When should they be feeding themselves?

I have 2 year old twins and a 10 month old. We have to have the iPad on for my kids to eat. I know I know, not a good habit we started but it works and they eat well. I swear this is how they learned their abcs and numbers. They love those videos.

Anyhow we have tried letting them feed themselves. My older one has no interest and looks at me like why are you not feeding me? The other one loves to however very little winds up in his mouth. He winds up throwing it at his brother, fighting ensues, then I am yelling and cleaning up a mess.

It's just so much easier and faster for me to feed them. Plus my mother in law watches them while I'm at work and I know she has no desire to clean up a huge mess after cooking for them, etc. so she def prefers to feed them.

Should they be feeding themselves at this point? My friend told me be thankful they let me still feed them since her son has no interest in letting her feed him anymore and she said it takes over an hour for him to eat and then she has to clean everything up. Ugh. I am dreading this.

ETA: sorry. Should have clarified. I meant feeding themselves with utensils. They have no problem using finger foods-nuggets, fruit, etc.

Message edited 3/24/2014 7:42:46 PM.

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

Do you mean with their hands or spoons? Mine started feeding themselves puffs at 6 mo and all table food at 10 mo. They always drop stuff. I've given spoons but its a huge mess. They have no clue. I need to give yogurt of something that sticks so they learn. My cousin said her 3yo twins still prefer to eat with their hands but will use utensils.

Ps mine won't let me feed them so I have to limit to foods they can pick up.

Message edited 3/24/2014 11:49:16 PM.

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

My daughter was finger feeding herself by 6 months old and using a spoon well by 16 months and now at 19 months starting to master the fork. DD is a little early with it though, because she was delayed in gross motor and made up for it with her fine motor skills. Kids should be able to feed themselves with a spoon by 18 months though. and 22 months with a fork. That's what I usually see in the milestone charts. My best friends daughter was also able to use a spoon and fork to feed herself by 18-22 months.

When should they be feeding themselves?

My ds is 2 and I haven't fed him in well over a year. He uses forks and spoons with no issues.

IMO you should def not be feeding them.

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

Sorry, I don't remember feeding my 2 yr old.
She's been using utensils for a long time...
Def after 1.5. Probably before then. I had my kids drinking out of cups shortly after 1 (not sippy cups).
I'm sure kids will learn to eat by themselves eventually...
But IF you are asking, the 2 year olds should be eating solo.

When should they be feeding themselves?

My son is 22 months and can feed himself with a fork and spoon, although really thin liquids like broth a still a mess. He does better with like yogurt or applesauce.

He still gives up and uses his fingers sometimes, if he's really hungry or like its a fork and scrambled eggs that keep falling apart.

I still feed him sometimes too in the interest of time for breakfast in the morning. I need to get out the door and he wants to like closely examine every bite sometimes.

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

My 21 month old has been using utensils for months, but still often opts to use her fingers. She's still a very messy eater. My MIL insists on feeding her for the two days per week that DD is at her house, and it drives me nuts. I only feed her occasionally when I'm trying to encourage her to eat a little more (and I use the TV for distraction at times, although it isn't the best habit).

When should they be feeding themselves?

My son is turning 2 in a few weeks and can feed himself with a utensil, but with messier foods I choose to feed him because I'm in no mood to deal with the major mess!

When should they be feeding themselves?

My DD is 2.5 and I don't think I have fed her since she was 1. She uses a fork, spoon or her hands.

When should they be feeding themselves?

DD will be 2 in a month and she feeds herself but she's still pretty messy and struggles with utensils at times. Recently she started doing much better with a spoon for something like yogurt. She can use a fork but usually prefers to use her hands for most foods. I do help her here and there just bc I want to get more in her.

When should they be feeding themselves?

DD is almost 16 months and she feeds herself. She just learned to use a fork and spoon, though it still gets very messy I try not help her so she can learn. I think at 2 they should be able to feed themselves and handle an eating utensil...

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

My little one is 20 months and has been feeding herself with utensils for a while now. I started giving her a spoon around 8 months to play with and I think by 14 months she was doing fairly well. Stuff like milk on cereal and soup she made a mess with but now is getting better.

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

Finger foods at 9 months, DS started self feeding with a spoon at a year or so( he wants nothing to do with me feeding him usually). He's 22 months and uses a fork and spoon for most things, if he has issues he just uses his fingers (he is still better with fingers then utensils).

Re: When should they be feeding themselves?

DS is almost 14 months and has been feeding himself with his fingers for months already. He's learning to use a fork but isn't proficient with it yet. Sometimes he holds the fork in 1 hand and feeds himself with his fingers with the other hand. But he wants to be like mommy and daddy and use utensils.

IMO at 2 years old they just be feeding themselves.