Toddler Meal Time – Getting Messy is Part of the Learning Process

Remaining Encouraging During Toddler Meal Time

From a bottle to a sippy cup can be a hard transition for kids. The transition from sippy cup to a real cup can be difficult for both child AND parent mostly because of the inconvenience and the MESS!! Same goes with transitioning from parent fed to toddler fed. Messes are bound to happen, regularly at that! You HAVE to take on the challenge of a possibly messy toddler meal time.

Holding a Cup on Their Own

Holding a cup on their own while bringing it to their mouth and then tipping it to only take a sip without dumping the entire cup all over themselves is something that has to be learned. You can NOT expect for your child to be an expert at the table if you never allow them to get messy. They WILL spill. As their motor skills increase, they will be able to control the tilt of the cup more easily with less and fewer spills.

Sometimes the intimidation of the possibilities of spills will leave a child unsure about drinking from the “big cup”. That is also normal. Don’t give back into bringing out the sippy cup. When they get thirsty, they WILL drink!

Sippy Cups for a Month

Ready for a little unknown fact that may have you ready to throw away all the sippy cups in your home? According to Joslin Zeplin, a New York City speech pathologist, a sippy cup is not supposed to be used for more than a month before transitioning to a regular cup. Unnecessary pressure from sucking on the sippy cup can deform the palate which in turn can affect the articulation of speech! No wonder there are so many children in speech therapy these days! (not that that is the ONLY reason children needs speech therapy)

Gaining Confidence

When a toddler feeds themselves, they are gaining confidence all while increasing their fine motor skills. Making sure that you are constantly offering your child a chance to feed themselves can help them master the skills they are expected to master the older they get. If your child is in daycare, I assure you that your child is not being fed by the daycare workers after they turn two years old (most daycares do not feed the children much younger than that.

Messed are Inevitable

Make sure that throughout a toddler meal time that you are remaining encouraging. Children can sense when parents are aggravated. It is easy to get frustrated by the messes but remaining positive is important to keep the child from feeling like they have failed. Over time, you will see fewer messes and more independence!