feeding self at daycare

Jenny952 · April 2013

At what age did your LO start feeding themselves at daycare? Right now I send yogurt, cottage cheese, or applesauce for DD, which the teachers still feed her, as she's not old enough to use a spoon herself (she's 17 months). She's supposed to move to the toddler room soon, so what are the expectations for her to be able to either master the spoon or for me to send all finger foods?

1026pumpkin · April 2013

Our DC started putting kids in giant smocks and letting them try to spoon feed as soon as they were sitting up well, prob at 6 or 7 months. He's still a big slob, but manages to get most of the food in his pie hole. I would ask them if they st

brettsmama · April 2013

DS starting doing well feeding himself with utensils around 13 months and and could feed himself reliably around 15 months. Just offer and encourage utensils at every meal and don't stress about messes in the beginning.

laurakaz13 · April 2013

DD has fed herself at daycare since 10 months old. She was pretty proficient with a spoon by 17 months, actually.

Ditto the huge mess she made at each meal, but who cares if she is learning. They always put the kids in smocks an

preggersin2011 · April 2013

In our center the 18month + room doesn't really assist at all in meals. Some kids go into the room w/o their parents not knowing that and their clothes get changed everyday! It is funny to hear their reaction "what do you mean he feeds himself? how?" LO h

LoCarb · April 2013

Around 9 months, DD could feed herself finger foods. We started with yogurt puffs and cereal graduating to softer solids like mashed potatoes. It took a while to get used to the spoon. The teachers should be used to a mess.

ASmallWonder · April 2013

Well I'd for sure introduce a spoon because it's totally possible for her to use one now even though all kids don't. Start sending finger foods like cheese sticks the teachers can pull apart, shredded chicken, diced fruits and veggies, Cheerios, etc

pitterpatter129 · April 2013

Feeding himself with fingers was when he started actual solid food (not baby food), like 9-10 months maybe? He could use a spoon pretty well with few spills by 15 months and the fork by about 18 months. By 2, he wasn't even spilling from ei

iluvmylab · April 2013

Around 13-14 months is when he started feeding himself lunch with a spoon well enough to not need any help. We started giving him spoons when he was around 10 months old whenever he ate. I think in DC, it kind of became a necessity for him. &n

Tink112011 · April 2013

DS started feeding himself right at 12 months when he moved to the toddler room. He's 16.5 months now and is pretty darn skilled with a spoon and fork. I must say I'm pretty impressed. Obviously his self feeding wasn't always good, and still isn't pe

PhDMomma · April 2013

I found that forks were easier for DS to feed himself with than spoon when he was learning (because the food for the most part doesn't fall off). So, I started the fork with things like banana slices and ravioli, and then once he got the hang of it

Leap08 · April 2013

Does she feed herself at home? I would start sending things that she can eat with her hands and that they don't need to feed her. At our daycare they need to be pretty much self-feeding when they move to the tots room at about 1 year. That's when

hoping4sticky · April 2013

Ugh, this is just reminding me that I need to give my 10 month old a spoon...Can't wait for the food flung on to the wall. He has been feeding himself with his fingers though for about 2 months, but we have done more BLW style.

OP - you just ha

Jenny952 · April 2013

hoping4sticky:

Ugh, this is just reminding me that I need to give my 10 month old a spoon...Can't wait for the food flung o

waTracy · April 2013

In the infant room when my daughter started eating more table foods, she started feeding herself. Of course they'd help a bit, but they encouraged them to try it themselves. DD was transitioned into toddler room at 12m and all the kids sat at

hoping4sticky · April 2013

Jenny952:
hoping4stick

KathrynMD · April 2013

we started giving DD a spoon around 11 months. ..

but we still mostly gave her finger foods - we did baby led weaning - so we let her use her hands for most foods. For yogurt or applesauce, I normally gave her a spoon to hold and u

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