Plates and cutlery

[Piazzapiola]

When did your DC start using both? DS2 is almost 11 mo and eats with his hands off his tray and sometimes a loaded spoon which I hand him.

I can't remember what happened with DS1, but I know there's a photo of him feeding himself porridge from a plate with a spoon at 16mo. Can't remember when this started though.

About a year for DS - nursery did it first and I thought they were mad but he loved it so I switched! But he's just turned 2 and still eats with his hands sometimes. I wouldn't worry - keep providing a spoon/fork and encouraging him but I think he'll just get the knack some time in the next 6 months without you having to worry!

I remember starting with loaded spoons which I kept going in a production line (like 3 spoons on the go to keep up with demand) with food that would stick, such as mashed potato and veggies. Then moved to loaded forks as well. When DS was able to navigate the spoon into his mouth with minimal spillage we switched to attemp the self-loading method. Always food that would stay put as it was frustrating if it just kept falling off.