Overview

Self feeding is when your child brings food to their mouth to eat by themself. They use their fingers or utensils, like a spoon, fork, or knife. Different cultures might use other utensils, like chopsticks. Learning to self feed supports your child to be independent while learning many different skills. It also allows them to take part in family routines and social gatherings.

Self-feeding skills develop over time and include finger feeding, learning to use spoons, and learning to use utensils.

When to call for help

Your child may need more support if they've had lots of practice self feeding and still:

• don't use their fingers to pick up food by 9 months of age
• don't hold a spoon by 12 months of age

How self-feeding skills develop

Learning to self feed supports your child to:

• develop fine motor skills
• explore and handle foods of different sizes and textures
• take part in family mealtime routines

Self feeding starts with your child using their fingers. Your child will:

• hold large pieces of food, like a baby cracker, at around 6 months of age
• pick up small pieces of food with their fingers and start to hold a spoon at around 9 months of age
• finger feed by themself at around 12 months of age

Then they learn to use utensils, like spoons, forks, knives, or chopsticks. Your child will:

• scoop food with a spoon or fork at around 15 to 18 months of age
• spear food with a fork at around 3 years of age
• spread jam with a knife at around 4 years of age
• start using chopsticks between 4 to 5 years of age
• start using a fork and knife together to eat at around 5 years of age

When your child learns to use utensils will depend on when you introduce them. As they learn to self feed, your child develops fine motor skills such as grasp, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, eye-hand coordination, and dexterity.

Build self-feeding skills

It takes time and practice for your child to become skilled at self feeding. You can support your child to build these skills.

• Let them eat with their fingers to allow them to explore textures and develop fine motor skills.
• Eat with your child so they can see how you eat with your fingers or utensils.
• Fill a spoon with food and offer it to your baby to grasp and bring to their mouth.
• If your child lets you help, gently hold their elbow to guide their hand or a utensil to their mouth. You can also try placing your hand over theirs for support.
• Follow their interest to use their fingers or utensils to eat.
• Make sure their feet touch the ground or rest on a footstool when they’re eating.

When your child is learning to use a new utensil, they might switch to using their fingers if they become tired or if they’re really hungry. Your child will be messy as they learn to use their fingers and utensils to eat. You might see food on their face, on the table, and on the floor. As they build fine motor skills, eating will become much less messy.

Get help

For more information about how occupational therapy can help, contact:

• Health Link at 811
• Your local pediatric community rehabilitation service
• Your doctor, public health nurse, or other healthcare provider