When to use a fork/spoon?

I gave her both every meal from 1 on, and she can use them pretty good at 19 months, and I hope that 2.5 she will have it down but who knows I just let her keep trying with everything.

Typically they start around 1 yr. By 18 months they should have the basic idea but it will still be messy. By 2 they should be reasonably proficient at it with most food getting to their mouths successfully.(Note: These milestones are based on the info I was given when my son was identified as having developmental delays. He wasn't doing anything with a fork or spoon at 18 months. He also had other delays as well..) Keep in mind that ability to use a fork/spoon and willingness to do it are two different things!

I give her one or the other depending on what we are eating. She can use them if I help her get the food on the utensil, but she can get it to her mouth w/o a mess.

My DD still uses her hands most of the time but she is doing better with her fork than her spoon. I think she likes it better, the fact that she can spear things with it. But she still isn't a pro yet and she is 20 months now. It gets better and better all the time tho.

A lot of people forget that eating with these are fine motor skills and needs a lot of practice just to teach the muscles, and some kids pick up fine motor quickly some don't, and some don't want to because it is harder than using their hands, my DD does that after 10 mins of fighting with her silverware which is fine she tried but now she is serious and hungry.

I think 2.5 is a good age. My son had a friend when he was little that was Asian and I was surprised when I went to their house to see the little sister sitting in a high chair eating rice with chop sticks! Chop sticks are hard for most Americans you don't think of toddlers learning to use them. We gave my 16 mo some chop sticks once and he used them to stab the food, of course.

I think I was offering it by about 14 months, now at 17 months she loves the spoon for yogurt and stuff and really does pretty well (she has even started to use the spoon to scoop the dribbles off her chin like we did). She knows how to use a fork but if she gets distracted she'll still grab a fistfull (wait a second, I guess my 2.5 year old does that, too!). I think by around 18 months I'll start insisting on the fork... I think my other daughter pretty much mastered them both by shortly after two, though she needs some help with the last few bites of things in bowls (cereal, etc).

my daughter can used by one and half.. she now better at it when she turn two it was mess at first but now we have less food on the floor and more into her mouth
we use both and depend on what we eating too

My son was given a fork or a spoon with meals at 12 months... but he didn't prefer to use them until around 17 months he liked his fingers better for most things.