The Pickle is 15 months old and we've had cutlery lying around since the start, and have always loaded spoons for her to feed herself. She is now really quite proficient with her fork, in fact prefers to eat EVERYTHING with her fork even yoghurt (quite entertaining and keeps her occupied....excellent in my opinion). Her spoon technique is okay with certain foods but she still tips it a little too early sometimes and ends up wearing most of the food, doesn't seem to dampen her spirits though. We got our metal cutlery from Tesco (own brand) - it's a little set that comes in a handy travel holder thing.