My 17 1/2 Month Old Son Doesn't like to Eat with Fork or Spoon

One of my 3 1/2 year olds uses the utensils like a champ, the other refuses to use them on a regular basis. We have to encourage her and remind her to use them. It's okay. They learn on their own time. If you are frustrated by it, then maybe help him get the food on his spoon/fork then allow him to finish the motion to his mouth. I do this sometime and I think once my daughter is less frustrated with getting the food on the utensil she does better.

Autumn darling-

You should cherish every drop of food that enters your child's mouth at this age, no matter it be by fork, or finger. My son (27yrs. old) at 14 months to 22 months ate litterally nothing. The only time he would put food down without gagging was when we went to McDonald's. I would order him a happy meal, cheeseburger. He would scrape the cheese off of the hamburger, and eat it. Then he would take the fries, dip them in the ketchup, and lick the ketchup off of the fries. He never took a bite of the fry, but would replace the soggy fry with a fresh one every now and then. Thank God I had a great Doctor for him that told me not to worry about his eating habits. Children will go through the stages of eating with their hands, not eating at all, and then all of a sudden, they will pick up that fork and eat like a total pro. By the time your child begins preschool, he will see other children eat like you wish him to now, and would be embarrassed by eating any other way than civilized. Children always conform to normal on their own.

P.S. My daughter who is 25 years old, was the sloppiest, no fork, no spoon eater ever. She was always starving, and did'nt care how her food got to her mouth. (She is still the same eater!!!)

I say don't worry too much about it. My son, who will be 2 in a couple months, still doesn't do that well with it. He can do the fork if it is something easy to poke and it will stay on the fork, but the spoon is still an adventure. Also, it is a lot easier to eat with their hands and if they are hungry, they don't want to bother with something new, they want the food. Give it time. He will get more interested in it the more he sees you eat. Good luck

I would say just give it time. My daughter was two before she consistantly tried using a spoon or a fork to eat.

Hi Autumn,
The fact that your son can even grasp the concept of using utensils at his age I think is pretty impressive. I would just put the utensils out for every meal and let him take the initiative to use them. And he will. Good luck.

I would say that he just might not be ready yet. Both of my children used to hold a spoon with one hand and shove their food in with the other hand. They would eat with their spoon or fork if it was on their own terms (just a tad strong-willed) They both ate with a spoon or fork from age 10 months on, but I have daycare children that are over the age of two and still refuse to use utensils, so I think it will happen when he is ready.

We found that buying the children's utensils that were metal with a plastic handle were definitely the utensils of choice. They wanted to be like us, but we knew that they couldn't handle the larger silverware. I found these utensils in the $1.00 section at Target when you first walk in. I am not sure if they have baby items in that section right now, but I think that we also bought some at the .99 cent store. Good luck and don't push it, he will do it when he is ready! Happy Eating:)

My son didn't use utensils with any regularity until well past 2! And he was the messiest eater, especially when compared to my daughter who ate her first birthday cake with a fork and very neatly! I wouldn't worry about it. However, my absolute favorite spoons are the Baby Bjorn ones and they come with a bowl that is shaped like a 3 leaf clover. These spoons were the only ones he could use without everything falling off, and the shape of the bowls make it much easier to scoop things or fork food by pushing on the side. They also don't tip and are hard to pick up and dump.

PS - my boy is nearly 3 and won't use these bowls or spoons now because they are "baby" ones. You can have them, if you want them!