My son is 11 months old and loves to eat, he holds his spoon and sometimes will spoon food into his mouth. I have to get the food on it for him and place back into bowl when he is done. He will only do this at times and will finger feed more. So the day care he goes to is saying when he turn's one to move into other room he has to eat with spoon and be walking on his own!
He can walk with a toy and at times when he doesn't know im not holding his hand ha will take his own steps. Is this normal in most day cares for them at one to be doing these two things?
I don't want him to be behind and I work with him so I would just like to know what you all have to say.
Tanks
I'm fine with him moving in next class for his age, the lady at the front desk said he couldn't move up because of these two things he is not doing to well yet. I'm going to go talk with one of the people in the class room tomorrow about it. Because if they don't take him than he won't be going to day care which doesn't make since to me. Thank all and I will let you know what they say.
Usually when they can walk they get moved up. Feeding himself with a spoon at a year!!! Please. Are they crazy. I would not push him. He will walk when he is ready. I would have a serious talk with the daycare.
Pretty normal. At my children's day care the second they could walk (with a toy or not) they would be moved. The moving is to protect the littler ones and to encourage your child to strive to what others are doing. You will be amazed by what he learns from his peers in the bigger classroom. Also, they do not expect them to have mastered all the skills, just that that is how they do thing in the next room. If push comes to shove and he eats half with his spoon and half with his fingers, they are not going to scold him:)
Remember, each child develops at different speeds and in different areas. The teachers know this. He'll be great! Continue to encourage him at home, but don't push it. I will also add, kids floor me with what they do at school vs at home. He may eat with a spoon all the time at school, but when he has momma around, he leans on you because he knows he can. (sweet, really).
Don't sweat it.
He's right on track. He will have to move to the next room when he turns 1. It's the regulation in most states. Once he's 1 his teacher can have 6 toddlers instead of 4 babies. If he were to stay in the baby room they'd have a mixed group and could only have 2 baby's with 4 toddlers. So they need to keep the kids in their age group for regulations with their state inspections.
It's just one of those things that they have no control over. A friend of mine has a child care center that is licensed for over 100 children. It's in an old school building and they use each classroom. She had a child that turned 3 on Monday. The mom wanted her to wait to move to the 3 year old classroom until the next Monday so she could have her birthday party with her 2 year old friends that coming Friday.
The state licensing worker came in on Wednesday and as she was checking the class records and ratio's she noticed this child was now 3 and had not been moved to the next classroom. My friend explained the party that mom wanted to do on Friday and they were going to move her up on the next Monday. The worker gave them an infraction for improper class management. The worker would not leave until they picked that child's cot up while she was sleeping and moved her to the new classroom. Then she waited until they packed all her stuff and moved it too. So when this child woke up she was in a totally different room and with totally different teachers. She was frantic of course.
This is how strongly some workers feel the rules should be enforced. This infraction is a spot on a near perfect record for my friend. She felt justified in keeping this child in her current classroom for just a few days but got into trouble that went on her center's permanent public record.
So yes, they will move him regardless of his abilities. Some centers that have enough kids will do a younger toddler group and an older toddler group, like a 12 months to 18 months old classroom then move them up to the ext toddler room for 18 months up to 2 years old. Where they have to go into a pre-school classroom.
Licensing workers take their jobs very seriously....lol.
I think your child is right on the mark for development. He's supposed to be interested in the spoon and working on getting food in it, the food to his mouth, and getting enough food in his mouth to make him full. That sometimes happens at this age but most of the time they're closer to 14-16 months old before they get a good grip on the spoon and manipulate it just right each time.
They will work with him on walking and self feeding.
I would talk (not text or email) with a director. Are they demanding your child do these things at 12 months, or are they saying WHEN they can do these things they move up to the next class...? Since all kid's develop differently, I'm sure a LOT of kids do not walk or use a spoon at 12 months!
All kids develop differently. They just wont move him if he's not doing those things cause in the next class they are less hands on. My oldest got moved up to the next class early because he was walking and feeding himself early. But there was others at that same age that could not even take a step yet. It all depends on the child. My neice did not walk till she was probalby 14 months I think. I would not worry.
My son started daycare at 2 1/2, so I have no experience with that age in a daycare center. (Just wanted to put that out there.)
This might be totally normal for daycare centers. I was just chating with the assistant director of our daycare center, and she was venting a little bit about some of the DCFS regulations being a challenge, as kids are different and have different needs. She and I both understand that those regulations need to be very strict so as to protect the children. This does not mean it's always easy for the teachers and directors to implement.
Developmentally, these are not milestones. Some kids walk by age 1, many do not (but walk by 14 or 16 months). I believe if a child is not walking by 18 months, many pediatricians will recommend an evaluation, just to be safe.
Not sure about spoon feeding, as I didn't do it. My kids loved to eat with their fingers, so I let them. I can say that they are now 4 and 6 1/2 and both eat with spoons and forks!
Do the best you can, and don't worry about it. Clarify their policy. Does he have to move at 1 year? Does he have to be able to walk and use a spoon to move? What will they do if he doesn't meet this criteria? I would be shocked if he was the first one year old they ever met who couldn't walk and use a spoon.
Good luck, and try not to worry. He's doing just fine!
My first child didn't walk until she was 14 months old. My second walked at about 9 months. MOST children cannot spoon feed themselves with any real degree of success at twelve months. How lazy is your daycare provider?
Please don't let the daycare bully you into worrying about him being behind. I really mean this. My daycare pushed my son into the next class before he could walk. I could have cared less if he couldn't walk - I didn't think he was ready to be with the kids 6 months older than him, but it wasn't my choice.
Do not push your son. So what if he doesn't move up yet? He is NOT behind. Let him be.
Pushing developmental stages is NOT good for a child.
Lots of kiddos don't walk until they are 13-14 months old, or older. My two girls didn't walk at 12 months. Your daycare knows this. Move your kiddo up when he can walk steps on his own.
And spoon feeding takes small motor skills, which often takes longer for boys. Give him time to learn these things and then move him up.
I'm thinking you misunderstood the daycare. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that a daycare would insist that on the first birthday all kiddos walk and eat with a spoon or are kicked out. That's pretty ridiculous.
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And, after reading Gamma G's post, I will state that that does not happen in our state at all. Kids are typically moved up when they achieve the milestones. There is no state agency mandating that no 12.5 month kiddo can be in the same classroom as an 11.75 month kiddo. Yes, the ratios for infants are different than for toddlers. If your kiddo needs more time in the infant room, you will pay more $ for this. That might be more the issue than the age.
Don't worry about it. It isn't so much that he SHOULD do these things BY 1yo, but that he needs to do these things to transition from the infant room to the toddler room.
I'm sure he can stay in the infant room until he meets their "toddler" description. It seems like he's happy and doing well in the infants room, so let him be there until he's ready to move up. It isn't like getting held back in school. The rooms are developmental. Turning 1 doesn't magically make kids developmentally different than they were at 11 months.
He'll walk when he's ready (sounds like he's close). For spoon feeding, why not give him a spoon and stop taking it from him to load and place in bowl? You can use a DIFFERENT spoon to offer him bites, but let him try the whole process (even while he makes a mess and seems unable to do it... he's learning and adjusting from his mistakes) without you taking his spoon away.
HTH
T.
Confirm what they are saying..
In order to move up to the next room, these two milestones need to be met.
Or
At 1 he needs to be doing these things because we are to move him.
My daughter did not walk until 16 months, My son did so at 10.5 months. Each child is different. The daycare that my son went to .. said that once they can walk and a few other things, they can move up to the toddler room. My kids do not attend that daycare anymore so those types of milestones are not necessary.
Bottom line, he is fine.
Good Luck
