My Own Spoon at Mealtime

Step by step

1. 1Get ready: Grab two identical baby spoons, a bib with sleeves, and adjust the highchair.
2. 2Hand your baby their spoon right at the start of the meal, and keep the second one to feed them.
3. 3Let it be messy: Touching the food, missing their mouth, and tasting an empty spoon are all great practice.
4. 4Alternate your successful spoonfuls with their attempts, without ever taking their spoon away. If it drops to the floor, pull out a spare and keep going calmly.
5. 5Celebrate the wins (“You dipped your spoon!”) and ignore the misses.
6. 6Wrap up when your baby turns their head away. Wipe down with a washcloth and praise their effort.

What it builds

Holding their own spoon while you feed them is your baby's first real step toward eating independently. Learning to eat alone takes dozens of clumsy tries: the sooner they get to practice, the quicker the movement clicks—along with that proud 'I did it!' feeling.