don't sweat it... he will get there in time, he's still basically a baby and cutlery is awkward to use, hand feeding is easier for him!
We still feed GS most of his dinner then leave him to it to finish. I load the fork and he gets on with it..sometimes he stabs the food himself , sometimes he doesn't but with us loading the fork he gets the message that it's fork not hands... he finds a fork easier than a spoon as food just falls off the spoon! We also use adult cutlery as plastic stuff is rubbish!

He's unlikely to be using his hands when he's 10.. relax

Thank you so much! I think I just got myself in a tizzy the other day!

Seriously totally normal, he will get there. Take the pressure off and don't make it a battle, in my experience cutlery takes years - so much longer than you expect.

I don’t have any tips but my two year old just uses a spoon and I pre load it and either hand it to her or put it down in front of her in a good position for her to pick up. I have been quite pleased with this development! Until recently we were still spoonfeeding her totally. I guess at some future point I will try and get her to load the spoon herself. So, yeah, I may be very behind but it sounds to me like you’re doing well!