Good spoons for a BLW 6 month old

[Mummagumma]

There are so many types of spoon out there - I am completely stuck about what to buy. Can anyone recommend (or suggest products to avoid) spoons for babies to feed themselves? Easy to hold, comfortable in the mouth and whatever other criteria matter when choosing cutlery...

a teaspoon?

To be honest at six months babies are a lot happier using fingers.

I just used teaspoons for the most part. You don't really need many spoons when doing BLW because early on it's ususally easier for them to pick things up with their hands, so all you need them for is yoghurt really. You just learn to make things chunky and easy to hold.

The little tommee tippee cutlery sets are quite good though, you get a fork, spoon and knife. DS could hold them easily and I used to spear stuff on the fork for him. The knife isn't being used at all yet but I use it to make his sandwiches etc.

Have a look here.

It was things like risotto and yogurt on loaded spoons I was thinking about, and that when he's ignoring the food, he's got a nice comfortable implement to teeth on and bang his head and the table with. I posted this with a bit of an ulterior motive - I hoped people would say the Baby Bjorn spoons were brilliant, so I could justify spending £15 on a dish & two spoons... (they look really nice).

Are there lots of different types of spoons out there?! Spoon is a spoon surely, or am I missing a trick?

DS2 is BLW so most things with his fingers. Those things we do load a spoon for are on some basic plastic spoons we already had for DS1. Didn't occur to me to worry about their design tbh.

You need loads for BLW if you're using them at all as they end up on the floor a lot obviously, so having 3 or 4 ready means you haven't got to keep jumping up and wiping them.

I'd just get a very basic set of 6 or something tbh.

TBH at 6 months you don't need a spoon for BLW. The whole point is that they feed themselves, and they won't be able to co-ordinate using a spoon yet.

cheap

DS2 is BLW as I said, most things he uses his hands, but for yoghurt or porridge or whatever, I load a spoon and hand it to him, which he does well with.

Sainsburys basic range has a pack of 6-7 ish spoons for about £2 that seem to do the job - which means you've got lots spare for banging/throwing/flicking. They're a bit flatter than normal teaspoons, so easier to lick (and plastic so less likely to take your eye out...)

They also currently have some great 'BBQ range' plastic bowls/plates/dishes etc if that's your kind of thing - much nicer than the official 'weaning' bowls, which seem to be designed for purees, and less likely to smash when flung than your normal crockery!

I've always used generic cheap weaning spoons (although BLW, my DS likes to be spoon-fed yoghurt), until I saw a friend using the little ASDA baby plastic fork (comes in a pack with knife and spoon), which DS loves to eat from/spear things with.

Sorry for not recommending the baby bjorn spoons - although if it helps, I think they were in Mother and Baby magazine a few months ago as a way to encourage toddlers to feed themselves.

I gave both DC spoons at about 9 or 10 months. It was a total nightmare waste of time TBH, with DD (pfb) I carried on withe the spoon and moved onto a fork at about 15 months. With DS I gave up offering a spoon after the first few explosions times.

He's just turned one now and has had a fork for a couple of weeks, he actually manages to use it properly sometimes and is very effective at pricking. Still no luck with a spoon though, not even with these fab economic bowls I got for pfb DD.

My (obvious) conclusion is that it's actually much easier to stab with a fork than to scoop with a spoon. Anything that's scoopable will fall off an inexpertly transported spoon so the whole thing takes longer to master.

Don't bother with special baby forks (or knives later), and certainly not with plastic ones. They don't work and just lead to frustration. The dessert cutlery from ikea is ideal.

Note: alays read thread carfully before posting

The baby bjorn spoons and bowls are great, the handles of the spoons are the best teethers I've found, which is a bonus. I love the bowls too and we do use them a lot as they're the only plastic bowls I've got. They do make learning to use a spoon a wee bit easier.

Total waste of money though really. But hey, indulge yourself if you can afford it!

FFS DTD! DC were both BLW.

Well I bought some Annabel Karmel red spoons in the end, as they were under £3 for three, and reviewers on Amazon & Mothercare all liked them. I'll leave the BB dish & spoon set for now, lovely as it is, as it is quite expensive really.

Your responses suggest I may be over-thinking spoons! I must have cutlery issues.

We had a flexible, sillicone spoon for DD2 - designed so that if they ram it too far into their mouth, it just bends instead of going into their throat. I don't recall her using it much at age 6 months but she probably enjoyed chewing on it. 4 years later it is used to spoon cake mixture into muffin cases.

Here it is: www.amazon.co.uk/Gefu-29000-Baby-Spoon-Blue/dp/B000JK7F3G

www.amazon.co.uk/Gefu-29000-Baby-Spoon-Blue/dp/B000JK7F3G