Contents
What kind of baby spoon to choose?
Prefer a teaspoon plastic or via silicone. The contact of these materials with your child’s palate will be less cold than a small metal spoon. It will also be gentler on his gums and tongue. Check that the contours are rounded so that it best fits its small mouth.
The ideal size for your first meals: the mocha format. This shape fits babies perfectly since it is smaller than a teaspoon. Its capacity is smaller, which avoids giving it too large a portion of mash or compote in the early stages of food diversification.
Around the age of 2, your little one will be happy to wield the spoon like an adult and bring the ingredients to his mouth! So choose a teaspoon shape with a good size handle that is easy to grasp for your little one whose fine motor skills are developing.
How can you help your child to accept the teaspoon?
Since he was born, your baby has been in contact with you, takes his meals snuggled up against his mother. With the arrival of the teaspoon, many changes occur at the same time, in particular the way of feeding him: he is no longer against you. In the beginning, keep feeding him by taking him on your lap. The transition will be easier. If he’s really having trouble accepting the teaspoon, you can start by giving him a bottle of milk. Then, you will intersperse spoonfuls of small jars of vegetables or homemade mash. So that he gets used to it: Do not hesitate to give him a small spoon with which he will play in his park. He will be happy to put it in his mouth, like most of his toys!
Even if he is not yet seated in his high chair, you can feed him his meal in his deckchair, in raised position. Sit at their height on a cushion, not a chair, to avoid back pain. Favor exchanges, congratulate him.
Using a teaspoon, instructions for use
Avoid changing consistency. For your first meals, prefer foods that melt in your mouth, such as mashed carrots or compotes. For that, long live the small pots in the first weeks of food diversification because they allow to take the right quantity.
Food that is neither too hot nor too cold. Check the food temperature by pouring it lightly on your hand. This will prevent your baby from burning his tongue or rejecting a dessert fresh out of the fridge. The temperature of the food can create blockages compared to the use of the teaspoon.
Stay zen! Does your baby get it all over the place, barely opens his mouth, sucks more than he chews? He doesn’t know how to swallow yet. This is completely normal. Equip him with a waterproof bib and you will see that he will quickly progress in his learning of taste.
Avoid conflicts around the plate. Discovering new tastes, other textures, it may displease your baby. So many novelties can worry even the most reckless! He may therefore refuse the teaspoon, throw it on the ground. In this case, do not insist, you will repeat the experience in a week or two. Each child has their own rhythm. You have to adapt to it.