With “toddlerdom” looming in our household, it has become challenging to keep the twin messes to a minimum. I’ve blogged about my difficulty in letting C and L self-feed before due to messiness, but they’ve since gotten the hang of finger foods, and are actually pretty neat eaters. That is, until we started introducing mealtime utensils.

I put it off as long as I could, but at Lynley and Corbin’s 15 month checkup last week, their doctor mentioned they’d be falling behind if they didn’t start learning how to eat with spoons and forks. I don’t know any 15 month olds that can properly use utensils, but ok, challenge accepted!

We started by opening up our new Nuby solid feeding travel sets. This set of forks and spoons comes in a nice, little carrying pouch, which I love since my babies tend to take a bite, throw the spoon down, repeat. The container allows me to carry multiple sets, and the lid makes for a good distraction toy while I prepare their food.

Corbin and Lynley have mastered holding the spoons, and I love that these Nuby spoons are curved for little hands and  have a wider spout than baby spoons. Yogurt still gets EVERYWHERE, but peas usually all make it into the babies’ mouths with minimal guiding from mom. I still have to help them put the food on the spoons because they would rather grab with their hands then scoop a bite with the utensils, but Corbin does let me guide him without sticking the other hand into the food sometimes. Lynley does not, however, appreciate it when I try to hold her spoon! She is in charge, I should never forget!

We also started transitioning them to straw cups from sippy cups. We received the Nuby Clik-it Flex Straw cups to try out, and while I really like the fact they are spill-proof, they are pretty difficult to drink from. The straws are soft, silicone which makes it easier to transition from the feel of the silicone sippy cup spout, but I don’t think Lynley and Corbin have the strength or coordination yet to drink from it. I tried to drink from the straw myself to show them, and I have to admit that I really had to try in order to get anything out. I’ll conclude that Corbin and Lynley are too young for this cup right now, and I’ll try again in the future. They do, however, have some success with regular straws with my help, and Lynley is learning to drink from an open water bottle with help. I’ll take that progress, even if they can’t take control just yet. Perhaps, a Nuby hard-straw cup, like this Flip-it Easy Grip would be a better fit for us.

Teaching babies how to be independent is a tough job! But, letting them be independent is harder. I’m trying. In the meantime, pass the sponge, please! If you liked this post, I hope you’ll share it.

You can find the Nuby products I mentioned at the following retailers: buybabydirect.com, cookieskids.com, idealbaby.com, kidslandusa.com, Ross Dress for Less, DD’s Discounts, Bealls, and TJ Maxx.

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I received products free of charge for review purposes. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are 100 percent my own. I only promote and support products and companies that I believe in.