Contents:
- Medical Video: Children's Rehabilitation: Learning to Eat
- The right time to introduce children to eat using spoons and forks
- Tips for training children to eat using spoons and forks
- 1. Get to know the signs
- 2. Choose a spoon that is suitable for his age
- 3. Know when children should use a spoon or fork
Medical Video: Children's Rehabilitation: Learning to Eat
Entering the age of 6 months, babies are allowed to eat food other than breast milk. He can enjoy fruit juice, team porridge, or crushed baby biscuits. When entering this phase, indeed your child needs parents or adult help to feed him food. However, as you get older, your little one must also be taught to use his own spoon and fork. So, when is the right time to teach children to eat using a spoon?
The right time to introduce children to eat using spoons and forks
Although messy, teaching children to eat alone is important. In addition to training children's independence, you also sharpen the basic skills that must be mastered by the child, namely holding and putting food into the mouth. Although it seems easy, children need a long time to learn this.
"Around the age of 6 months, babies can hold food in the palm of their hands, followed by the ability to clamp food with their fingers.", Explained Eileen Behan, RD, LD, an author of a book called The Baby Food Bible, as reported by The Bump
At that age the baby can already hold a spoon and other light cutlery. However, he could not spoon food properly. Most likely he will only move the lightweight plastic spoon up and down with several falls apart.
When babies reach the age of 13 or 18 months, generally children can be taught to eat alone using a spoon. Three months later, the child can be very good at using spoons and other cutlery.
Different from a spoon, training your little one using a fork needs extra attention. Why? The fork has a sharp tip and can harm the baby. So, you should practice using a fork after the child is able to use the spoon properly.
Tips for training children to eat using spoons and forks
Training children using a spoon needs patience. Maybe the child has repeatedly dropped a spoon, littered the table, or made laundry to pile up because of his dirty clothes being fed. Some of the things you need to pay attention to when teaching children to use a spoon include:
1. Get to know the signs
The development of children's motor skills varies. Some are fast, some are slow. Even though the child is more than one year old, do not force the child if he or she is not ready. You have to pay attention to how the child responds to the spoon, whether he looks interested and curious or not.
2. Choose a spoon that is suitable for his age
Adults must be used to using metal spoons or forks. However, the two eating utensils are not suitable if your little one is used for training. Choose a lightweight spoon, usually made of plastic and a smaller shape. You can choose a spoon with a rubber-coated tip so that it doesn't get out of your baby's hands easily.
3. Know when children should use a spoon or fork
Spoons and forks have different functions. Spoons are used to take foods that are small or runny, such as soup, rice, porridge, yogurt or pudding. While forks are used to take food that is quite slippery or larger, for example pieces of fruit, pasta, or noodles.
