Table Manners

[staylucky]

Afternoon,

Just wanted to ask at what age your DC were using cutlery properly. As in how you as an adult use them, using knife...using fork spoon for pasta etc...

Sorry if this is a bonkers question! {grin}

my 5 year old doesn't use a knife yet, he has very good fork and spoon control though
my 2 yr old can use a fork and a spoon, but also likes to use her hands

DS(6.5) uses knife/fork and fork/spoon as appropriate and has done, at a guess, since about 4.5? DD (2.5) uses a spoon and fork but hands generally get involved at some point.

Now if you are asking when can they do it without getting food all over hands/face/table, I don't know the answer but it is more than 6.5

actually, that is not fair - I remember 3yo DS insisting on ordering soup (against my better judgement) in a restaurant once and proceeding to eat it perfectly with no spillage at all

DD1 4ish - but she is now 7 and still has some problems with "sawing" food when it is something such as roast chicken/lamb. She tends to tear at it unless corrected!

I think there is a general problem with learning to use cutlery due to us all eating more "fork food" as I call it, pasta dishes/stir frys/risottos rather than traditional meat and veg suppers that we grew up with..

Thanks for the replies guys!

My DD is 5 and gets really frustrated with her knife. It winds my DP up no end but as she's my first I don't know how other kids learn.

I'm happy that she's doing ok from what I see here.

Londontipton I'd def agree with that now I think on. I never had to contend with pasta/noodles/rice as a littlie we pretty much ate chips 6 days a week then a roast on a Sunday.

my ds who's 5 is also not a fan of using his knife with his fork! He's getting better at it, but he prefers to just use fork for everything!

my nearly 8 year old DS would still use his fingers for choice! It's an ongoing issue here chez mckenzie. DD however, just 4, usually eats nicely with all the correct cutlery and can also cut properly with a small knife. A gender thing maybe?