A Montessori toddler snack area in or near your kitchen can help develop independence and food preparation skills in your toddler. This environment should change according to your toddler’s age and needs, allowing them to participate in real-life activities like preparing food or cleaning. A Montessori-friendly kitchen should enable children to move freely, and a key element in the introduction of solid foods in a Montessori home is respect. Real dishes and utensils should be provided for the baby to eat, including their weaning spoon, cup, plate/bowl, and place mat.
Creating a beautiful and peaceful environment for eating is essential in Montessori schools. Children generally eat in their classrooms, allowing them to skip meals. To introduce baby’s first food, place it at the family table during a family meal. After starting to introduce solid foods, your baby should be given responsibility and choices surrounding their food.
Two specific Montessori at home mealtime principles are giving kids responsibility and providing choices surrounding their food. Here are seven ways Montessori classrooms establish peaceful meal times and how you can replicate them at home.
📹 MONTESSORI AT HOME: Eating Approach
MONTESSORI AT HOME: EATING APPROACH // Learn about the Montessori approach to eating and mealtime for babies and …
Where should 2 year old sit to eat?
It is recommended that toddlers be seated at the dinner table for meals in order to learn proper table manners and model eating habits. Should they be disinclined to eat, they may remain for a brief period.
How do I teach my 3 year old to eat on his own?
It is recommended that children be encouraged to practice feeding themselves, even if it involves instances of food being spilled or other forms of messiness. The use of rubber bibs with pockets is an effective method for containing food and reducing the potential for mess.
Where do toddlers eat after a high chair?
A dining booster seat is a portable, space-saving, and easy-to-clean option for both home and dining out. It comes with straps that attach the booster to a chair and a safety belt to prevent wriggling. Some booster seats have a snap-on tray for children between stages, while a booster pad provides added height for toddlers who are eager to sit at the table. There is no set age for a child to transition from a high chair, and it’s important to ensure their safety and that mealtime is enjoyable for all involved. There is no set age for a child to transition from a high chair, so it’s best to adapt as needed.
What are the areas of Montessori for toddlers?
The Montessori method, based on Italian physician Maria Montessori’s psychological research, is a popular and well-respected style of child-led education. Dr. Montessori observed that when children are allowed to explore their interests, they are more likely to enjoy learning and seek out education for themselves. Many educators now split their teaching environments into five crucial areas of the Montessori classroom to encourage self-led learning.
The focus of Dr. Montessori’s methods was to balance guidance with freedom, as with freedom comes responsibility. Through a framework, adults guide the child, and the child has freedom within those limits. By allowing children the freedom of choice, they feel empowered. Dr. Montessori’s methods have been documented carefully, and her writings have been used to found Montessori schools worldwide. The Montessori method helps give children a sense of responsibility and consideration, both for themselves and others. Most Montessori practitioners divide their classrooms into five areas, representing five critical areas that children must understand to have a successful and fulfilling life.
What is the eating pattern for a 2 year old?
By age two, your child should be eating three healthy meals a day, along with one or two snacks. Offer finger foods instead of soft ones, and avoid fixating on amounts or making mealtimes a battle. For a two-year-old child, a sample menu includes a nonfat or low-fat milk, iron-fortified cereal or egg, 1⁄3 cup fruit, whole wheat toast, and a teaspoon of margarine or butter or jelly. Avoid making mealtimes a battle and focus on providing a balanced diet.
Should a 2 year old eat in a high chair?
Toddlers typically become antsy in a high chair with a tray around 18-24 months, but it may happen earlier or later. It is recommended to keep your child in their chair as long as they are comfortable and willing to sit in it. If they are doing well in their high chair, there is no rush to switch to a booster. If your child has a chair that slides up to the table, it is up to you when to take off the tray.
It is important to ensure your child is stable in their seat before removing the tray, as it helps keep them secure. Experiment with taking off the tray as your child enters toddlerhood, especially if they don’t like being contained by the tray anymore.
If your child doesn’t have supported feet in a typical booster seat, high chairs can be converted into chairs that slide up to the table that still allow for a foot rest. These high chairs may be a better investment long-term because they don’t need to buy a separate booster seat.
Should my toddler eat at the table?
To encourage healthy eating habits in children, it is essential to serve right-sized portions, avoid negotiating, and have family meals together. Start with a couple of tablespoons of food for new foods, as small portions are less overwhelming. Encourage kids to try a bite but don’t negotiate. Set your toddler’s place at the family table, as it helps them eat a more nutritious diet with more fruits and vegetables.
Let kids feed themselves, starting finger feeding around 9 months and using utensils by 15-18 months. Provide opportunities for feeding but ensure your toddler eats enough to avoid frustration. When necessary, help when necessary but pay attention to hunger cues and signs of fullness. Resist the urge to overfeed and step back as your toddler gets the hang of eating.
What if my toddler is not eating Montessori?
To encourage picky eaters, it is essential to plan family meal time and offer food at the table as a family. Avoid offering food while your child is playing, watching television, or walking around. Be a role model by eating the same foods as others at the table, including older siblings. Offer three meals and up to three snacks at regular times each day, with only water between meals and snacks to keep your child hydrated and prevent them from filling up before mealtime.
If your child refuses to eat at snack or mealtime, offer food only at the next scheduled time. This will help them make up for their lack of appetite at one meal and encourage them to eat more at the next. Promote happy meal times by not pressuring them to eat.
Serve meals and snacks away from distractions like television or computer, leaving toys, books, television, and music for playtime before or after meals. Prepare one meal for the family, offering food in the correct texture and size for your child. Trust that your child knows when they are hungry and full.
Don’t pressure, praise, reward, trick, or punish your child. Allow them to decide if or how much they will eat from the foods offered. Try, try again, and limit meal time to 30 minutes. Extending meal time too long will not make your child more likely to eat and does not create a healthy and happy eating environment.
Links for great food and recipe blogs include “Veggies Don’t Bite”, “The Scoop”, and “The Ultimate Cheese Sauce”.
What is the Montessori approach to eating for toddlers?
Weaning is a developmental stage marking physical and psychological maturity in children. It involves the introduction of solids and is characterized by respect for the child, trusting them to handle various textures and their appetite, and beauty in food presentation, serving, and consumption. Dr. Silvana Montanaro, who directed 0-3 training on five continents, advises against insisting on the baby opening their mouth or forcing them to finish a desired quantity. She also emphasizes preparing the table accordingly for the child we conceived.
How long can a toddler sit at the table?
Children’s ability to sit still at the table varies by age and stage of development. On average, children can sit still for 2 to 5 minutes per year of life. By age 7, children can sit still for 15 to 35 minutes. However, this can vary depending on the circumstances, such as enjoyment of the meal or tiredness.
Kids may fidget at the table due to various reasons, such as difficulty with balance, difficulty with breathing, or sensory issues. It is crucial for parents to monitor their child’s sitting time and provide appropriate support to help them maintain their sitting ability.
What are the 5 areas of Montessori?
The Montessori Curriculum is a systematic approach to teaching children five key areas of study: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language, and Culture. Each area is taught using Montessori materials that teach specific knowledge or skills. Through repetition and practice, children develop a foundational understanding of each material and master core competencies within each area. The curriculum progresses at a child’s own pace, based on their development stage and interests. Montessori educators present key lessons to introduce each material’s name and learning outcomes, and children work independently to practice, explore, and connect to the key learning outcomes.
📹 Tips for parents of picky eaters
A registered dietitian offers helpful approaches for parents of picky eaters (and how to prevent world war three from breaking out …
I’m 22 and have yet to even have a child myself, but my partner and I are exploring who we want to be as parents now and learn ahead rather than later. I’m so glad I found this website, it’s so inspiring and hopeful! Your articles make an amazing discussion starter for us, and I even checked-out one of the books you recommended in your previous articles “The Montessori Toddler” by Simone Davies. BLW is totally new to me so I’m looking forward to perusal your upcoming articles on it! Also, perusal the little throw back clips of Kylie when she was younger made my day as I’m sure it made yours while editing. <3
We did a combination. Our son was very interested in food because he was always at the table with us at mealtimes. We stated when he turned 4 months old (which seems to be commonly recommended in Europe?), so we went with mashed carrots and then sweet potato and spinach and spoon fed him. But it was immediately clear that he wants to grab the spoon and feed himself, so we ended up introducing finger foods around the age of 6 months. Both work really well and he never struggled with either.
I love baby led weaning so much! My five month old has been joining us for meals for a couple weeks now with a num num baby spoon. She’s teething so she loves the spoon haha! We’re so excited to start solids when she’s able to sit up unassisted, etc. Can’t wait to watch your mini series, perfect timing for us 🙂 With our first child, BLW just made meals so stress free! Messy as heck but otherwise so easy. Unfortunately, our first kid ended up being such a picky eater anyway 😂😬 The glass cup thing freaks me out a bit. The articles of Kylie really show it’s legit, but lol!
I’ve been following you for few months now, you are an inspiration for me.i have a 19 month old son. As a ftm I really needed some advice on parenting because I really don’t like the traditional parenting as it involves hurting shouting threatening etc to discipline the child. Sometimes i question myself am I doing the right thing or not on my raising approach but when I found your articles, I was really happy to that I’m doing okay and also I like learn your approach and use it Thank you so much for making articles. Keep it coming..
I started following you when my baby is 6 months, trying to catch up with your guidance because I find your content very very useful and flexible. You are very talented and passionate indeed and I am sure there are many many mothers and fathers there that feeling grateful for your presence. Thanks a lot
I don’t do 100% Montessori but I did do baby led weaning and I’m so glad I did. My daughter has been feeding herself without a mess since 14 months old. She’s not a picky eater and I really think that baby led weaning is the reason. I gave her the real foods that we were eating and since my diet isn’t made up of Mac n cheese and chicken nuggets 😉 she was exposed to such a variety. After perusal your vlog I realized that we trust her with a ceramic plate and bowl but she uses a munchkin 360 cup lol. Guess I’ll be looking into some glassware for her now. Thanks for your tips!
I’m so exited about this and the new series. My baby is 7 months old, but we’ve been doing “spoon food” since 4 months, and she loves it! We started introducing more squishy food with texture within the last month or so, and we’re over the “don’t-like-texture” reactions. I’m so anxious to see how Mia responds and how we can further educate our daughter about food and help her enjoy it. Thank you for taking the time to help us understand sharing your sweet family.
I tried baby led weaning with my eldest. It didn’t work for us, but I have to admit she isn’t a great eater, so any approach would have failed. Despite the many obvious advantages of BLW, I went straight to pureed foods with my second. The intake from pureed foods is much greater. Take an avocado, for example, mash it up, it will amount to a couple teaspoons and will be gone in a minute. However, if you cut an avocado up into pieces, the child will take ages to finish it and they seem incapable of staying interested for that long. Thanks for your articles, I have learned a lot from your articles about the Montessori approach. I really appreciate you doing this!
I’m so thankful for everything you share in the articles, it’s priceless! I didn’t know what i exactly was looking for my baby’s breeding and I found you and I’ve felt in love with this method. I’m four months pregnant and I’m glad I’m learning so much before he is born, thank you! I’ll be waiting that BLW series. Greetings from Mexico!😊
So far I’ve been doing a mix of purees, specially prunes (no rice cereal) for his digestion and also offering him whole food to experiment. It does seem kind of expensive to do full Montessori thing sometimes? Maybe that’s just a perception of mine. I’m going to try the glasses and prepare for some throwing lol. Oddly enough he just chews on this sippy cup I bought him but he drinks from a cup when I bring it up to his face! Thank you so much for this article and I’m excited to see the BLW series 😊
Great information! I can’t wait for your article about behavior during meal time. My daughter is a breastfeed baby and I keep hearing she eats the food but nanny can’t get her to drink anything until I get home. I take it as “she’s full” but She is just 11 months and as you know the pumped milk should be her main food source. She knows perfectly well how to drink from her glass cup but just refuses to take liquids while I’m gone 😔
It’s funny to realize that I had already been using a semi Montessori approach to eating when it comes to using regular plates, glasses, and silverware. I hate having a ton of plastic so I never did buy plastic plates. I would have skipped the sippy cup for the most part if I would have started learning about Montessori sooner. I’m loving it.
Thank you for the tips. My baby, Zelda is 8 months old and we already start BLW when she was 7 months old. First, there was so many gagging, but then it goes well. Sometimes she eats, sometimes she doesn’t. And I agree, food before 1 years old is just for fun. My baby likes to hold her own spoon. I hope she could be independent like Kylie 😊❤
I use a tiny mason jar for my toddler from a young age. She did start on a stainless steel spout thermos but the suction didn’t work well so I just used a stainlesssteel straw in my glass for her & we use our chip resistant Corelle dishes & mugs. The only special dish she had were silicon spoons because I thought they would be gentle on her gums & teeth when she got them. I did ebf for the 1st year & yeah they say with food at that age they will only be eating like a couple tablespoons or something.
As you said this is pretty difficult way as I know and what I did to my baby~ Sounds like a better way for me to do it when I have my second baby~ One of my friends is struggling about how to start doing baby food for her first kid, and I am sharing her this definitely~ I guess she will have a question about when did you start the first baby meal? Look forward to tomorrow’s article now~
My 5 month old has been exclusively breastfed and is totally ineffective at using her bottle. She is already showing a lot of interest in drinking from a cup though! She’s capable of swallowing from it when I offered! My question is should I just bypass the bottle and go straight to a cup with breastmilk? Thanks for all the wonderful content, Ashley! Discovering your website has been a game changer <3
My daughter was never interested in eating the things she could hold in her hand. She would eat a banana I gave her but never the one that was cut in pieces and put on a plate in front of her. Now she is almost 14 mo and she just started to eat by herself with a spoon. I guess every child is different and we need to adjust our approach to them.
Love your website. So just found you and Montessori for babies lol. I’m thinking of getting a new high chair and a weaning table. However, we like teaching our 14 month old to sit with us for meals. You have 2 babies so it might be different, but do they sit at the weaning table as you eat or they always eat on their own? Im thinking about doing high chair and table sometimes but I’m not sure…
Thank you for making this article Ashley! I have a question, I’d love to transition my baby (9 months old) from a high chair to the toddler table/chair set, what was your experience preventing fall? and if they are only able to crawl, how are they able to get onto the chair themselves, or they would our assistance? thank you!
I have implemented many of the Montessori methods with all my children without knowing! My daughter is 11 months old and feeds herself at every meal. She does have a 360 cup but also uses a regular small cup. I’m going to try to find a baby temper glass cup. I love raising independent children it makes parenting so much easier!! All my kids showered themselves at age 5. I would go in just to double check their hair but that’s it. My children also dressed themselves by age 3. I’m curious to know what you do for restroom time. Do your children wipe themselves when they go #2? My children didn’t do this until 6-7 years old.
Hi Ashley, please share how to get a four year old to eat. We haven’t had issues with eating up until I became “noticeably” pregnant with our second daughter. Our older girl was 2.5 at the time. Since then eating became progressively worse and just a miserable process for everyone. It began from her asking me to feed her because she’s “baby”, which I went along with, to simply refusing to eat. I offer her choices and ask her what she wants to eat, yet still when it comes down to it. She procrastinates as much as she can by going off doing other things and I have to bring her to the table if I can’t stop her from leaving immediately. We’ve always been sitting down to eat together and still do. She just refuses to pick up the spoon or if she does just plays with it. The worst thing of she gets hungry she becomes HANGRY.
Thanks for this great article. I’m a father to a 3 year old. My wife and I regret for not providing such opportunity to our daughter. As of today she has an issue when it comes to eating. She needs tv or forms of distraction ( life she needs to be lifted or allow her to use her cycle) while eating and at the same time she gets glued to the screen and wouldn’t swallow the food until we pause the article and compel her to swallow the food. There are times where we attempted to let her take her own time to chew and swallow,but nothing positive. She’s happy to have that in her food for all day. Foods like chips/ banana / water melon she’s completely fine and in fact asks for more .We are in such a mess and each and every meal is a nightmare to us. Should we consider doing the same what you just described though she’s too late to start such baby led weaning methods, or should we put her in a Montessori kind of preschool ( she’s already going but only 3hrs) on a full day program where she’d have opportunity to get inspired from other kids? we’ll be grateful for any of your suggestions/ advice.
Hi Ashley! I have a 13month old and I really want to get rid of the high chair and get him the setup you have for you girls. My question is about family mealtime. I do like having dinner w/ my husband and baby all together but I am worried with the Montessori approach, my baby will be closer to the ground and it feels less inclusive– like we would be looking down at him. What do you think???
Hi! We went in the wrong direction from the start. 🙁 Feeding him with song/tv/games. Otherwise he didn’t eat. He was losing wight, that’s why we force feed him. Now our 11 month baby doesn’t take food pieces to his mouth, do you have any advise? We thy to give him food pieces before meal time, but he seems not interested. He can play with food, but doesn’t try to eat or bite it. He still has wight problems, so not feeding him and waiting isn’t an option. I wish I found your website earlier, you have good articles and advises. 🙂 p.s. Sorry for bad English.
Hi! I’m super excited about your new mini series and will definitely tune in. I just started purées with my six month old. He can’t sit up unassisted just yet – he can for a little bit but then topples to the side. However he can sit up in my ikea antilop high chair – hence the reasoning behind why I started with purées. Is it too soon to do baby led weaning without purées or should I wait until he can completely sit up unassisted. He does take the spoon and feeds himself. Thank you so much for your time!
My daughter is 10 months old and I would like to help her become more independent when eating. Up to now I have been offering her a spoon with food in it, and she grabs it and puts it in her mouth and eats. But now that I want to teach her how to scoop the food on her own, when I offer the spoon empty in order for her to hold it and to show her how to use it, she doesn’t want to hold it. If she sees the spoon is empty she just leaves it on the table and waits for me to fill it. Any suggestions? Thanks 🙂
Hey! We Are trying baby lead weaning now with our 5 month old. She seems hungry after I’ve nursed her, and she doesn’t take a bottle. She is also super interested in the food egen we are eating. There is kind of just one problem: she looses the food way too fast and often om the floor. She is basically not able to do it all by her self. I pick it up, it falls back down, I pick it up, and so on… Sometimes I therefore hive her snall bites from the food on my finger, and she basically grabs my hand with both hands and shove my finger into her mouth. Is it to early for her, since she doesnt have those fine motor skills yet, or should we just keep trying and look at it as practice?
I’m so late to this post but I was taking care of a child that was eating out of a glass bowl… he was about 15 months old. He threw the bowl at my hand (it was a tempered glass bowl) and I had to get stitches 😒 is there another alternative? I want to introduce my child with a Montessori approach but I don’t feel safe at all, maybe I’m the unluckiest person.
What should I do when my toddler request certain food? I would offer a balanced meal in his plate but he would usually only eat what he wants to eat and request more of it or other food that he likes that wasn’t offered. If I choose not to give it to him he would keep chanting his request. If he doesn’t get it, several moments later he would try again and keep trying.
We are already at 18 months and my son is showing so many signs of wanting to be more and more independent so we’re trying to let him be. However food time, especially breakfast, has been really hard this last week, he sits in a booster chair in a normal chair at the table. He is refusing to go into his booster, he wants to sit in a chair without his booster, but then he’s to short, hence the booster. He also throws his plates and cups when he’s frustrated, which is very frustrating for me because he is SO calm and relaxed at every other part of the day. Will your mini series touch on what to do if you’re starting with an older toddler who already has some bad habits?
I know this article is old, but I have a burning question!! How do you practice family meal times if your toddler is eating at a weaning table? My 7 month old is crawling and furniture surfing pretty confidently so I feel like it’s about time to let him start practicing getting into his own chair and table for meals. But I also would like for us to eat together as a family and I’m not sure I can convince my husband to sit on the floor with us to eat at the weaning table. What did you do??
As an adult i mostly drink from a reusable water bottle or a mason jar with a straw… so if the point is to make them do the same things as adults and be independant… i dont see myself telling them to drink from a glass cup, how would you approah that? Just curious. Also your daughters are the Cutest things ive ever seen in my life and im obsessed. Love your articles
Help! I just received real silverware and glasses and bowls for my 15 month old. Do you have articles on how to introduce glasses and plates at their space without them throwing them? Hopefully. Lol we don’t have a low table for him to sit at so he is in his high chair but we can remove the high chair plate and strap him in and sit right at the dinner table with us
Thank you so much for doing these articles! My baby turns 11 months old today and we have been trying BLW since 6 months but is making little progress. Possibly because her main caregiver (on weekdays) does not believe in and practise BLW method. So her only chance to practise BLW is on weekends when I take care of her full time. Anyway I was wondering about introducing glasswares – how do you teach your child not to throw them as they will break and they might hurt themselves? I’ve used words to teach my baby but she doesn’t seem to understand so I’m not sure if I need to physically show her? E.g. throw a glassware and break it? So that she can see for herself? Sorry for this silly question. /:
I love our 360 cup, but I wish it didn’t have handles. My bub has smashed 3 glasses on our tiles (bangs them on the table as he enjoys tapping and then they fall on the floor) so we’re definitely heading towards an open plastic cup soon. He gets a lot of enjoyment in tapping things and even with supervision things break in our house 🤦
You don’t need to limit your child’s diet based on how many teeth they have. Starting off with softer foods is still ideal while they learn the chewing motion etc. However, I know a girl who was well over a year old before she got her first tooth. It didn’t stop her from using her gums to gnaw on raw carrots or eat meat. (Even as adults, we do most of our chewing with our molars). As long as the child is eating under supervision and is seated, there are options beyond extra soft foods- even for a child without teeth. It’s about the individual child- not necessarily the number of pearly whites. That being said a general reminder for everyone: Coughing/gagging does not equal choking. Gagging is the body’s way of PREVENTING choking by keeping food that isn’t properly chewed from being swallowed. Jumping in, and hitting a child on the back or raising their arms above their head when they cough or gag can actually lead to choking. Choking itself is usually relatively silent. If your child can cough, let their body do the work and then step in to encourage water and offer comfort when it’s passed. And of course, whether you do BLW or start with rice cereal and purees, it’s always a good idea for all of your child’s caregivers to have an active CPR/First Aid Certification because accidents happen. Anyone (baby or adult) is at risk of choking (I know two people who had choking incidents in the last year or two. One was 6, the other was a man in his 40s.) Since timing is crucial and helping a choking child incorrectly can be ineffective or cause more damage, certification is ALWAYS a good thing.
I agree with much of what was said here. But “any pediatrician will tell you, your child is not going to starve” is not accurate. There are children, my child being one of them, that are not “picky eaters” but resistant eaters. This child would starve him or herself before eating. Your average feeding therapist (and of course there are many different feeding therapy mindsets out there) would agree with many of the principles you’ve mentioned. However, they also regularly warn parents that many well-wishers or relatives providing advice will say exactly what you said, “your child is not going to starve.” These children may be healthy in all others ways but have a psychological roadblock involving sensory issues or fear. So, the superscript caviat you’ve added is still a bit misleading as these children can all be medically healthy in the way a parent might think about health (though some indeed are not). We’ve dealt with about 4 feeding therapists from different backgrounds in our time, and this is bad advice that each has warned us about. Now, don’t take this as criticism as I really enjoy your articles and you have wonderful things to say. I just know a little something about this topic due to circumstances that I wouldn’t wish on others and wanted to warn folks about.