By the age of 3, your child has moved from beyond a high chair to a booster seat, and can start joining you at the dining table. Take her tender age into consideration when you begin teaching table manners – they don’t have a high attention span, their eye hand co ordination isn’t on adult levels which means a lot of spills, and they might not be able to sit through an entire meal without getting fidgety.

If it’s not possible to eat all meals a day together as a family, try to fit in at least one family meal to establish the basics of table manners.

Begin by teaching her the basics. She has to come to the table with clean and washed hands. Teach her to pull her chair out, and then sit on it. Once she begins chewing, she must do so with her mouth closed. They are a little young at this age to teach them not to place their elbows on the table, but it’s your call.

It’s easy for kids to move from a bib as a baby to a napkin as a child. Teach her how to dab at her mouth to clean a smear instead of wiping. Don’t make it seem like a terrible mistake if she doesn’t get into the perfect habits right away. Kids this age love to learn (as I never tire of saying). The trick is to make them think they are playing or having fun as they learn. Other easy manners you can teach a child this age are

• Not to talk with her mouth full
• Not to shove large portions of food into her mout
• Not to chew noisily
• Not to touch the food with her fingers. Don’t be discouraged if she does pick up foowith her fingers sometimes, though.

Use small sized plates and glasses to make it seem less daunting for your child. For water, use a shot glass – it doesn’t tip, and won’t spill water on the table. Get divider plates to help her keep each food separate from the other on the plate.

She might not want to stick around till the entire family is done. If she wants to leave after she’s finished, let her but teach her to say “May I be excused now?” before she leaves.

If you’d like to take your child with you when you eat out, she’ll need to have same basic table manners in place. Begin at home, right from the age of 3. Wait till she has her fundamentals in place, before you expose her to dining in social settings which is a whole different ball game.

Having said all this, don’t be disappointed if the reality of eating with your preschooler is a far cry from your vision of a refined and elegant family dining experience! But, she’ll never learn unless you begin exposing her to adult dining situations, so she’s better equipped when you begin eating out with her. If you have a hard time getting her to settle down in her seat and not talk loudly at the dinner table at home, it’s safe to assume you’ll find it harder in a restaurant, where there is a larger audience for her tantrums!