Why do many mothers try to teach a child to eat with a spoon from a very young age? It is much more convenient to feed the baby yourself. The kitchen will remain clean, no need to spend energy on cleaning. And the child will eat food quickly and without unnecessary trouble. Maybe you shouldn’t start accustoming your child so early to eat on your own? What's the point of this?
Child development
In fact, the sooner the better. Because the most ordinary teaspoon or tablespoon is an excellent adaptation for the development of the child. It's all about fine motor skills and its effect on the brain of a child. Manipulations with a spoon contribute to the development of thinking and speech of the child, as well as strengthen the baby's hand.
So, mastering cutlery contributes to overall development. Just imagine how many brain operations a child needs to carry out in order to correctly take a spoon, grab food with it and, by correctly tilting the instrument of action, get them directly into the mouth, while not dropping the food. This is really a very difficult task for the baby. The kid learns to coordinate his movements, and here he will need the help of adults.
Favorable age for dating with a spoon
We have already found that the simplest manipulations with a spoon have a beneficial effect on the development of the child. Now let’s decide when and how to teach a child to hold a spoon correctly and whether it should be “right” from the very beginning.
To make the whole learning process as easy as possible, it is important to get into the "window" of his interests. That is, when it will be open for training, when it will become really interesting for him.
Most often, this "window" opens in the region of 1.2 years - 1.4 years. During this period, the baby may begin to tear out the spoon from your hands and try to manipulate it yourself. If this happens, then it’s time to teach the child to eat with a spoon. Otherwise, the baby will quickly cool off to this lesson, and it will become much more difficult to teach him to eat himself.
Favorable period
The period from a year to two is the most optimal when you need to show your child how to properly hold a spoon and fork. It is necessary to teach the child to use cutlery as intended. To learn how to eat porridge, how to chop pieces of vegetables and meat on a fork. Learn how to hold a spoon when eating soup. It is important during this period to show the baby how to use the cup, and abandon the baby bottles and drinkers altogether.
In the second year of life, a child with great pleasure tries something new and seeks to learn how to do everything on his own. This period should not be missed and should be used to the maximum in order to teach the child how to properly hold a spoon. How to drink from a cup. How to use napkins. How to wash your hands before and after meals.
Can you teach all this in three years?
You can, of course, learn to use cutlery after three. But, as Masaru Ibuka said: "After three it's too late." Not literally, of course. It’s even more accurate to say: “After three it’s already difficult.”
After three years, teaching a child all this will be really much more difficult. Because the kid will not understand such drastic changes. They fed him from the spoon for three years, and then they took him and decided to accustom him to independence. Why on earth? Most likely, this will not be to the liking of the kid, and the learning process will be much harder.
Take care of your nerves and the nerves of your baby, start teaching him all this sooner.
Child holds spoon wrong
At first, its “dining independence”, the baby does not hold a spoon and fork in the same way as parents do. How to teach to hold a spoon? First you need to figure out how it is “right” and how “wrong.”
From one year to two years, the correct grip of a spoon is considered to be a grip on it. But the child must hold it by the middle part of the handle and grab it with four fingers on top and one thumb, below. Such a capture will be considered correct until two years.
If the spoon is not grasped correctly, the child simply cannot put food in his mouth. In this case, he as if sucks it. Try to teach your child using a small coffee spoon to eat correctly, showing how to properly hold a coffee spoon. Gradually offer the baby a larger spoon and, in case of improper grip, adjust the baby's handle again.
Rules for accustoming to the independent use of cutlery
The most important rule: teach the child to eat solid food (porridge, vegetables, meat) from a spoon first, and only then accustom him to food like soup, okroshka.
The baby will not be able to immediately learn to hold liquid food in a spoon without spilling it along the way to the mouth.
A child can try to eat solid food as early as a year, and by the age of one and a half years he will masterfully cope with this matter. But it is worth accustoming yourself to independent consumption of soup only after 1.5 years.
So, remember. We begin the independent use of cutlery with the use of solid dishes.
Role Model Rule
Every child loves to copy their parents. Therefore, during lunch, try to take the baby with him and plant him so that he can see every member of the family. The child will consider your manipulations with a spoon, fork, mug and sooner or later he will want to repeat it all. All you need is to not miss the moment and seize the baby’s initiative.
Also, a joint meal will be useful so that the child quickly learns to repeat your movements, which you make with a spoon in your hands.
At first, the child will not be able to repeat this movement correctly, but will only try. In order to teach a child to correctly make a path with a spoon, you need to use the "hand in hand" method. That is, you take the baby’s hand in your hand and do the necessary drawing with a spoon. It is necessary to lead the handle of the baby carefully and gently, but persistently.
Repeat this exercise about five times in each meal - and the result will not be long in coming.
Task Complications
Tasks for preparing for the independent use of cutlery need to be complicated. But you need to do this gradually, slowly:
- At first, the child learns to do only the most basic thing - to eat food from a spoon and take it out of his mouth. All this is done using the hand-in-hand method. Where, at the end of the manipulation, the adult removes his hand and allows the baby to finish the work they started (eat food). With all this, it is important to constantly praise the baby, encouraging that he will succeed and already do well.
- Then the adult needs to gradually remove his hand. This is done somewhere in the middle of the path of the spoon to the baby’s mouth. That is, the parent sets the direction for the spoon, the child picks it up and does it on its own.
- Then you need to give the baby more opportunities for independence. We help the child using the same method to grab food with a spoon, and the child does the rest of the procedure for delivering food to his mouth.
- The next step is the key to learning how to use your own spoon. The child himself must grab the food from the plate, bring it to his mouth and eat it. But we are still there and always ready to help and help the baby, gently holding his hand with his hand.
Table Etiquette Rules
After you teach your baby how to use cutlery correctly and eat on his own, you can begin to teach him the rules of etiquette at the table.
It is necessary to explain to him what cannot be done and what can be done:
- You can not slurp at the table.
- After the meal you need to put the spoon and fork on a plate.
- You can not play, clown, grimacing at the table.
- You can’t talk while you have food in your mouth.
- You can’t reach for bread through the whole table, you need to ask the one closest to him to serve it.
- After any meal you need to say "thank you" to the hostess.
Try to learn the rules using common children's sayings:
- When I eat, I am deaf and dumb.
- When I eat, I don’t listen to anyone, etc.
About five years, you can begin to teach a child to use a knife. This rule is optional. But a child who knows how to use devices, like an adult, causes delight in public.
It will be pleasant for both the baby and the parents.