https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 31 Oct 2026 05:57:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1213021 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:10:46 +0000 cascademom 1213021@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MsLipGloss: When he attempts to dump it out in a tantrum or whatever, I take it away, then give it back when he calms down. Even before I started instituting plates and utensils, he loves to drop food down and go "uh oh." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212805 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:03:44 +0000 looch 1212805@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I always served my son on a plate, he never got food straight on his tray because I would have to transport it from the kitchen and putting on a plate or in a dish was easier!</p> <p>We started utensils very early, like as soon as he could hold them, he was self feeding from a spoon by 12 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212800 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:02:13 +0000 yoursilverlining 1212800@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>She started getting utensils around 14 months and at 17 months uses both a fork and spoon very well, and at every meal. </p> <p>They use forks/spoons at daycare too, so she gets practice multiple times a day, as well as the "peer pressure" of doing what the cool older toddlers are doing! ;-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212758 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:49:18 +0000 MsLipGloss 1212758@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cascademom: Haha! My 14 month old loves to dump everything out of containers and flip her plates over! :P Her motor skills are great, but lately she just really seems to enjoy watching things come out of containers. *sigh* I ordered a second splat mat and am just gonna ride it out!</p> <p>ETA: Oh, and her sippy is her favorite projectile! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212695 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:14:42 +0000 winniebee 1212695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started consistently giving him utensils around 14 months and by 15/16 months he was pretty good at it. He's almost 18 months and sometimes shoveling the food with his hands is faster and better :). I'd say until around 17 months he treated the plate or bowl like a frisbee. I kept trying and now he keeps them on his tray until the end of the meal, and only then do they go overboard. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212690 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:12:20 +0000 bushelandapeck 1212690@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use a plate and offer utensils at meal times and have been doing this for a couple of months (DS is 15mos). He doesn't really get the utensil part but he does keep his food in the plate/bowl and that's all I really care about right now :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212683 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:09:34 +0000 Mamaof2 1212683@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Cant remember with my DS but my DD started DCP at 15 months and around 16 months I figured I better start giving her a fork. So I did and she picked it up and pierced her food and ate it! I was sooo proud of her. The next day I told her teacher and she laughed and said "we have been giving her a spoon and fork with lunch everyday since she started" haha oops! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212642 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 07:15:50 +0000 Dandelion 1212642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started early with DS, too...around 10 months. It just takes practice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212607 Wed, 13 Nov 2013 05:41:10 +0000 lamariniere 1212607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started early. When DS was 9 or 10 months old, I would give him a spoon, sometimes two, to hold while I fed him. He started actually using the spoon and plate around 14 months, granted, it was very very messy, but he was trying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212437 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:36:21 +0000 regberadaisy 1212437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When did you start? We started a plate and utensils pretty early on. Maybe 10 months? I feel like around 15/16 month is when I got serious about the fork and spoon. She caught on pretty quickly and now uses one pretty much at all meals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212428 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:33:52 +0000 cascademom 1212428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lindsay05: I just keep offering the plate and bowls, partly because I'm lazy. I'd rather have him eat off a plate in his high chair that can be washed in the dishwasher than clean the high chair tray. My goal is to civilize him early with both. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212343 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:51:54 +0000 Lindsay05 1212343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cyndistar3: I hope so! LO is just so rough with everything so to be patient enough to use a fork is just torture for her!</p> <p>@cascademom: Wow, you LO is doing awesome! We do the snack thing in a bowl and she manages quite well it is just the fine motor skills that are frustrating her! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212256 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:58:08 +0000 cascademom 1212256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've been using plates and utensils pretty consistently for a few months now at 14 months old. He can self feed with a spoon for oatmeal and yogurt. Still working on the fork with him. I bought more divided plates and bowls to encourage it. I offer snacks in bowls too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212147 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:04:12 +0000 cyndistar3 1212147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My lo is 17 months too and every once in a while she will use a plate and fork but most of the time it just makes a bigger mess as she loves to dump it out on the tray or floor too and she typically gives up on the fork after a while and just uses her fingers. Don't worry, practice makes perfect, eventually she will get it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-your-lo-use-a-plate-and-utensils#post-1212127 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:51:45 +0000 Lindsay05 1212127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO is almost 17 months and we are working on trying to get her to eat out of a plate/bowl and at least trying to use a spoon or fork. Most of the time she throws her utensil on the floor and shovels it with her hand. And when shes really in a mood she likes to try and spill the plate/bowl on her tray or floor. I feel like she should be grasping this by now? </p>