Steps To Make Toddler Eat With Spoon

You might think why your toddler makes such a mess while eating with a spoon. Your child seems to be perfectly happy eating with his or her fingers. Then why is it so difficult to make your toddler hold a spoon? The trick is to know how to make your toddler eat on their own. Most toddlers are more comfortable eating with their fingers at first because that comes naturally to them.

You might be conscious that your child's table manners are not proper. However, the situation is not as simple as that. Your toddler will eat with a spoon only when he or she is ready. Here are some simple steps that will help you understand how to teach your toddler to eat properly with a spoon.

IS YOUR TODDLER READY FOR DAY SCHOOL?

Firstly, you need to be mentally prepared for the fact that your toddler will eat with a spoon only after he or she is at least 18 months of age.

Before this age, the child does not have sufficiently developed motor skills to put the food in his or her mouth. Some toddlers take up to 2 years to eat with a spoon.

However, toddlers can eat with their fingers after they are about a year old. Stop spoon feeding your toddler and encourage him or her to eat with their fingers. Even this helps them to learn to grip food.

Give certain kinds of foods to your kids that helps improve their grip for example banana, carrot and peeled cucumber. This will be the starting lesson in making your toddler hold a spoon.

Toddlers play with food and there is nothing wrong with it. If you want to make your toddler eat with a spoon, you have to allow him/her to interact with the food and spoon on their own. This would be a messy but rewarding experience.

When you are feeding the toddler with a spoon, try alternating the spoon with him or her. In the beginning, your kid may make a mess but eventually he or she will learn to copy your action of eating with a spoon.

You can also give your toddler a spoon to play with when he or she is not eating. Holding the spoon and playing with it helps to improve the child's motor skills.

Be patient with the child; you toddler won't eat with a spoon overnight. It is a learning process that needs lots of interaction and practice.