This guide outlines how to teach children to use cutlery, with proven strategies.
For every mother, the development of her children is something very special. They are getting bigger and heavier, exploring the world and becoming more and more independent. When they can sit up to eat it will soon be time to teach children to use cutlery.
When the first children’s meal is on the table, the child soon wants to eat like his family and grabs the spoon. But how do the children actually learn to eat with cutlery? We have tips and tricks on how to survive this phase without many stains.
When the baby becomes independent
If a child lives in the household, it never gets boring. First the pregnancy and childbirth keep us on track, later breastfeeding, changing and playing with the baby. If this phase is over, go to the first independent food. This usually happens with your fingers.
It’s a lot of fun for the children and causes a huge mess in the kitchen. So much the better, if you can teach children to use cutlery so they can learn table manners relatively quickly and eat properly. But how do you teach a toddler to deal with cutlery and which one is best used for this? We have the answers.
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Teach children to use cutlery
When a child grows out of babyhood, it wants to become increasingly independent and, above all, one – just like mom and dad. It imitates his family members, mimics them and quickly reaches for the knife and fork at the dinner table. After all, the others eat the same way.
Is your child ready? Then it’s time to have children’s cutlery in the house to help teach children to use cutlery. Because at the latest in the kindergarten it should be able to eat with cutlery. Do not stress at the table. Your child learns to eat as well as speak. Namely by imitating and trying out,
Of course this does not always work perfectly right away. But the exercise makes perfect. As you will see: When Baby’s first year is over, your child can already do many things on her own. The food is one of them.
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The first attempts with the cutlery will surely go wrong for now. Take it with humor!
This is how your child learns to handle cutlery
Is her little sweetheart out of babyhood and now she wants to get away from porridge and milk ? Then, now is the time to introduce solid food and proper nutrition for your child . Most of all, they would like to eat it themselves and eat with their fingers or even spoon and fork.
It goes at the beginning still very much wrong and lands rather on table and bib, as in the mouth of your child. Of course, this development step takes time. However, how you can help your baby learn to eat with cutlery , read our tips.
Tip 1: Eat together to teach children to use cutlery
What could be better than to sit together at the dinner table and evaluate in the family the day . As much as you like this sociability, so much does she love your child. When the time comes to eat solid food, you should be careful to always eat together.
However, in the beginning it will still happen that you have to prepare extra dinners for children. After all, it can not yet take all the foods that are part of your typical everyday life. The togetherness is but in the foreground. Your child will have the opportunity to study your eating habits and that of other family membersand imitate. So you support his natural development and integrate it from the beginning in the family life.
Tip 2: Always calm
If your child just wants to learn how to eat with cutlery, it takes a lot of rest and patience. After all, it is not easy at the beginning to hold the spoon properly in the hand or spit food with your fork. However, so that your toddler does not lose the pleasure and the fun, it is important that you do not rush it , but always take enough time for meals.
Tip 3: The matching children’s cutlery
In addition to the peace and fun, the equipment is of course very important. After all, your baby can not learn to eat with cutlery if you do not have suitable cutlery in the house. At the beginning it will be enough if you have a baby spoon ready.
It can also be colorful or decorated with your child’s favorite character. This makes the food even more enjoyable. For little kids, there are whole sets of cutlery in the design of well-known Disney movies, such as the Lion King or the Frozen. They usually consist of a small, relative blunt knife, a fork and a spoon.
They can be found as baby articles or baby accessories in every children’s section of the local drugstore, Of course you can also order the children’s cutlery set online. The selection of motifs and materials is almost limitless. There you will even find a children’s cutlery set with engraving, which is ideal as a gift for birth or birthday .
Tip 4: Offer suitable foods to teach children to use cutlery
When preparing food for children who are just learning to use cutlery, it is especially important that you choose the food exactly. At the beginning, for example, mushy foods such as mashed potatoes or rice pudding are very good to practice with.
If your child is safe, you can raise the level and grab carrot slices, boiled potatoes and gravy. If your little sweetheart can handle it too, you can let him cut his own meat for the first time . However, only use children’s cutlery to minimize the risk of injury.
When does a child learn to handle cutlery?
Is your child possibly still of babyhood and still mainly feeding on milk and baby porridge? Then you will surely ask yourself, from when you should start learning to eat with the cutlery.
Do not be too hasty. Your child sets the pace. They will tell you when it will be interesting to hold the baby spoon yourself. Ask also in the kindergarten or the crib. Often the children eat there independently, without the parents knowing that.
If your baby is already there with cutlery, you should also support it at home, In general, however, the toddlers can eat relatively safely with the spoon at about one and a half to two years. With three to four years, they are then relatively independent even with children’s knife and fork.
So there is a long way to go in front of you and your child. With a little patience and unbreakable crockery you will also survive this time without any problems.Tip: Just talk to your sprout. Explain to him why he should wait now and respond individually if he can not wait partout. After all, the meal should not be a compulsion and stress, but sociable and fun.
Table manners for your toddler
If you begin to eat with your child at the table, you quickly ask yourself, when exactly what table manners should apply . Again, routine is everything . Just start with it from the beginning to wash their hands together with the offspring before eating. If you do that, it will be a matter of course for your toddler. It is the same with other rules.
For example, it should not be eaten until everyone has something on the plate. In addition, you should make it clear from the beginning that the table does not become a place to play with baby toys, books or mouths. At least in kindergarten,
it will attract attention with this behavior namely negative and rebuked. You should not overdo it with the table manners. For example, it is perfectly natural for a small child to drift into the game, eat, tell or not sit still until everyone is done.
Does the child have to eat everything on his plate?
This is probably the most common rule that is still found in old households. Everyone will have heard the phrase “You can only get up when the plate is empty” with grandma and grandfather. That is not always healthy.
The question is, namely, who has filled the food on the plate. Was it the child himself or an adult? When the child is full, it should not be forced to eat more. This causes discomfort and stomach problems in the worst case.
Admonish your offspring to load only as much as they can eat and to take another look later.
The strength is to be found in serenity
As you can see, teaching toddlers how to handle cutlery is not so easy. Instead, the child learns more by observing and imitating you and his environment. Keep calm, a table that avoids any distraction and child-friendly cutlery. So you offer your child the best conditions to like a big knife and fork. If something goes wrong this is completely normal and should not be punished.
