How to introduce a spoon at nine months?

Question

I would like to introduce a spoon to my daughter so she can eat things like soup, or breakfast cereal. Is there any best way to go about it? I don't want her to expect me to spoon feed her at every meal!!

She is nine months old.

She's never used a spoon before. She only eats finger foods, has done since weaning started at 6.5 months.

Answer 1

Most little babies do not start out with a spoon. They start with their pincher grips and eat finger foods off a plate. The spoon part comes later.
I think it would be a good idea to give your baby a spoon so she/he can see it and get used to feeling it in his/her hand. He or she will start imitating you and eventually start using the spoon well enough to use it to eat. Your baby will be well over 18 months old before it gets the concept of using a spoon for eating food. Unless of course, you are using it to feed him/her

Answer 2

hi there!

I had both my two feeding themselves by 1 year old with a spoon. I started at nine months and the best thing for me was the long handled weaning spoons from boots. Start with a food your baby likes, mine both like yogurts, and put a little on the spoon, then hold it oin reach until your baby grabs for it, this may take a few tries but it will work. when your baby grabs the spoon, keep hold of it too and help her guide it to her mouth. once she has done it a few times, make sure you dont go back to feeding her totally yourself again as this will only confuse her. Begin to do the same with other meals. Once you think she is getting the hang, let go and let her do it herself. Now for the scooping. The anti slip mats from tommee tippee are great, get one of those and some bowls. boots own bowls are fine. Dont let your baby mess with the anti slip mat as she may work out how to get it up. STick the bowl to it and when you let your baby put the spoon in her mouth take hold of her hand and scoop up some more food with the hand then let go...make a game out of it, say the word scoop each time you do it and praise her. When you are sure she is getting the hang let go. If she is resistent and doesnt really want to scoop, wait till she is quite hungry then leave the room for a minute, stand where you can see her and she cant see you (this should be by about 1 year) she will soon scoop it herself. Good luck! if you need more advise you can always join my parenting forum at http://www.pregnancy2parenting.net! xxx

Answer 3

Nine months old is actually the perfect time for finger foods, once she masters finger foods then begin to introduce the spoon, at this point she will probably just play with it. Adults are the only people who assume that the soup has to be eaten with the broth (vegetable, chicken) but this isn't true she will probably get choked on the liquid so just pick the vegetables after all they contain the nutrients. Pick the chicken noodles out of the broth my son loves it this way. I get the mega noodle chicken noodle soup and he eats the noodles and chicken just fine. For breakfast cereal I just give him a little bit of cereal on his highchair tray and pour a little milk on it the cereal will absorb the milk and he eats it that way. I also give him a sippy cup of milk which he usually completely finishes. As far as the spoon, the earlier the better don't expect her to master it for a while though you will have messes. Get her a real nice spoon that she will like have her pick it out herself. Show her two and ask her which one she wants. Give it time.

Answer 4

Nicola,

the truth is some babies do things nicely and some are a mess

you just have to hand her the spoon show her how from behind her a few times
and just let her have at it

its gonna be a mess and most of it ends up on the floor

but you could try this trick if you really hate messes

give her the baby fork first and show her how to spear the chicken nugget bits

in the morning every other morning give her cereal with milk
but not too much milk and the spoon

giveing her the fork help her hand eye coordination, and build her skills

without the mess

Hope it helps

meg
Mom of 3 boys

Answer 5

My daughter is 10 months old in 3 days I gave her a spoon the other day to see what she would do with it. All she did was turn it around and try to feed her self with the wrong end. It was pretty cute.

Answer 6

I was a single dad and have adopted this theory during that process, "The first time ANYTHING was done it was done by an amateur". Bottom line: Make it into a game at first, just hand it to her prior to eating, let her bang on things if shes in a highchair same principal applies. When it's chow time, you feed her and I guarantee she will want it from you, there ya go. It's gonna be messy, so get your camera out, lol. When she has difficulty, remember she fkn loves you, you are her god, so ask her, "Will you feed Mommy"? She will try to please you as maybe you still do your parents. Make sure you make something you like cause when I learned this I hated sweet potatoes and OMG the faces I made, lol. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

I recently saw a "training tool" at the store that is designed to help children get the idea of silverware. It is based on a child's obsession with dipping and sucking/licking off. (Who HASN'T watched a child dip the same fry in catsup 12 times, only to suck off the catsup and dip it again?) It's called a "dipper" or "dip stick" and a child can use it with baby food, applesauce, etc. to get the idea of "put it in the food, then in the mouth." It's designed to hold the food better than a spoon, so there is less mess as she gets the hang of it.

Answer 8

boots do a great range of spoons especially for young children,id stay away from the house hold ones,buy a couple let your child play in its high chair with the spoon,one for you one for the child and introduce foods.make it into a game, make it fun..im sure the little one will soon catch on,good luck

Answer 9

Gerber makes a special toddler spoon that is shaped a little different to help babies and toddlers use it better. All I can say is prepare for a mess. Put a garbage bag under her highchair, so all you have to do is pick the bag up and dump it.

Answer 10

Get two of those little baby spoons. One for her and one for you. Over time she'll be able to use hers more, so you'll be able to use yours less. Some kids, I'm told, are happy to sit there and be fed. I've never met any like that though. All the kids I've met have been thoroughly convinced that they could do it and didn't need anyone to help!