When should I teach you to eat with a spoon? Doctor Komarovsky on how to teach a child to chew, swallow and eat independently with a spoon How to teach a child to use a spoon

Ekaterina Rakitina

Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum, Germany

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Article last updated: 03/27/2019

The baby is growing, and parents are proud to watch how day after day he becomes more active and independent. The child wants to try to do everything without the help of adults - he grabs a bottle and drinks from it, takes out his favorite toys from the basket and then throws them back.

Of course, young parents lose patience with constantly changing clothes and washing their child’s things, and therefore strive to teach the child to eat on his own. In most cases, children happily grab a spoon and try to imitate adults - they scoop up porridge with it and carry it to their mouth. And sometimes the process of eating with a spoon can take a long time for a baby, much to the bewilderment and regret of adults.

The toddler makes his first effective attempts to eat on his own at the age of 1 year; by the age of 1.5 years, usually all children eat relatively carefully with a spoon.

Experts advise teaching babies to spoon after 10 months, but without much hope of success.

Which spoon should you choose for your baby?

One of the most important questions in the learning process is which spoon to choose? The following types are usually used: silver, special rubber, anatomical or tea. All are good in their own way and each has its own shortcomings, but as practice shows, it is best to teach a child to eat on his own using a plastic spoon. These spoons are light, compact, bright and colorful. When a baby sees a bright spoon, he perceives it as an object of play, and will be happy to try to eat with such a spoon.

When children get older, experts advise choosing regular tablespoons made of iron.

Of course, there is a lot of advice from grandmothers and friends, rules and recommendations in specialized literature, as well as videos posted on the Internet on how to teach a child to eat on his own. But the most important thing is that every mother must remember: all children are different, children have individual development schedules and knowledge of the world around them.

Therefore, in their attempts to teach their child to eat independently, all mothers must be patient. Today the child throws a spoon or plays with it, and tomorrow he confidently holds it in his hands and makes his first progress. All mothers should try to show their talent and arm themselves with perseverance and patience before she approaches the baby and can teach him to eat correctly.

A great incentive to pick up a spoon and try to eat without assistance is the presence of the whole family at the dinner table. Adults should be understanding about long meals, because often meals together for young children are not a way to satisfy hunger, but a time when they can play and chat with loved ones. It is also reasonable to allow your baby to eat from his parents' plates, as long as he uses a spoon.

It often happens that the science of teaching a toddler to eat a spoon is not always simple and easy. You can slowly take the small hand along with the spoon into your hand and lightly guide it towards the baby’s mouth. Under no circumstances should you force a child or put him in any kind of framework.

Nutrition experts have long proven that any violence during meals negatively affects the digestion and psyche of a person, especially children.

It is important to teach a child to use a spoon when the child is really hungry and wants to eat. In his desire to satisfy his hunger, he will have no time to indulge in food, and a hungry state will be a good incentive to learn to eat with a spoon.

The best way to teach a child to eat with a spoon is through his favorite dishes, which invariably arouse his special delight and interest. An important point is the consistency of the prepared dish. The food should be easy to scoop with a spoon and not be too liquid or hard. Accordingly, it can be porridge, thick soups, children's cottage cheese.

Compliance with the feeding regime will be essential in your studies. Even if the baby does not yet fully know how to use a spoon, you should immediately give it to him as soon as he sits down at the table.

Experienced mothers practice this method of learning to use a spoon as eating “in two spoons.” One spoon is in the baby’s hand and he tries to eat to the best of his ability, and the mother carefully feeds him with the other.

Almost all pediatricians who have published books on child care, including Dr. Komarovsky, emphasize that in the beginning, when the child is still learning such an object as a spoon, the mother should feed him the main dish herself. Well, you can offer to try eating a delicious dessert yourself. This is especially true for those mothers who worry that after using a spoon on their own, the child will remain hungry.

Also, various popular methods of raising children (Montessori, Doman and others methods) convincingly argue that the child must be given freedom and choice of actions. Therefore, when adults impose a spoon against the baby’s wishes, this can lead to an increase in the period of getting used to it.

Neatness and good table manners

At first, the child’s good manners and neatness at the table may not be remembered; the process of learning to eat independently does not contribute to their development. Starting from 2-3 years of age, the mother should slowly teach the child how to behave at the table, gently and patiently explain what behavior at the table is acceptable and what is not. Remember, neatness and good manners are a matter of time. It is quite possible to teach this.

Parents of babies know very well that modern pediatrics places all stages of a child’s development into certain age limits, which will be more convenient for mothers and fathers to navigate in the process of raising a child. So, the timing of the introduction of complementary foods and the approximate timing of the appearance of the first teeth are called. There are also deadlines for skills such as independently holding a spoon while eating, as well as the ability to chew and swallow solid food.

According to medical standards, a child at 7-8 months can easily eat from a spoon with the help of his mother, and by the age of one year he can hold it independently. According to official textbooks on pediatrics, a child should be able to confidently use a spoon by the age of one and a half years. The baby should be able to bite and chew solid food by the age of one year, if the number of teeth allows.

In theory, everything looks even and smooth. In practice, parents often face problems. The child does not want to eat solids, even if he has teeth, the baby refuses to pick up a spoon, quickly loses interest in eating with a spoon, stops eating or chokes on pieces. Authoritative children's doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky tells parents what to do in this situation.

Dr. Komarovsky will tell you all the feeding rules in the next video.

Komarovsky about the problem

Doesn't chew

There are no children in the world who have not learned to chew and swallow by the age of 5-6, says Evgeny Komarovsky. All people have a chewing reflex (and this is not a skill, but a reflex!), but it is activated at different times. For some it is earlier, for others it is later. When asked what prevents the reflex from developing early, the doctor answers one thing - parents!

Overly caring parents who are in no hurry to give their child solid food are all afraid that the baby will choke. As a result, a baby at 2 years old, when he is already physiologically able to eat pieces on his own, continues to receive pureed food from his mom and dad.

Doesn't eat from a spoon

Local pediatricians, especially the older generation, very often remind mothers that by the age of 8-9 months a child should eat normally from a spoon, and at the age of one year, hold it independently and at the same time put it in the mouth. Allegedly, this skill can be used to judge the child’s neuropsychic development.

A spoon is more of a psychotherapeutic device for mom and dad, and not an extremely necessary thing for the child himself.

In other words, if the baby eats from a spoon, and even on his own, the parents begin to respect themselves immensely, be proud of their upbringing of the baby, and in every possible way feel “like everyone else” and even better. But if he doesn’t take a spoon or, worse, denies it at all, then for many the mother is a distress signal, indicating that somewhere she, the mother, made a mistake - she was too lazy to teach, did not insist, did not demand, did not interest .

In fact, the child will sooner or later develop the need to eat with a spoon on his own. And then the baby will quickly (because there is motivation and interest!) learn to hold a spoon and bring it to the mouth. Therefore, if your baby prefers to eat liquid porridge from a bottle at 9-11 months, you should not force him to do it with a spoon. Everything has its time.

Doesn't want to eat food in pieces

Evgeny Komarovsky warns that this problem is quite common among children who have been breastfed for a long time, and their parents were in no hurry to introduce complementary foods. But if such questions arise, then it’s too late to look for reasons; you need to think about what to do.

Komarovsky encourages parents to reasonably and objectively assess their child’s ability to chew. To do this, you need to count how many teeth he has and how they are located. Letting a baby chew an apple or a bagel if he only has two teeth is a real parental crime, especially considering that the overwhelming majority of parents do not know how to provide first aid. Two teeth are enough to bite off a piece, but not enough for reflex chewing.

Therefore, it is better to adhere to the same approach to food consistency in the diet that manufacturers of ready-made baby food follow, and they change it gradually - first puree, then puree with small pieces, then thick homogeneous food and, finally, thick food with solid fragments. But it’s difficult to define age limits here, says Evgeniy Olegovich, since all children are individual, and one a year old chews an apple with a whole mouthful of teeth, while another one a year and a half with three or four or a little more teeth continues to eat puree.

Doesn't want to eat until the cartoons come on

This is another common problem. The child looks at his parents, copies them, and 90% of the population is used to eating while watching TV. In addition, some especially “insightful” mothers deliberately turn on cartoons so that the child is distracted from the fierce resistance to eating while she, a caring mother, stuffs a couple of extra spoons of porridge or puree into him.

Yes, the baby will eat more while watching TV. But this is precisely the main danger. When a child looks at his plate while eating, he produces gastric juice, which is so necessary for normal digestion. And if he looks at cartoon characters, then juice is not produced, and such food will not bring benefits, and threatens stomach diseases. Even for this good reason, you can’t eat while watching cartoons.

• If a child does not chew, but tries to lick or suck an apple or a cookie, there is no need for him to rush to grate the apple or soak the cookie in milk. Give him solid food more often, if the number of teeth allows, let him exercise. It turns out for everyone without exception. No child has ever gone to school without knowing how to chew food.
• It is best to give complementary foods with a special baby spoon, rather than an ordinary tea spoon. This cutlery is made of plastic, which will not hurt the baby; it has a smaller volume, which will not make swallowing difficult. If the child does not accept such a spoon, you should not force-feed him. Let him eat from a bottle for now.
• If a child refuses to chew, swallow and pick up a spoon, Komarovsky advises reconsidering the diet. It is likely that the baby simply does not have time to get really hungry. This happens in families where the baby is given food “when it’s time,” and not when he himself asks for food. Overfeeding is not only the reason for the baby’s reluctance to take part in the process itself, it can trigger the mechanisms of a variety of diseases. Therefore, overfeeding is more harmful than underfeeding.
• It is not difficult to teach a child to eat on his own, says Komarovsky, the main thing is to “seize the moment” and help the child, unobtrusively supporting him in his desire to take a spoon or cup in his hands. But to teach by force, especially if the child is not yet ready for independent actions at the table, and even more so to “put pressure” on the baby, is not the best parental decision.
• If a child is selective in food (he only eats something specific), then this is definitely not a hungry child, says Dr. Komarovsky. Real hunger completely eliminates selectivity. Therefore, you should not indulge in such selectivity; the child should eat what his mother puts in front of him. If he doesn’t eat, it means he doesn’t want to eat. It's better to wait until he's really hungry.
• There is no need to do for the child what he is already capable of doing himself. If we are talking about the fact that a baby at one year of age and a little older does not take a spoon, this is one thing. But everything changes if a child at 3-4 years old does not want to eat on his own and demands his mother to feed him. After two years, Komarovsky advises putting down a plate, giving a spoon and leaving the kitchen for a while, increasing the time of absence every day.

When returning, the mother should not be interested in how much the baby ate with a spoon; she should pretend that nothing surprising happened. Usually, after a few days, the child begins to eat at least half of the prescribed portion on his own. Remember to show maximum patience and tact.

A spoon is one of the first tools that a baby begins to use “for its intended purpose.” It is a very serious matter for a child to learn to eat independently, and this cannot be done without the help of an adult.

At what age a child learns to eat independently depends primarily on the parents. The more they care for the baby, the slower he learns new skills. And vice versa, a baby whose mother does not limit his desire for independence and supports him in everything will quickly master this difficult task.

When teaching a child the skills to use a spoon independently, parents need to be patient. Feedings will take longer than usual, and the learning process will take more than one day. We must prepare for the fact that while eating, the baby will dirty not only himself, but also everything around him. After each meal, you will have to wipe the table, floor, food-smeared hands and child’s face. But this is not a reason to abandon your goal and return to spoon-feeding.

When should you start teaching your child to eat on his own?

Children master the skill of using a spoon at different speeds, but, as a rule, by the age of 1–1.5 years they already begin to eat independently.

Independence when eating food first appears in a child at the moment when he begins to eat cookies, crackers, and bread himself. At the next stage of his development, the baby begins to take food from the plate with his hands. In no case should you scold him for this - this is a kind of training: he takes food with his hands and learns to put food in his mouth. It is these actions that bring the little person closer to mastering the skill of eating food independently. After all, before you start eating with a spoon, the child must learn to take and hold objects between the thumb and forefinger. When the baby masters this important skill - and this will happen by about 7-8 months - you can begin to teach him to use a spoon.

We are self-service

From a very early age, you need to teach your child to eat in the kitchen or dining room. For feeding, you need to purchase a special highchair with a removable table, at which it will be convenient for the baby to eat.

Also, the baby should have her own dishes: a spoon, deep and shallow plates, a cup. All children's dishes should be unbreakable, as they may have to fall on the floor more than once. Heat-resistant food grade plastic meets these requirements.

Plate. At first, a plate with high sides and a suction cup will suit your baby - it is attached to the table, and the baby is unlikely to be able to turn it over. It will be more interesting for the baby to eat if various animals or fairy-tale characters are depicted on the plate. You can compose some fairy tale story for him and interest him in the drawn plot. There are heated plates; they have a reservoir inside where hot water is poured - thanks to this, the food remains warm for a long time.

Cup. It is better to choose a small cup (no more than 100–125 ml), with handles on both sides. The child will be able to hold it with both hands.

Spoon. Nowadays they make special spoons for babies: small in size, with a non-slip, comfortable handle, often round in shape, easy to grip with a child’s palm.

Fork. A baby can be introduced to a children's fork at about 1.5–2 years old, when he is already good at handling a spoon. The teeth of a child's fork should not be sharp, but rounded, so that the baby cannot hurt himself. The child must be shown that if you have to prick pieces of food with a fork (pieces of cutlet, fish, etc.), then it must be held with the teeth down, and if you eat pureed food with a fork (mashed potatoes, noodles), then it must be held like a spoon.

The mother must show the baby how to stick food on a fork and how to carefully remove food from the fork with his mouth so as not to get hurt.

There is also special educational utensils for babies. Plastic spoons and forks from such sets have a shape curved towards the face. Thanks to this, it is easier for the baby to get food to his mouth.

Knife. A little later, at 2.5–3 years, you can give the child a mild children’s knife, having previously demonstrated how to use it correctly.

Bib. To prevent your baby from getting dirty while eating, you need to wear a special waterproof apron or bib with a pocket at the bottom. It is better to have several aprons, since they will have to be washed after each feeding. Bibs with a curved bottom edge are very convenient, as they prevent liquid food from dripping onto the baby's clothes. These bibs are made from a special soft and flexible plastic. They are good because they do not need to be washed - they are easy to clean and dry quickly. It will be enough for the baby to have one such bib. Once washed after eating, it is ready to eat again within 5 minutes.

How to teach a child to eat with a spoon? Basic principles

To teach a child to eat with a spoon, several principles must be consistently followed.

• The decision that the baby will learn to feed himself must be discussed with all family members. So that it does not happen that the mother teaches the baby to use a spoon, and the grandmother or other relatives feed him themselves. In this case, the baby will be lazy and the learning process may be delayed.
• You need to teach your child to eat with a spoon every day so that he does not forget the skills he has already acquired. However, if the baby is sick, is teething, is tired, or is simply in a bad mood, there is no need to force him to eat on his own. It is better to feed the baby with a spoon this time, and when the child’s condition returns to normal, again invite him to eat on his own.
• Parents must show how they eat themselves. To do this, you need to try to organize joint meals. The main feature of children's behavior is imitation, therefore, looking at adults, he will take their example from them and will strive to eat on his own.
• It is better to feed your baby at strictly prescribed times.
• For the first attempts to use a spoon on your own, porridge and purees are best - these are thick foods, and it is easier for the baby to bring them to the mouth. If you let your baby eat soup on his own right away, he will simply spill the contents of the spoon without getting the food to his mouth.
• It is better to encourage your child to eat on his own when he is really hungry. It is desirable that these are tasty, favorite dishes.
• There is no need to put everything that is prepared for lunch on the table in front of the child at once. Otherwise, he will choose and refuse the rest. The first and second courses should be served separately, from different plates.

We eat with a spoon

In order for the baby to understand how to eat with a spoon, the mother needs to put the “tool” in his hand and show him how to use it correctly. The mother takes the child's hand in hers, scoops food from the plate and helps him bring the spoon with food to his mouth. When this procedure is repeated several times, the baby will understand how to use the spoon. At first, he will hold the spoon in his fist, since his fine motor skills and coordination of movements are still poorly developed. It's just hard for the little one to hold this cutlery correctly.

Its main goal at this stage is to bring food to the mouth. But still, the baby needs to be shown how to hold a spoon correctly, then he will gradually learn this too.

If the child begins to eat on his own and with appetite, but quickly gets tired, the mother should feed him. It is better to do this in parallel - with a second spoon. If your baby is unable to put food into a spoon on his own, you can offer him a spoon already filled with food. You can also offer the baby the following food option: his mother puts one spoonful of food in his mouth, and he himself puts the other.

How to teach a child to drink from a cup on his own?

You can start teaching your baby to use a cup at 6–8 months. Many parents use a sippy cup as an intermediate link when transitioning their baby from a breast or bottle to a cup. After all, it is much easier for a child to learn to drink from a sippy cup than from a cup. A sippy cup is a plastic cup on which a special cap with a spout is put on; the liquid from this spout goes directly into the baby’s mouth. But it is not at all necessary for a child to drink from a sippy cup before learning to drink from a cup.

First of all, the mother must show the baby how to use the cup. To do this, she must drink from the cup herself in front of the child. Then you need to gently press the cup to the child’s lips, tilt it slightly and let him take 1-2 sips of his favorite drink. At first, you must hold the cup and control the child’s actions, securing him. Very soon the baby will understand what the angle of inclination should be so that the liquid gets into the mouth, and then he can be allowed to drink from the cup on his own. When training, it is important to follow two rules:

At first, pour a little liquid into the cup - 3-4 sips - so that the baby does not accidentally choke;
Drinking must be habitual for the baby.

Etiquette for a child

From an early age, the child develops correct eating behavior and habits. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately teach him how to behave correctly at the table.

• Before eating, be sure to wash your child’s hands. This is one of the main hygiene skills. The mother should show the baby how to wash his hands correctly and try to clearly explain why this should be done.
• There is no need to feed the child outside the kitchen or while playing. Many mothers, trying to feed their baby, surround him with various toys - this is wrong. From the very beginning, you need to make it clear to the baby that you need to eat while eating, and play later.
• You should not allow your child to play with food and cutlery. When the baby begins to indulge, you should immediately stop feeding.
• There is no need to scold your child for being careless - it is better to teach him how to use a napkin. The appropriate age for this is 1.5 years. First, the mother should show the baby by example what the napkin is for, and then you can offer it to the baby.

Rules for adults

• You should not force-feed your child, as it may develop a negative attitude towards food.
• You cannot rush your baby while eating.
• You should not leave your child alone while eating; he may choke or choke.
• You definitely need to praise the baby, even if he doesn’t succeed.

And finally, two universal rules that are important to remember for adults who are teaching their child to be independent:

• do not make unreasonable demands on the child;
• Do not do for the child what he can do himself.

You may be interested in articles

Our children are growing and maturing every day. Now it's time to get acquainted with cutlery, and above all with a spoon. Self-feeding skills are one of the first skills that a baby learns on the way to growing up.

Me myself!

The baby has been using a spoon for a long time, but until he is a year old, his manipulation of this cutlery is more like a game. For him, a spoon is first and foremost a fun activity, an object to study. Some parents try to stop playing with cutlery. But the baby still doesn’t understand why he can manipulate the toy in any way he wants, but he is absolutely forbidden to do this with a spoon.

Show the baby how the spoon flies, allow him to scratch his teeth with it, tap the spoon on the table. Let him twirl it in his hands, thereby developing fine motor skills.

The baby may try to use the spoon for its intended purpose at about 9-10 months. Before that, he was sure that picking up food with his hands, fiddling with his finger in the porridge and drawing mashed potatoes on the table, walls and mother was the highest pleasure. But now it becomes clear to him that mom doesn’t do that. She takes food from the plate with a spoon and brings it straight to his mouth!

After a year, the baby is already very interested in the world around him, so it’s time to let him get to know the spoon in person. A wonderful role model would be sharing a meal with adults who so deftly handle this magical instrument.

Teachers offer a special educational game for one-year-old children. Show your baby how to hold a spoon with a simple “baby” grip and how to move his hand when eating. Then sit opposite the child and show him how to eat. At the same time, you can feed the child: a spoon for yourself, a spoon for him (in this case, the baby should hold the spoon in his hand). Then tell him that the baby has his own spoon, and let him try to eat himself.

To encourage your child to use the spoon for its intended purpose, ask him to spoon feed you. So play: he feeds you, and you feed him. If nothing works out, don’t be upset: everything will probably work out tomorrow. And if he succeeds, be sure to praise the baby!

Difficulties of transition

It often happens that the baby insists on independence, but at the same time a good half of the porridge ends up on the table, on the floor, on the wall and throughout the kitchen. And instead of twenty minutes, feeding takes as much as forty, or even a whole hour. It's OK! We can summarize that the alliance between your baby and the spoon is concluded.

Insist on feeding the baby yourself only as a last resort. Believe me, nothing will happen if you go out for a walk fifteen minutes later, and you can clean the kitchen together when you come back from a walk. In any case, shouting in the kitchen is inappropriate; eating should be accompanied only by positive emotions.

The opposite situation also happens. The child is almost 2 years old, but he categorically refuses to pick up a spoon and work on his own. Here the problem is not with the baby, but with his parents, who missed the moment when their child was ready to eat on his own.

The mother, perhaps, thought every time that feeding the baby herself was much faster and more convenient than looking at the disgrace that the little robber was causing. But by doing so, you have nipped the child’s interest in this process to the roots. If this has already happened, you need to catch up. But how? An excellent remedy is having lunch together, when the child learns from your example. The arguments that he is already big, and all adults eat themselves, also help. After all, very often a child becomes deliberately capricious when he sees that his parents then begin to indulge him. And if he sees that everyone is busy doing something (that is, eating), he will understand that it’s time to feed himself. Here is the spoon next to it, like mom and dad have. When your baby takes the spoon in his hands, praise him.

That happy day when a child will be able to eat from a spoon with minimal loss will come when he is 2.5-3 years old. But still, the chances that the soup will spill and the pasta will fall under the table are still very high.

Learning to be neat

Praise your baby whenever he shows independence and wins another victory.

Accuracy also needs to be taught - calmly and in a playful way. How to do it? Have a competition. Who will drip the least on the table at lunch today? Who will have the fewest crumbs today? Who will have nothing left on their plate? Don’t be afraid to give in, although without falsehood - children feel it very sensitively. Never reproach your child for losing. Tell them that this was just a training session, and that the competition itself is still ahead. Be sure to play with the whole family! Only by the age of 4-5 will a child learn to use this instrument fluently. The tablecloth will remain clean, the soup will be all eaten, and lunch will take much less time.

If the baby is not afraid of a spoon and uses it with pleasure, then your task - to build a strong alliance between him and this cutlery - has been completed one hundred percent!

To the store to buy a spoon: which one should you prefer?

Take your baby with you and show him the whole range. The choice is great: spoons can be anatomical or regular, with a soft coating and even... with a thermometer. Buy one that is comfortable, safe, beautiful and, most importantly, your child will like it. Spoons made of silver and gold are only suitable as gifts and souvenirs. Do not buy bulky and heavy spoons or models that are difficult to use. Be sure to pay attention to what the spoon is made of. Only safe, durable plastic and stainless steel are suitable. Does the plastic spoon bend and look flimsy, and does it have a thin handle? It may break and injure the baby. And saturated dyes are toxic!

Lyudmila Bulgakova

Teaching a child to use a spoon is not always possible without various misfires. Mom needs to be patient, since meals will become longer, and the process of instilling the skill itself will take more than one week.

You should also be mentally prepared for the fact that the baby will begin to dirty everything around him, including himself. Mom will have to do a lot of cleaning and washing the baby’s face. However, such problems can be overcome, but every spoonful brings the child closer to independence.

It is important to understand that it is quite difficult to name the exact time when a child will start eating from a spoon on his own, since there are simply no specific age limits or parameters.

Of course, there is average data that at 1 year of age a child should hold a spoon tightly, and at 18 months of age he should confidently handle this cutlery. But since the baby develops at his own pace, the timing of the appearance of this skill is individual.

Some children already at 8 - 10 months use cutlery quite deftly, putting porridge, purees and other first feeding dishes into their mouths, while others even at 2 years wait for their parents to feed them with a spoon.

And yet, there is a certain pattern - by the end of infancy (12 months), the child tries to serve himself at the table. Increased interest in eating and copying adult behavior leads to the baby taking the spoon from his mother.

In such a situation, you cannot refuse a child. Of course, his initial attempts to try a spoonful of puree will end in failure or a smeared face. Therefore, the task of adults is to consistently and without haste show and explain how to correctly take and use cutlery.

Popular TV doctor Komarovsky is convinced that there is no need to force children to use a spoon if they are not yet ready for this or are not interested in this tableware. Excessive persistence often leads to the child refusing to feed.

To teach a child to eat independently, you must first take care of choosing the first cutlery. A correctly selected spoon will speed up the process of acquiring the skill and reduce the number of misfires.

When purchasing this tableware You should pay attention to several important nuances:

• The most important condition is that the spoon must be safe. It is necessary to purchase tableware in specialized children's stores, which have all the necessary certificates confirming the safety of the materials;
• There is no need to confuse the device for first feeding with a spoon for self-feeding. The kitchen utensil required in our case must have a wide scoop so that the child cannot drop the captured food;
• Since children as young as 1 year old initially grasp and squeeze a spoon with their fist, it is important to take care of choosing the right holder. The handle of the cutlery should be short and wide. In this case, the child will hold it more tightly;
• Spoons with curved handles are available for sale. It is believed that such devices are easier for young children to handle. Another option is products with rotating holders. No matter how the child turns the handle, a special rod inside rotates after it, so the collected food does not fall out. Additionally, there is a lock to lock the rod when the child grows up.

For babies from 10 months to two years, it is better to purchase plastic spoons. They are light, bright, fit well in a child’s hand, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

It is also better to buy plates and cups from heat-resistant food-grade plastic. Such dishes are lightweight, resistant to impacts and falls from a height, and are also environmentally friendly. To develop eating skills, it is worth purchasing a plate with a suction cup. She won't roll over.

You should also not forget about bibs made of fabric or especially soft and flexible plastic material. Fabric aprons will have to be washed after each meal; plastic aprons do not need to be washed, just wash off the spills and dry.

You need to teach your child to eat with cutlery only after he has developed an interest in the process of eating. And arousing interest through games, threats or cartoons is largely useless - this will not create a desire to learn something.

And to speed up and simplify learning, you should listen to the following recommendations from specialists and experienced parents who have already walked this path:

1. It is necessary to announce the decision that the baby now eats independently to all household members. Otherwise, it will turn out that the mother teaches the child to hold a spoon, and when he starts visiting his grandmother, she will feed him herself. In such a situation, the learning process will be delayed.
2. To become skillful, a child needs to learn to use a spoon every day. But if he doesn’t feel well due to illness or illness, there is no need to force him to eat on his own. On such a day, it is better to deviate from the rule and feed the baby from a spoon.
3. The mother needs to be close to the baby while eating. Situations can be different - the child gets tired, is capricious, and may choke on even a small piece. Therefore, it is better to sit nearby and watch the baby.
4. You can teach your child to hold a spoon not only during feeding. The sandbox, where the baby uses a shovel, is perfect for training. You should also play with dolls more often, explaining that they also “want to eat.”
5. How to quickly teach a child to use a spoon? It is important to choose the optimal consistency of the dish - puree, but not liquid. Porridge, vegetable purees, cottage cheese or thick cream soup are ideal. Portions should be small to maintain the required temperature.
6. If a child reaches for a fork rather than a spoon, let him choose this “toothy” object to start learning. It is only important to purchase a special fork with rounded edges and blunt teeth. But then the food should not be liquid, but in pieces (boiled vegetables).

For more information about when to include in a child's diet and how to properly prepare these dishes, read the article by the children's doctor.

The child will be interested in the process of eating if you decorate the dishes beautifully (make flowers, animals, smiley faces) and serve them in plates with drawings on the bottoms. You need to explain to your child that a little surprise awaits him at the end of lunch.

Etiquette for a baby

For preschoolers, schoolchildren and teenage children are described in more detail in another article. Be sure to read it too to have a general idea of ​​your child’s good manners.

As already noted, it is stupid to expect from a little fool that he will start eating carefully the first time. At first, the product eaten, or rather, brought to the mouth, will be found everywhere - on clothes, the table and even on the floor.

However, this pattern does not mean at all that a small child does not need to be shown how to behave correctly at the table. Healthy food habits are formed in early childhood:

1. Before each meal, the baby must wash your hands. This is the basis of basic hygiene, so it cannot be neglected. Mom shows the baby how to do it correctly and why it is so important (the simplest explanation is so that the tummy doesn’t hurt).
2. You should not surround a eating child with numerous toys., turn on cartoons for him, trying to catch the moment when he opens his mouth. The kitchen is the ideal place for eating, but you need to play in the nursery.
3. Playing with a spoon is only permissible at the stage of familiarization with the subject. Then you should not allow playing with cutlery. If the baby is spoiled, lunch is stopped.

You cannot scold your child for careless actions. Just offer him a napkin. A trained child, from the age of two, will be able to wipe his hands and face, naturally, to the best of his ability.

Solving the question of how to teach a child to eat independently with a spoon requires no fuss. If your baby needs to go to nursery soon, don’t rush too much and literally force him to take the cutlery in his hand. Usually, children adapt faster in a group, if, of course, they consolidate their successes at home.

And finally. There are universal principles that will be useful for a mother who wants to teach her baby to self-care. First, do not make unreasonable demands on your child. Secondly, don’t do things for him that he can handle himself.