shop by stage, 12 months and up

By around the first birthday many babies can manage an open cup at meals with less help, and common guidance is to start phasing out the bottle between twelve and eighteen months. Utensils get more capable as grip and coordination improve, so this shelf runs to forks, larger cups and divided plates rather than first spoons.

The usual advice is to swap one feed at a time rather than all at once, and to make the cup familiar before it has to replace anything. Practice with an open cup or a straw cup at meals for weeks beforehand does most of the work. The transitional sets on this shelf keep the same bottle body and change only the top, so the object in a toddler's hands does not change all at once.

Once a spoon is being loaded and delivered with some success, a fork is the next tool, and it is often easier: stabbing is a simpler motion than scooping. The training fork has soft prongs blunt enough for a toddler and sharp enough to hold pasta, fruit and pancake. A divided plate helps at the same moment, because it keeps a target in one place.