Your little angel is doing amazing eating those food with their tiny hands and you are feeling so proud for being so patient with them as they learn to eat all by themselves, but then you start asking yourself questions like when should you give your baby a spoon, fork or knife?
In this post I will give a comprehensive guide of when and how to introduce cutlery to your little one. If you still don´t know what is baby led weaning, click on this link to view my previous post where I explained what it is and it´s benefits.
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When to introduce Baby Cutlery
Cutlery can be introduced to your little one as early as 6 months old when you introduce solid food. Whether you are doing baby led weaning, or giving Purèe, or combo feeding (that is giving your little one both purèe and finger food), there is a point in time when you will want your little to be able to self-feed independently.
I gave my little one her first spoon when she was just 6 months old and I introduced folk when she was 10 months old.
What are the Best Types of Cutlery & Utensils For Babies & Toddlers?
For a successful transition from finger food to using baby cutlery, having the right utensils is an absolute most have.
These are my recommendations, they are what I used for my first daughter and I am currently using for my second daughter. I highly recommend for their stability, safety and durability:
Plates: I love these non-slip suction baby plates because since babies love to throw food on the floor and make a big mess, these suction plates helped me to avoid several incidents. It's not a 100% mess free, but most times when securely suctioned onto the baby high chair, they find it out to pull out, or you could catch them in the act before they successfully throw the food away.
Cutlery: Who doesn´t love those tiny spoons of different shapes and characters, but although they are cute, I don´t recommend them because food can get stock between those tiny handles which are hard to wash making it a conducive enviornment for bacteria. Also, there is no law that states babies can´t use silverware, and if you most start with plastic spoons choose the ones with no separate handles for easy and thorough washing.
Cups: I know it may sound crazy, but teaching your little one to drink from any open cup is part of baby led weaning, and it´s a good practice for baby hand-eye coordination. So if you have those little glass cups for drinking alcohol (please use new ones), they are good because they are tiny and suitable for their little hands. But if you aren´t up for that challenge, these tiny silicone cups will do just fine.
Tips for feeding babies with cutlery
Just when you thought the mess is almost over, now you have to introduce cutlery. I can already feel your heart beating. Relax and take a deep breath. It´s going to be messy (sorry there is no alternative route). No matter what age you introduce cutlery to your little one, it´s going to be messy, so starting early means you can enjoy a hot meal with your little one soon instead of always feeding them first before you can eat.
In other to manage the mess, these are my best tips, some I wish I knew earlier with my first daughter.
Get a good baby food catcher or/ and a Sleeve baby bib. Once your baby is done, you can eat from the bib (if you hate waste like me :D).
For real messy food like spaghetti, leaving the baby only on nappies will save you laundry time.
Clean up immediately your little one is done. you wouldn´t want any one stepping on the food making it harder to clean (except you have a dog, they make cleanup easy).
Don´t expect that your little one can take the food from the plate by just giving them the spoon, for the first few days, you can pre-load the spoon and offer them, so they can find their little mouth and put the spoon inside.
Start off with food that are little bit thick which can stay onto the spoon without falling out.
Lastly, give your little one time to practice every day, In no time, you will be surprise to see them eating all by themselves.
Note
Practice make perfect. Don´t be frustrated when your little one find it hard at first, with a little more practice they will get it right. Remember, the beginning is always the hardest. My daughter is 2 years old now, and she still make a mess, but she eats at least 90% of whatever I put in her plate. So don´t give up just because your little one ate only 2% of the food and the rest are allover the place, It takes patience and practice.
You are doing great and I am proud of you!
Feel free to follow us on tiktok to watch the progress of my daughters self feeding process.
Go to my storefront to see all the recommendations for a successful baby led weaning.