How old were your little ones when they started being able to feed themselves (or try to)? My ds is 8.5 mo and shows interest in playing with his spoon when I'm feeding him, but is far from being able to get the right end of it into his mouth when there's food on it. I'm just wondering when most kids start to do this?

Whiskers :)

I'm really curious about this as well. My 9 month old uses the spoon like a baton shaking it in the air. The only place she ever gets the spoon is in the eye or the nose - never in the mouth!

most babies will start to show interest in the spoon as soon as they notice it's there.... they're pretty fun to play with, and chewing on them has got to feel good on their gums!

HOWEVER, i'd warn you against giving them free reign over the feeding process, because once you lose control, it's hard for some parents to get it back, and then feeding becomes one really big mess with a lot of food going everywhere except for babies' mouths! i'd get into the habit of feeding baby ALL of the food, and then if they want to play with the food, you can hand it over and tell them "your turn" or some fun key words like that to make it okay for them to have the spoon.

slowly work your way into letting them feed themselves over a period of months.... so that YOU can remain in control! maybe when you have food that is especially thick, you can give them the spoon for the last few bites that they can practice, but always use that key phrase so they know it's their turn.

somewhere between 18 months and two years old, they are really READY to self feed and it's a lot less messy and a lot less food gets wasted if you wait until then! oh, and when i say "self feed," i'm meaning foods they eat with a spoon.... they can feed themselves finger foods from the day they can pick up a cheerio and cram it into their mouths!

i know some parents talk about teaching their children independence and all that, but there's plenty of time for that! take advantage of the time you have to be in control, because it sure doesn't last long! :)

I'm so glad to read those replies! I'm glad to know that it will be awhile yet before my ds is able to feed himself (with a spoon) because as you mentioned mcr285--I could see it getting VERY messy if I was to let him go at it at this point in time... He tries to grab the spoon and sometimes at the end of a meal I let him have it (with the remains of his food on the spoon), and he'll normally get the right end of it into his mouth--but it definitely takes a few tries. I think that's good enough practice for now.... Thanks!

Whiskers :)

I didn't let my daughter try to feed herself with her spoon until about 15 months old. I always let her hold one while feeding and play, but I always fed her. I didn't want the mess, but I found that when I finally did let her feed herself she was pretty good at it because she was over a year of age. Now, at 22 months, she feeds herself and she rarely makes a mess on herself, unless she is experiementing with her food and doing it on purpose, sometimes!