- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- babies today articles
- babies today q&a
- toddlers today articles
- toddlers today q&a
- breastfeed.com articles
- breastfeed.com q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Teach Your Toddler to Feed Himself
Tools That Toddlers Must Tackle
By Shannon McKelden
As stated earlier, learning to use utensils such as spoons and forks is a great fine motor skill builder. But before beginning to successfully use a spoon to feed himself solid food, your child needs to have a certain skill set in place.
"Your toddler needs the manual dexterity to regularly get food from a bowl or tray into his mouth," says Lisa Speigel, co-director of Soho Parenting in New York City and co-author of A Mother's Circle (The Soho Parenting Center, 1996). "He may show an interest by grabbing the spoon and trying to self feed." This usually begins between the ages of 1 and 2. Imitation is the surest way to help them get the hang of it. "Just hand it over," she says. "Show him by encouraging him to imitate you."
Teraisa Rogers, a mother of three from Carson City, Nev., agrees. "We put the spoon (and soon after, the fork) into her hand and let her copy us," she says of her daughter. "It was pretty natural."
LeComer adds that giving your child forks and spoons that are made especially for toddler hands (shorter, thicker and easier to grasp) will help make learning the skill easier. She also suggests that parents positively reinforce their child's efforts to use utensils. "And prepare to use patience when food ends up in places other than your toddler's mouth," she says.
Using a bowl with a suction cup base to anchor it will help minimize messes and make it easier on your child to learn use of the spoon and later the fork.
Around age 2, toddlers may be ready to move on to the fork. This may be a little more difficult to master. Food is harder to keep on the fork, requiring a bit more balance and better aim. To make it even easier, Speigel suggests spearing the food for your child and then letting her put it in her own mouth.