Teaching them to use a spoon - any tips?

[MildredRoper]

DD is 13.5 months and I've always spoon fed her porridge or weetabix in the morning and blw for the rest.

The last couple of weeks she is grabbing the spoon and trying to do it herself. So, I've been giving her the bowl and spoon and letting her get on with it. Yesterday she put the bowl over her head and as I type she's just digging in to the weetabix with her hands.

And now she'd thrown it on to the floor.

Am tempted just to give her toast but she needs to learn to use cutlery at some point.

Does anyone have any advice? Do I just need to bite the bullet, suffer the mess and keep giving her a bowl and spoon?

Try giving her a spoon every meal time, and as you use yours to feed her she can use hers too.
She wiil soon get the hang of it.

She's stll very little and her behaviour is normal. As PurePurple says, give her a spoon at meal times, have a spoon for yourself and she will eventually copy you.

Have loads of wet wipes to hand and I used to put a big apron over DS instead of a bib.

Thanks for replies and reassurance that she will eventually get the hang of it!

She does kind of have the right idea, and sometimes manages to get food on to the spoon but then it falls off between spoon and mouth. Will just keep perservering then.

Just give her a spoon,put a little food on it and say 'you do it!'I bet it goes in her mouth.Meanwhile yo feed as usual and she will copy-ignore the mess.

It took weeks for my DD to learn how to use a spoon. All I did was to give her the spoon and showed her how to use it, ie she held the spoon but I helped her take it to her mouth. And still food falls off it, but she got the hang of it eventually, took at least a couple of months though so persevere and don't worry about food falling on the floor. There are also bowls and cutlery you can buy with suckers on (saw them in John Lewis) which might help.

Use two spoons, one for you and one for her. Let her feed you and vice versa.

Grin and bear the mess, that's how they learn!

Feed her naked except for a nappy. Feed her outside whilst the weather is nice then you don't have to clear up.

get bibs with sleeves

I gave dd all finger food (mini shredded wheat in fingers for breakfast) excpet she got a little greek yoghurt (thick so sticks to spoon) with a bit of stewed fruit in after tea every night

good spooining practice
minimal mess

once she was good enough I broke out the spoons at other meals too