Eating with a Spoon

Safety

1
At the weaning table, place one spoon on the right of the bowl for the child and keep one for yourself.
2
Say: 'Here is your spoon.' Load the child's spoon with a small amount of thick food and hold it out, handle toward them.
3
Wait for the child to take the handle. If they do, let them bring it to their mouth; guide their wrist only if the food is about to fall.
4
While the child eats from their spoon, load your spoon and hold it ready, so you can trade when theirs is empty.
5
Trade spoons: take their empty spoon and hand them the loaded one.
6
Once the child dips their own spoon into the bowl, slow down and let them try. Pushing the spoon into the food and lifting it is the point of interest.
7
When the child stops eating or plays with the food, say: 'You are finished,' and take the bowl and spoons away.

The child loads the spoon with thick food on their own
The child eats thinner foods such as soup from a spoon
The child eats a whole meal with a spoon while the adult eats beside them
The child uses a small serving spoon to move food from bowl to plate (see Serving Self from a Bowl)

Food falls off a tipped or overfilled spoon before it reaches the mouth.

Expect a mess; the child learns by missing. Wiping the table together at the end is part of the meal, not a correction.