6 Month Old Loves the Spoon Too Much

I have gone thru this same thing with all three of my kids. She is just exploring and learning. Give her her own spoon it is messy but all in all she will learn to feed herself with utensils instead of her hands. just take off any clothing you don't want ruined and the both of you will have a great experience. Just remember she is still a baby and learning by watching. enjoy hope it helps

My daughter did the same thing. I just gave her her own spoon and I used another to feed her. Whenever she'd open her mouth to put her spoon in, I'd put the other spoon (with food on it)into her mouth. It is pretty messy to let a baby feed themselves, so I used a huge bib.

Hi! I also have a daughter that age that we just started on her ceral, and she gets grabby too! Sometimes she even shoves her bib in her mouth or spits rasberries with her food in her mouth! But, as frustrating as that can be.. it is just her way of exploring the new food, and learning how to "try" and feed herself. Everybook I have read says the same thing.. that it is part of developing into their own, and to let them do it! They are learning.. but, to each parents descrection as to how far they are willing to take it. If and when my daughter decides she wants to explore with the spoon or bib, I let her for about a min, then try to get her back on task by slowly removing it while putting another bite in her mouth.. if she seems more interested in the play... I just take it that she isnt all that hungry and we will try again with it later. Hope that helps!

At six months she's not really "playing" with her food but exploring what everything is. Give her a spoon to explore adn you have one to feed her, you can also encourage her to dip her spoon into the food and try to put it in her mouth. Beware it will be messy but fun for her and easier for you to feed her with out a big sruggle

Try giving her a spoon to hold while you feed her! Let her try feeding herself a little bit too!

Give her her own spoon to hold while you feed her. That way she can chew and put it in her mouth between the bites you are giving her. That's worked with both my kids.

Extra spoon works wonders. I know it sounds like a broken record but it works!!!!

easy...:) mine (almost 7 mo now)does the same thing. Give her her own spoon to copy you with. She'll be too busy trying to get it to her mouth and sticking it in her eye/armpit etc to bother grabbing at yours while you are in turn, able to feed her with "your" spoon.

We have trained both our sons that they may not partake in feeding at first just by reminding them and removing their hands. It has worked well for us, but you have to stick to your guns. Our second son we had to help by holding his hands in his lap. Good luck. I know it's tough.

My daughter did the same thing at that age. She was trying to feed herself early and it gets messy! But thats a great thing that she already likes the spoon. Feeding a 6 months old is never going to be clean or easy. Our method was to have two sppons at feeding time. One for her to play with and one for us to feed her. Hope that works for you.

Not sure if she's table feeding yet, but I always leave some cheerios or some small pieces of food on my son's tray while I feed him his cereal. Otherwise, I was going to say what Carrie said, just to give her an extra spoon for her to hold while you feed her.

At this age they love to play with anything new that goes in their mouth--the spoon is new and exciting and feels different! She will get enough to eat--don't worry. If you can, let her play with it while you feed her with another spoon. Gerber makes spoons that are covered with a soft plastic that won't hurt her. She will eventually figure out how to use the spoon, and then you won't have to worry about any of this at all! Good luck...

My suggestion would be to have two spoons. I have two daughters and I understand what you are going through. If you give her one spoon to hold and feed her with the other it might go along easier. If she tries to grab the other spoon give her both so her hands are full and grab another one for yourself to feed her with.

try letting her have her own spoon to use while you have one and feed her good bites, she gets her spoon and doesnt cry and you get to feed her.

My daughter was the same. Give her a spoon to hold or do whatever while you feed her with a different.
Worked for me.

Allow her to have a spoon and you use a different spoon. It is great that she wants to handle it and explore it. At only six months old, she will not be learning that mealtime is playtime.

LET her feed herself! She just wants to show her independence! You'll probably appreciate it soon!

I'll say it again: two spoons! You didn't say when you feed the cereal. Make sure it is not when you are having to hurry out the door for work. Take your time, don't rush and both of you enjoy the experience and ALWAYS have the camera handy!

R. CD(DONA)
from heaven to earth

Hi S.-
I know exactly what you're talking about. My son is almost 7 months old and he does the same exact thing. He doesn't do it all the time, but when he does, I'll let him take it for a little while to explore. Another thing I let him do, is hold the spoon with me while I'm feeding him. I don't know what good it does, but I just try to get him involved to get the feel of things. He screams, too, however, I've gotten to the point where I'm just sitting there laughing, because it was ONLY a spoon. Once he's realized there's still more food to be eaten, he stops crying. But it happens often, I guess I just let him cry it out.
I hope this helps!
S. B.

My one year old has that issue, so I have decided to give him a spoon and get one for myself. I believe he is trying to feed himself but doesn't know how. My husband gets a little frustrated, but, to be honest, this is the only way he will ever learn to use his spoon.

Give her two spoons - one for each hand - so she can't grab the spoon you are using. My first son loved his spoons (during feeding and playtime). He'd carry one around all day and if he got cranky, all you needed to do was let him hold a spoon. And then one day (around 13 mos) he didn't care anymore. Good luck. You can instill proper table manners when she's old enough to understand them. Right now, a spoon is just another cool thing to try to grab.

My son also loves the spoon. So I gave him one to play with for a minute while I got his dinner ready. I would feed him with another spoon while he still played with that one. Of course, sometimes he wanted both spoons, so I let him have that one too. With both hands busy, he couldn't grab the third spoon that I used to feed him. He is nine months old now, and has outgrown the "spoon" infatuation. It's just a phase and your daughter is curious about her environment and the things in it. Encourage her curiosity. She's a baby, there'll be plenty of time to teach manners later. Good Luck!

I remember this happening to me and it's simply their way of learning to feed themselves, no matter how frustrating it is to you. I found that if I gave my children their own spoon(s) to hold, they were happy. So you may have a few more spoons to wash and it can still make feeding difficult at times, but she'll move past it quickly.

I agree with the others, give her an extra spoon. Also sit at the high chair and start giving her cherios, and other finger foods. Another thing is to let her have a plastic rattle or theething toy to hold, and you can put it in the dishwasher.