Self Feeding - Tips, Please

My daughter is 13 months and wants to feed herself with silverware too. I just scoop the food onto the spoon or fork and hand it to her. She feeds herself (she thinks it's so fun---big smile from ear to ear) and then she gives me back the spoon or fork to scoop up more food. I can't put the bowl/plate on her high chair tray because all the food would be on the floor.

I didn't use plates... I just put the food straight on the tray. There are bowls/plates that have a little suction on the bottom though and stuck to the table, so you can try that for things like cereal.

Thick yogurt (like the yoplait custard), applesauce, oatmeal are all great things to try with spoons.

Bananas, green beans, rotini type pasts, scrambled eggs are all really good for using with a fork.

Is she still in a high chair? Skip the plate all together. Make sure the tray (or table) is nice and clean and put her food directly on that. Put an old sheet down on the floor under her seat, then just pick it up and shake it out after meals... throw it in the wash after a couple of days.

HTH
T.

Let her wear a bib and give her a fork and a spoon and make as much of a mess as she needs to. I say let her see you use it and encourage her as needed. I never worried about the bowls that stayed put (though Ikea makes some with rubber around the bottom that do better). Get a catch mat for the floor if you need to.

My 2 yr old still sometimes puts food on the fork with her hand and then eats it. Oh well.

I make my 15mo DS oatmeal w/ fruit and veggie puree everyday. I'm not a big "wet oatmeal" fan, so I make it pretty thick and he gets a big kick out or piercing it w/his little fork and feeding himself successfully.

Kinderville has a great line of cups and bowls that are food-grade silicone (does not contain BPA, phalates, PVC and lead like plastics) that can be microwaved and put in the dishwasher, although I don't do either. They are safe, unbreakable, easy to clean and the silicone does stick to the tray a bit better than plastics that can slide around - although they BOUNCE if/when they hit the floor - HAHA! The bowls have very wide bases, also making them hard to tip. Occasionally they come up on flash sale sites, but you can get them for a good price on Amazon, too: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LZEJ9K

The long-handled, narrow, silicone-tipped spoons from the puree days don't work super well for self-feeding, so we bought some that were shorter and stubbier for little hands to grasp and he's doing great with them. Here they are in pink: http://www.amazon.com/Playtex-Baby-Mealtime-Utensils/dp/B...

For clean-up, he is NOT a fan so we sing "hands, face, bib and tray (while wiping each) then we can get down to play" and it works bc it's predictable - and I'm QUICK about it.

Fun times! Good luck!

Absolutely support it. I trained my son on yogurt, for the most part. Even if the spoon wasn't turned the right way, there would be some yogurt on it. I waited on the fork until he was more comfortable with the spoon. There are some plates and bowls that have a large suction cup on the bottom that you can stick to the tray to help keep it in place. They were a little pricy, so I didn't have that many, so I didn't use them too often. They did work though, so you might want to invest. For clean up, I left my son is his diaper and bought one of those plastic things for under the high chair. It's a lot easier to take off the diaper and stick him in the tub than trying to change clothes if there is a big mess made. Good luck!

Yogurt was a good one for us. I like the idea of thick oatmeal (oatmeal is more my husband's specialty, not mine).

I agree, skip the plates and bowls whenever possible. They're just another toy.

I was a huge fan of finger food, so the silverware came later in our house.

Learning to use "silverware" is a natural progression. Little ones see us do it all the time! It just takes practice and yes...it gets messy.
That's okay.
I bought fabric backed vinyl table cloths at the dollar store and put them under the high chair. They catch everything, wipe up easily and can even survive several washings in the machine. You don't have to worry about anything that lands on the floor that way.
My kids were never food throwers, but spills and accidents do happen during the learning process.
Give your little one utensils and let her practice.
They make lots of them that are designed just for tiny hands and mouths.

Best wishes.

It just happens naturally.
Kids play with utensils... it is how they learn.

Having FULL 'mastery' and coordination with utensils, can take time.
Until she is older.
Right now, she is showing interest. Let her play with it.
Soft foods. Chunky stuff.
mashed potatoes.

Some bowls, in the baby aisle at stores, will have bowls with suction cups on the bottom.
But just use any bowl with a lip.

Cleaning up, is cleaning up.
They are not neat at this age.
Its fine.

Just watch for choking.
Kids at this age also tend to over-stuff their mouths. They don't know how to 'portion' size things in their mouth.

Using utensils is fine-motor skills and coordination. It is starting to bud now, in her.
She can also practice with her toys.
Anything really.