Is Cutlery Safe For Babies?

Regardless of whether you’re following the baby led weaning (BLW) or traditional weaning route, it’s never too early to start your little one with a cutlery set perfect for their size.

Many parents wonder whether introducing cutlery too soon is safe for babies. Provided the cutlery you first offer is designed well for baby use then it’s never too early to allow them to explore. Babies usually don’t understand at first how to use what they are holding but by 8-9 months there is a good chance they may be ready to start experimenting. By introducing cutlery you are helping babies with their fine motor skills and development. Whether you’ve started weaning yet or not, and regardless of whether you’re following the baby-led weaning or traditional weaning route, it’s never too early to offer a small set of cutlery. There are many options available to help with baby first cutlery sets. Read on for our handy tips for introducing cutlery to your little one.

Tips for introducing cutlery for babies:

Firstly, we recommend you start by offering a spoon. Most babies find this the easiest piece of cutlery to get the hang of, as the scooping action is easier than the stabbing motion required from the fork. Scooping requires less pressure and force from the wrist so they’ll get the hang of a spoon much more quickly and not become frustrated from struggling with a fork straight away.

Offer cutlery to your little one as early as possible, so that it is available for them to explore when they are ready. Simply place onto your mat or highchair tray alongside the food your little one has and allow them to ignore or play with it as they wish!

Wherever possible, eat with your little one so that they can see you eating and learn from watching what you do and how you use cutlery. Your little one will soon learn that they should hold the cutlery by the handle and guide it to their mouth to taste the contents – you’ll be amazed at what they learn from copying you!

Feel free to offer pre-loaded spoons if you wish. You can scoop a little of whatever food you’ve offered and place it onto the mat or highchair tray so that when they choose to explore it, there is something for them to taste on the end to help them get the idea.

As your little one becomes more confident with the spoon, you could start to offer the fork so that they can explore this new piece of equipment! Again, allow them to watch you stab your own food and enjoy it. They’ll soon master this new action too!

Relax and remember that every child is different – some love using cutlery early on and others prefer to learn by feeling the textures directly with their hands. Take their lead and let them explore in their own time – they’ll be sat using their exciting bright new cutlery before you know it!

Short Handed Cutlery For Babies

Our hugely popular learner baby cutlery set is the ideal way to get started. The curved handles fit neatly into tiny palms and bend slightly at the mouthpiece to help guide the food from hand to mouth. When we designed them, it was important to us that they had a short chunky handle for babies to be able to use straight away from 6 months, The thicker and more curved handle helps to fit more comfortably than most other brands on the market. We have also ensured that there is a rubber grip part to the handle so that they won’t slip, meaning that little ones have more control whilst learning how to use cutlery.
Please note that this set is curved for right-hand dominant use, as this is the usual hand of preference when babies start to self -feed. If you think your baby has a left-hand dominance then we suggest using a straight handled spoon or fork, as it’s difficult to find left-handed ergonomic starter cutlery.

As babies progress, we suggest moving on to Silicone Spoons. EasyTots silicone spoons come in a 4 pack and have a longer handle and super soft bendable tips. Babies and toddlers love these for many reasons. Not only are they great for chewers, but they are also soft on gums and easy grip. The soft bendy deep-set tips really help with mastering scooping. Learning to successfully load food is quite the art, and it can be frustrating for little ones. Spoons that bend on impact with the plate and food, enable more loading success. These spoons bend around corners and this results in more success. This quickly acts as positive reinforcement and babies’ confidence will soon grow.

Last but not least we can’t miss out bamboo cutlery for babies and toddlers . Bamboo is very attractive and really on-trend. Paired with a silicone tip they make perfect baby utensils that can have years of use. One thing to remember about bamboo spoons is that they will need occasional treatment with oil (like coconut oil) to maintain the condition of the handle

For older babies 14 months+ It is now the time to start to explore chopping food up all by themselves. We highly recommend the Doddl knife for the stage. A unique designed baby safe tool made to easily chop through foods.