Why Use Two Spoons when Starting Solids?
When starting solids, it’s important to let your baby explore, play and use spoons at mealtime. Using a spoon is a developmental milestone that is critical for baby’s feeding success. That’s why we invented the perfectly-sized spoon for baby, the ezpz Tiny Spoon. We get a lot of questions about why we sell the spoon in a twin-pack compared to our competitors, who sell a single spoon. Here are some of the feeding benefits and techniques for using two spoons at mealtime.
Preloaded Spoon in the Queue: A preloaded spoon is when you dip the Tiny Spoon into food and hand the spoon to your baby (so they can put the spoon in their mouth independently). Having two spoons for this technique is important because your baby will usually do one of the following:
- Give: Take the spoon you are offering, eat from it and give the spoon back to you. Have the other preloaded Tiny Spoon in the queue for your baby.
- Hold: Take the spoon you are offering, eat from it and hold onto the spoon (refusing to give it back to you). Luckily, you have the other preloaded Tiny Spoon in the queue!
- Drop: Take the spoon you are offering, eat from it and drop the spoon on the highchair tray or dining table. Have the other preloaded Tiny Spoon in the queue for your baby.
Baby Drops a Spoon: As your baby learns the complicated fine motor movements of holding a spoon independently and bringing it to their mouth, a spoon will eventually tumble to the floor. Fortunately, you have that second ezpz Tiny Spoon ready to go (instead of a hungry and/or crying baby!). And having that additional spoon helps you avoid the ‘drop the spoon and watch what Mom does’ game. Here are a few options when your baby drops a spoon during a meal:
- Option 1: Quickly get the dropped spoon off the floor without laughing or making any exaggerated facial expressions. If you draw attention to the dropped spoon, you will engage your baby in a ‘dropping game’ that can perpetuate into a feeding behavior.
- Option 2: Leave the dropped spoon on the floor and ignore it. Keep going with mealtime with the other spoon in the ezpz set. This behavior will quickly dissolve. Whew!
Caregiver Eats with One of the Spoons: As your baby progresses at mealtime, they will need to learn how to munch and chew their food. Babies can do these movements and break down soft foods with or without teeth. But they need to learn how to do this by watching us eat. Having a second spoon that is identical to the one your baby is using is an ideal way to teach your little how to eat, chew and swallow.
- Step 1: Offer baby the Tiny Spoon preloaded with the food you are trying.
- Step 2: Use the second Tiny Spoon (that is also preloaded) and show your baby how you put the spoon in your mouth, then overemphasize chewing and swallowing.
Twins Meals: Our founder, Lindsey, started this company because she was having difficulties with the mess and stress of feeding twins. She wished she would have had our Tiny Spoons for her boys when they started solids. If you are a twin mom like Lindsey, you are already in the habit of buying everything in twos. Done and done!
- Individual Colors: Most of the twin parents I work with purchase a spoon set for each child (in a different color) so they can easily know which dishware is being used by each child at mealtime. That way, if a blue spoon flies and hits you in the face, you know who the culprit is. Gotcha!
- Color Line: We have a variety of colors to choose from so each of your little ones can have a shade just for them! Our color line consists of: lime, blue, coral, gray, blush, sage and pewter.
What is your favorite ezpz color? How do you use our Tiny Spoon twin-pack with your baby? What do you find most helpful about having two spoons at mealtime? #ezpzfun
Happy Feeding!
Dawn Winkelmann, M.S, CCC-SLP
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST & FEEDING SPECIALIST FOR EZPZ
Dawn Winkelmann, a.k.a “Ms. Dawn”, has treated thousands of kids across the globe by helping families overcome picky eating stages and food refusals, while adding new foods into their diet. Her high success rate is attributed to Ms. Dawn bringing her education, experience, sense of humor and her favorite feeding products to the family dinner table.
You will find Ms. Dawn’s expert feeding advice to be positive and fun for the entire family! She adapts complicated feeding/swallowing research and makes it practical and easy for parents! Get ready to learn the science behind your favorite feeding products and ways to bring happy family mealtimes back!
