When and how to teach toddler to self-feed?

[cmeilim]

My baby has just crossed the one-year-old mark and became a toddler. Recently, he wants to snatch the spoon in my hand every time I feed him. I think he wants to try to feed himself. Whenever I hand him his spoon and bowl to play with after feeding him and cleaning the cutlery, his face will just light up in happiness.

I'd like to know when do mummies here start training their tods to self-feed and how do you go about doing it that will cause minimal frustration to tod and parents. When did your toddlers start to self-feed and how long did they take before they can do so relatively mess-free? Any special type of cutlery u used?

TIA!

 

[annie]

i let my girl self feed around 10mths old iirc. at first she is just poking the food as she dosent know how to scoop up the rice. so i got to help her scoop and move her hands near to her mouth so that she can put the food into her mouth by herself and she seems very happy to be able to do tat. i didnt especially teach her how to self feed. it all comes naturally through trial n error and looking at other people doing that. kids learn through all these. at about 1yr 3mths she can eat perfectly well all by herself without needing me to help her scoop up her food iirc. at first i let her use a normal toddler's spoon but eventually i bought her those types that are bend at the handle so that she can deliver the food successfully to her mouth easier. now she can use simply normal toddler's spoon/ fork for all her self feeding sessions. finally we can enjoy meals together (she eats hers n i eat mine) at the same time.

BTW, its still messy now as the food will still drop onto the floor, onto her clothes etc etc. so i bought those bib that has a compartment at the bottom to 'catch' the food that drops. this minimise the mess. good luck!:001_302:

 

[rjj]

hold bottle in baby mouth n let go

 

[cmeilim]

i let my girl self feed around 10mths old iirc. at first she is just poking the food as she dosent know how to scoop up the rice. so i got to help her scoop and move her hands near to her mouth so that she can put the food into her mouth by herself and she seems very happy to be able to do that. i didnt especially teach her how to self feed. it all comes naturally through trial n error and looking at other people doing that. kids learn through all these. at about 1yr 3mths she can eat perfectly well all by herself without needing me to help her scoop up her food iirc. at first i let her use a normal toddler's spoon but eventually i bought her those types that are bend at the handle so that she can deliver the food successfully to her mouth easier. now she can use simply normal toddler's spoon/ fork for all her self feeding sessions. finally we can enjoy meals together (she eats hers n i eat mine) at the same time.

BTW, its still messy now as the food will still drop onto the floor, onto her clothes etc etc. so i bought those bib that has a compartment at the bottom to 'catch' the food that drops. this minimise the mess. good luck!:001_302:

any particular brand for those spoon which are bent at the handle?

 

[annie]

i just buy from toy r us. any brand ok. they usually comes with thicker handles too so they can grip it better.

 

[camom]

I started pretty early. I bought munchkin spoons cos they are very brightly coloured. By the age of 1.5yo, he can self-feed to an extent. Right now, he can wield the spoon pretty confidently.

 

[candy_ian]

I bought spoon n fork which is the kids tool brands look slightly curved n it's good for self feeding n my son is using it now. Bought it at 20% off usual price is $4.90 I think

 

[TANZHENZHI]

I also just started to let Lebon self-feed. His mouth always full of foods after eating haha. Now still learning how to grab the fork/spoon. He dun like whenever we put on the bib for him so after eating, his clothes and floor always dirty.

 

[littlehelper]

you can make it easier to clean up by placing baby chair ontop of newspaper after meal time just wrap up and throw.

You can minimise frustration by being relax and just let your kid mess himself up when eating its all part of starting of self feeding.At the end just change him.

 

[cmeilim]

I bought spoon n fork which is the kids tool brands look slightly curved n it's good for self feeding n my son is using it now. Bought it at 20% off usual price is $4.90 I think

hi candy_ian,

where did u buy this brand from? i dun recall having seen it at the usual shops....

 

[autumn82]

I bought the Combi fork and spoon set which was curved so that it's easy for them to hold and feed themselves.

 

[jojoki]

hi cmeilim,

i got mine from daiso. $2. its bent inwards but she is now using our regular dessert spoon n fork. she is good with fork but not spoon. now learning. i usually let her practise only once a day. during her breakfast only, in the nude. so right after that can bathe!

i also do this in the afternoons -give her two plastic bowls some rice grains or black beans to practice scooping.

 

[cmeilim]

hi cmeilim,

i got mine from daiso. $2. its bent inwards but she is now using our regular dessert spoon n fork. she is good with fork but not spoon. now learning. i usually let her practise only once a day. during her breakfast only, in the nude. so right after that can bathe!

i also do this in the afternoons -give her two plastic bowls some rice grains or black beans to practice scooping.

Tks for the tip! Will check out diaso! Couldn't find bent spoons from munchkin n pigeon when I was at isetan just now.

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

My boy wanted to finger-feed himself at about 12 months old. I let him practise picking pieces of food up from his eating tray and I had to finger-feed him too, including porridge! Thankfully, it was only for a week. After that, he ate from spoon again.

Now at 16 months, he is very good at finger-feeding himself.

For spoon-feeding, I still need to hold his hand and help him. We practise at about the last 1/3 of every meal and he enjoys it.

Large bib with catch at the bottom is very useful indeed. I have always expected some mess during meal times, it's part of the learning process.

Placing a big plastic mat below the highchair could enable easier cleaning of the mess.

 

[candy_ian]

I bough them at Cheri kids in west coast plaza.

 

[cmeilim]

I also just started to let Lebon self-feed. His mouth always full of foods after eating haha. Now still learning how to grab the fork/spoon. He dont like whenever we put on the bib for him so after eating, his clothes and floor always dirty.

my boy didnt like to use the big bib with pocket when i tried it on him some time back. he kept trying to yank it off and ended up crying. i shall have to try again soon and hope it will take better to it this time.

 

[cmeilim]

My boy wanted to finger-feed himself at about 12 months old. I let him practise picking pieces of food up from his eating tray and I had to finger-feed him too, including porridge! Thankfully, it was only for a week. After that, he ate from spoon again.

Now at 16 months, he is very good at finger-feeding himself.

For spoon-feeding, I still need to hold his hand and help him. We practise at about the last 1/3 of every meal and he enjoys it.

Large bib with catch at the bottom is very useful indeed. I have always expected some mess during meal times, it's part of the learning process.

Placing a big plastic mat below the highchair could enable easier cleaning of the mess.

ian is good at finger-feeding, although after a while he tends to play with his food with his finger. good idea to practise spoon-feeding towards the end of the meal so that he still gets most of his food in first.

 

[cmeilim]

I bough them at Cheri kids in west coast plaza.

thanks! there is a cherie kids at heartland mall not too far from my place. willl check that out over the weekend!

 

[annie]

my girl started finger feeding around 8-9mths iirc.. she is very good with her fingers.. letting them self feed at the end of the meal is a god idea BUT sometimes they might not be interested to self feed anymore cos they are full... i realised even now my girl is more enthusiastic to self feed when she is hungry (at the beginning of the meal) and she will stop once she is not tat hungry.. so the rest of the feeding (usually 1/4 left) i got to feed her. when she was younger, i just put some of her food into a seperate bowl and let her self feed while i feed her with the main bowl. so somehow she is occupied with trying to scoop up the food inside her bowl while still getting enough food from my side. n she always need some distraction to eat. so 1 stone kill 2 birds hee

 

[Ting]

there is no specific time frame since all kids r different.
well, u face your kid everyday, so u would be the best to gauge when he is ready.
if u want it to be relatively mess free, u probably hv to wait for a few more yrs. pin is 3, n she can self feed v well since 1.5 yo but she still makes a mini mess though she is able to clean up after herself.