This is such a huge milestone-I remember the first time I placed a spoon on my daughter's tray, it was such a special and messy moment that I eagerly captured on camera. Here she is pictured about 6 months just exploring!
Self-feeding skills begin first with finger feeding around 9 months, bringing things like puffs and soft cooked vegetables to their mouth. The next transition to utensils is a big one, but doesn't need to be overwhelming. What I like to remind parents that food under 1 (year old) is just for fun!
No need to stress about the volume, as your child still primarily relies on either breastmilk or formula, the time before a year old is one of exploration of tastes and textures!
A great way to promote familiarity with utensils, is introducing the spoon from the moment you begin baby foods (purees). Allow them to hold the utensil, help stir, dip, knock the spoon on the tray, and see how it feels in their hands.
Around age 10-12 months old, you child will likely be more interested in using utensils and able to bring a spoon to their mouth when it is pre-loaded with food, or may start to be successful with bringing easy to spoon items like yogurt and mashed potatoes to their mouth with feeding.
Here she is again now at almost 15 months, getting the hang of using her spoon and also beginning to use her fork (though we still prefer our hands for many foods ;).
Here are some tips for encouraging use of spoons during mealtime for your little one:
Allow for exploration with the spoon (or even multiple spoons) on their tray.
Try-pre-loading the spoon with food and present the spoon to your child to bring to their mouth.
Try using stickier foods when encouraging use of a spoon for greater success (yogurt, mashed potatoes, mashed bananas, mashed beans, oatmeal, thick soups, cottage cheese, mashed avocado)
For easier scooping, using cups or plates that suction to the tray (the deeper the better) allow lots of room for error. I like the EzPz mats or bowl, there are also munchkin bowls sold at target with bottom suction as well that work to stay put.
Try not to stress and have fun with mealtime! :)