What age do I introduce cutlery to children? - The spoon and fork.
When your baby has learned to comfortably to bring hands and objects to their mouth they will more than likely become very keen to feed themselves! A child will typically begin to self-feed from 9 – 12 months. Around this time, once your baby is familiar with a spoon, you can begin to introduce a fork.
By around 12 months your little one will be becoming increasingly confident and independent at mealtimes. Their fine motor skills and hand to eye co-ordination will continue to develop making self-feeding so much easier – and hopefully your floor a little cleaner!
At this age (most) children will use pincer grip and palmar / fist grip, so using cutlery that is conducive to this is ideal. As with the first weaning spoons, a toddler spoon and fork that is sized to their hands and mouth will make their journey that much smoother. Toddlers love bright colours and allowing them to become involved in choosing the cutlery you buy will help them feel ownership over becoming confident little feeders.
From 2 years upwards children begin to develop pretend play, and this is a great opportunity to support cutlery use. They will love making play-dough meals for their toys and feeding them with their cutlery – all building their fine motor skill development and confidence.
You will still be cutting up food for them at this point, so showing your toddler how to spear food with a fork and giving them time to copy you will go down a treat. Allow them time to use their cutlery with lots of different foods and textures and watch their confidence grow.
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