Ladies -
I probably should have worked through this earlier when DS was fond of grabbing the spoon, and not as enthralled with throwing things on the floor. Nonetheless, he is now 1, he makes for the spoon, and he flings the contents to the floor.
Any ideas on good foods to use when teaching him to self feed with a spoon? Do I am for things which are dense like thick oatmeal? Do I aim for things which are pliant like yogurt and will be easy to scoop? Do I hold off on the spoon and move to exclusively finger foods?
DS eats well. He's just keen on doing it himself.
Frankly, we started with a fork... get one of the small metal toddler forks.. don't worry, he won't poke his eye out! My grandson did a great job of feeding himself with a fork. Just cut the food into bite size pieces, and let him give it a try!
Scooping with a spoon is a difficult task... but stabbing small soft items with a fork is much easier, and a more natural action.
We use a fork for ours too. But if you want a spoon, things like small cut up fruits in a bowl are a hit. Any bits of small food in a bowl. It doesnt have to be wet, it can be anything dry. Just something to help be able to use a spoon. Then if he flings the food then it will be an easy clean up.
With our son we started offering a fork and spoon at one but didn't force him to use it. If he wanted to eat thick oatmeal with his hands, I didn't see the big deal. He was one. Now he is two and will sometimes still eat thicker things like oatmeal with his hands but is consistant about using a spoon for things like applesauce and yogurt. We also did a lot of finger foods at one.
Mashed potatoes stick to a spoon well.
