BLW - when to introduce cutlery and crockery

[HolidaysQueen]

My 9mo is BLW and currently eats off his high chair tray or from the table.

The only other thing we've tried - tommee tippee magic mat with plate - is an intermittent success. If it's a meal he loves then he is fine, but if he's a bit disinterested in the food then he can pull the plate straight off the mat despite it supposedly being designed to stop that and throws food and plate everywhere.

When should we introduce a spoon/fork? As with all things BLW, I guess it's for fun at first and then he'll gradually get used to it. When can I expect him to start using a spoon/fork himself?

DS used a spoon with his first meal at 6 months. Why not just give it to him and see what happens! He'll prob copy you if you all eat around the table together. RE. the plate - can he just eat straight off his high chair tray - save him throwing the plate across the room!

dd was really good with a fork by 14-16 months, we'd left them lying around long before then, i used to give them to her to play wiht. i never bothered much with plates until around then either as like you say it depended on her mood...

oh, go for metal forks or the plastic ikea ones.

I think I started putting a spoon on his tray/the table at 6 months, and just kept trying the plate until he stopped chucking it. I think the fork appeared at about 10 months.

DS was def eating with a fork by a year, but can't remember when he started using it

okay, i'll just start giving him a spoon and fork and see what happens. he eats with us breakfast, lunch and weekend dinners and always watches carefully so does know how we eat. i doubt that will make a difference mind you - he is perfectly aware that we don't chuck food or plates but that doesn't stop him doing that i'm guessing that it doesn't have to be some child friendly cutlery and that just a normal plastic picnic spoon and fork (which i happen to already have) would be fine?

My DD is 2.4 now and has been eating sensibly with fork and spoon (and a v blunt knife which is mainly so she can feel grown up) for about 8 months. She was hopeless at it at first but I just gave them to her and let her get on with it and she's now great and can even eat soup with a spoon. The food-throwing stopped around 19 or 20 months, I think. I found small metal cutlery with plastic handles MUCH easier for her to manage than plastic ones. You can get cheapish ones in Sainsburys. Also, the Baby Bjorn spoons are really easy to manage.

A good first thing to eat with a fork is soft fruit like melon, mango or strawberries - it's really easy to stab.