How to get my baby to use spoon and fork?

Question

My son spends more time chewing on the handle of the spoon or holding his fork while using his free hand to grab the food from the plate. I'd like to teach him to get away from grabbing food and more towards using the spoon and fork but haven't had much success so far. Do you have any suggestions?

Answer 1

Maybe your son is teething. Sit down in front of him, or put him near the table where he can see you eating with a fork and spoon. So naturally if he sees you eat with a fork he will want to try it. Let him see you take a bite, then help him get some food on his fork/spoon and give it to him to put in his own mouth. And when he does this, give him praise to show him he is doing it. He will want to do it again to get the same reaction out of you. If you make a big deal about it, like jump up and say "yeahh, good job" he will be waiting for you to do it when he takes another bite with his silverware. He will start to feed his self once he learns how to use the utensils.

Answer 2

Stick the food on the fork and hand him the the fork. Same for the spoon.