Looking for toddler forks - minus the spoon!

[sophiesmom]

Does anyone know where to buy toddler forks? I find them in stores, but they always come with a spoon, DD has about 12 spoons! I just need a few more forks for her.
Thanks!

[brubeck]

Actually I just used one of the small forks that came with our everyday flatware set. My daughter loved this because her fork looks just like ours so she is using a 'dada fork'.

You're right though, the toddler flatware usually comes in a set.

[atlbaby]

That's a great idea about using the smaller flatwear forks (I like them myself!)

I recently bought a Gerber (or Sassy?) package of spoon&fork for Arielle--also adding to our spoon collection:) --but I've yet to try the fork with her. When is a good time to start? How low should my expectations be?;) About 2 weeks ago I started to put her food on a plate (on her high chair tray) and it's going sort of ok. I guess I'll never know with the fork until I try, but I'm curious how others have fared?

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2:) EDD 10/24/03

[trumansmom]

Have you tried stabbing things for her and then handing her the fork? That seems to be working for Truman for about the first 1/3 of his meal. Then he loses interests and goes back to using his hands. We're working on it!!

I have a friend whose daughter is a little younger than Truman, and she uses a fork and spoon exclusively. She's a little tubby thing (and adorable!), so her mother just says she was motivated!


Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01

[brubeck]

I know kids who were using forks at age 13 or 14 months, but my daughter was still mastering spoons. Turns out she was better with a spoon than these kids. My ped said that using a spoon is harder than using a fork so if your child is working on the spoon and making progress, hold off for awhile. If the spoon progress is stagnant, try using the fork.

So I waited a few more months. One day ( I think my daughter was 17 months or so) we were in a restaurant and she started putting Cheerios on the tips of her crayons and eating them off the crayons. The next day I started her on a fork and she took right to it. :-)

If your child is comfy with a spoon, try using a fork along with the spoon when eating mashed potatoes. The fork works pretty much the same as the spoon with this food and helps introduce them to it.

[LisaS]

I've been stabbing things for DD since about 1 yr and then handing her the fork to put in her mouth. She really got the hang of picking up the/fork & spoon from the tray or the bowl (where I've pre-loaded it) and getting it into her mouth a few weeks ago, around 13 months. Now I'm not allowed near her mouth with either - she does it herself. But, she can't load either the spoon or fork yet. It was quite an accomplishment to get her to hand the fork or spoon back to me when she was done eating its contents rather than flinging it on the floor. So, right now, I'm working on getting her to put it back in the bowl and pick some food up....I figure it will take a few months but she really enjoys putting the utensils in her mouth. If pieces of food fall off the spoons and forks (as they inevitably do), she just uses her fingers.

[brubeck]

Solution to this: use multiple pieces of flatware. I know it's more to clean, but then if your toddler is holding a spoon you can use a different one to 'load up'. When your toddler drops the current spoon to grab the full one you can load up the dropped one.

I used to feed my daughter with 3 spoons. One for each of her hands and one for me. :-)

[ecarley]

I've just been wondering the same thing recently! Unfortunately, I don't have any advice, except to use your salad forks. I've found that my daughter is beyond the point where she'll be using it dangerously (at least I hope so), so I'm just letting her learn to use the regular one at her own pace. She usually uses her hands to place the food on the fork, and then puts it in her mouth. Whatever works, I guess!