utensils?

Kaitlin'smom wrote: at what age did you baby start trying them for his or her selves? Kaitlin likes to hold the spoon but is cluless yet on what (other than bang it on the tray) to do with it.

maliksmommy replied: I don't give Malik utensils that often because I am afraid he's going to hurt himself the way he likes to bang it around. I've started to a little more lately but I think it will be a while before he really gets the hang of it.

DansMom replied: Daniel likes to take one of his baby spoons and pretend to feed me with it. He can't manage to feed himself with spoon yet; he just feeds himself with his hands, kind of mooshing things into his open mouth His favorite game with the spoon is if I clamp down on it and he lets go. He thinks that's so funny! I love how easy he is to amuse right now!

amynicole21 replied: We usually give Sophia her own spoon (plastic, can't hurt her), but she doesn't quite get the hang of it yet. If I put food on it, it usually gets dumped off before it makes it to her mouth. And she can't pick up food on it yet. I figure it's good to give her practice, though. Sometimes she'll hold onto the spoon with me as I scoop up the food and guide it towards her mouth.

MomToJade&Jordan replied: Jade just started using a fork like this week. She stabs the food and then brings it to her mouth. I only had to show her a couple of times.

ediep replied: I was wondering the same thing.....my friends give their babies spoons and they can manage to use it pretty well. They are a few months older than Jason. I may try it soon

MommyToAshley replied: Well, I had a stubborn munchkin. Ever since her first taste of food at 4 months, she wanted the spoon. The first month I got away with giving her an empty spoon, but that didn't last long. So, then I would let her help me guide the food in, but that only lasted a week or two.

So by about 5-1/2 or 6 months, we had this whole spoon rotation thing going. I had to put the food on the spoon and then hand her the spoon and let her put it in her mouth herself. It made for longer mealtimes, but if I tried to help her guide it in, she would swing the spoon around in protest and food would go everywhere.

By 7/8 months, I was giving her a lot of finger food, and I would slip the spoon fed stuff in between her finger foods.

By 9 months, I gave her the spoon and she was feeding herself, but dropped the food a lot. She had this combination thing going where she would eat with the spoon in one hand and grab food with the other hand, alternating between spoon and hand.

Now, she can eat pretty good with a spoon, but she has gotten lazy lately. I was worried about her not eating well, so I have been trying to give her bites of her food with her spoon. So, sometimes she will hand me the spoon to put food on it for her... LOL

I haven't given her a fork yet.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Zach knows the idea behind utensils... he grabs my wrist and *helps* me guide the food to his mouth. He has his own set of little plastic baby fork and spoon, which he plays with all the time. When I'm making dinner or whatever...it's just easier to gate him in the kitchen with me, and I give him a plastic bowl, a plastic plate, a big plastic spoon, and his plasitc utensils... he sits on the floor and pretends to eat...and pretends to be mixing something in the big bowl... (I bake a lot... lol) it keeps him occupied for at least 45 m,inutes....plenty of time to do whatever I need to do!

But we haven't actually given him utensils to eat with on his own yet... we're waiting until we get our hardwood floos in. We have carpet right now... and it could get very messy very quickly!

coasterqueen replied: I can barely keep Kylie from throwing her food all over the walls and floor let alone to let her loose with a spoon or fork, lol. I've given her both before and she's tried using them. Then she gets bored and just says "here you go" and hands it back to me.

Maybe she'll be more interested in them when there is actually food on her tray/plate instead of all over the walls and floor. Silly little girl.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: That's a very good start. Let her experiment with the spoon and eventually she will start putting it in her mouth!

jcc64 replied: If it's something she's interested in, Corey will manage pretty well with a spoon. If she's not hungry, the dog gets spoon-fed.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
lol