Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Spoon Fed



McHaney has decided that it is time for her to start feeding herself with a spoon. Isn't it to early for that? It is so messy and although she can go from food to mouth, dipping her spoon into her food is another story. (She self feeds, of course, but only with her hands.)

Does anyone know what the appropriate age to begin feeding yourself with utensils is? I don't want to discourage it if it is time, but I also don't want to continue to clean up her messes if there is no way she's going to get the hang of it anyway!

12 comments:

Courtney said...

Have you seen those "little dippers?" They are little utensils that the baby can dip in their food (things that would stick to it like applesauce, etc). It seems like that would be a little less messy and that way she can still be developing her hand-eye coordination.

Elizabeth S said...

I hate to tell you, but Luke is 2 and he is still quite messy! Come to think of it, so are my 6 and 7 yr olds! HA! I say let her go for it. It will be more work for you, but she will be so proud of herself!

Jennifer said...

mary carter started wanting to use a spoon at about 8 months so i got those little dipper spoons and it works pretty well. she's REALLY messy and the worst part is when she dips it in her food, then feeds it to phoebe!

Rachel said...

Courtney- thanks for the great tip. Do you know where I could find them? Maybe I should check One Step Ahead?

Rachel said...

Jennifer- Mc feeds EVERYTHING to Utah, so that would be nothing new! :)

Jennifer said...

we got out little dippers at target.

Carrie, The Modern Housewife said...

i'll check into those little dippers too! i've never heard of those. ethan doesn't feed himself yet (18 mos.) We had our checkup yesterday, and our dr. says he'll develop more of an interest soon. when i asked at our 15 mo. appt, he said it wasn't necessarily time yet.

i definitely don't think you're doing it too early, if you have the patience!!!

Courtney said...

Target!

caroline G said...

Kent Birdwell just left me a message and said he had been trying to leave you a message on your blog but "for the love of cotton candy" couldn't figure it out. he wanted to say hi!!! I love the Birdwells!!

Rachel said...

Thanks girls!

Carrie, The Modern Housewife said...

why doesn't kent birdwell want to say hi on my blog? i'm offended.

Christine said...

Will did this too but he was about 15-16 months old. He refused to eat unless he was doing it himself and it made meal time very messy. I think he got more on the floor and in his lap than in his mouth, but I let him do it b/c I felt that it was important for him to gain that independence and self confidance in feeding himself. I say, no matter what the age, if they act like they are ready, let them try it. For ex: Will is nowhere near being ready for potty-training. He has shown no interest in the potty so I'm not going to push it, but if he was interested I would definitely go with starting potty training. McHaney seems to be an early developer so I would let her try! She is so cute!