A MUM has revealed she gets her 17-month-old son to make his own food to “teach him independence” and he even has his own replica kitchen.
TikTok user @lauralove5514 shared how she is raising her children using “gentle parenting” and tries to give them self-confidence to do tasks by themselves.
She also follows the 100-year-old education system of Maria Montessori, giving children the chance to become independent much earlier.
The mum showed how she let her child make hummus and banana on bread for a snack all by himself.
US-based Laura uploaded a video with the caption: “Some tips on getting your little ones started in the kitchen.”
She explained: “Everytime I post a video of my 17-month-old preparing his snacks, so many of you ask how I got him started.
“If he is having difficulty with something I will model to him or use hand-over-hand one time to explain how it is done and then after I just let him do his thing.
“So here he is spreading the hummus and you can see that I am using hand-over-hand one time just to show how it is done and then I just let him try it on his own.”
Laura stressed the importance of not fixing any mistakes kids make in the food preparation as it gives them the idea that theirs job wasn’t good enough.
She explained: “It would defeat the purpose of trying to give him self confidence and independence.
“He also decided he only wanted two bananas and I’m not going to correct that.”
Laura said it is important to get toddler-sized tools so your child can easily make their meals, and her son had his own mini fridge, tools and work space.
She added: “Before you do a task for your child, just stop and ask yourself if they can do it on their own.
“More often than not they are capable so you should let them try.”
The video has racked up 3.1million likes, and many people were impressed at her son making his own food.
One said: "You are teaching them to be independent and that's a wonderful thing."
Another added: "That's top parenting."
However, some people criticised her for letting such a young child make his own food.
One person commented: "Let them be babies", while one said: "I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this."
We shared how a mum lets her son, TWO, make his own dinner from scratch – chopping veg & boiling pasta – but insists it’s not dangerous.
In other parenting news, this mum made a chore list to trick her kids into doing jobs and say her house is the cleanest it's ever been.
And this mum shared the clever way she dip dyed her daughter’s hair using crepe paper – and the colour is amazing.
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