OK this probably sounds silly but my daughter is spitting out food and drinks. She doesn't do it all the time. She seems to be getting enough to eat and drink. It started when she was eating and realized she was thirsty, she would spit out the food in her mouth rather than swallowing it before taking a drink. But now it has evolved to where she will spit/spray food and drinks randomly! Last night she did it in a restaurant, which was messy and embarrassing. We've told her "no" and "gross" and even "bad" but she doesn't seemed phazed. Any suggestions?
We used to have the same problem and still on occassion deal with it. Mostly the spitting out is a fun boundary test for mom and dad. And sometimes because its just fun. What we would do is tell them, "No" and then take away the food or drink. Adding that, "If you are going to play then you are done." That helped to stop the messes from happening because they thought twice before playing.
Mealtime's over...and no, she won't starve or even go hungry for more than a meal or two.
My daughter is doing this now too at 17 months. Our response is to tell her "no" sternly, and wipe up the mess. My husband laughed once when she did this, and she did it a bunch right after. She's doing it about once a day right now and she still thinks it's funny, but I'm hoping that after a little longer of it not being funny to us will discourage her from continuing! Good luck!!
I agree, taking away the food is the best. If they resort to playing with it and are trying to get attention by spraying, it's time to remove the food. If they are still hungry, then explain no more spitting. If they do it again then take away for good. They will eat when hungry and learn to keep it in the mouth.
Experimenting with things that she can do. Tell her that she can's spit food. Give her save colored water to spit outside or in the bathtub/shower. Maybe different textures? It is a phase. If you tell she can do it in one place to her hearts content but not another, she will get bored and stop.
Hi J.,
My daughter is 9.5 months old and she occasionally does the same as your daughter. She spits and sprays food all over our apartment and the only thing I do is just stop feeding her and take the food away from her. I do not let her play or do other stuff and make her sit on the high chair as long as she is ready to eat without spitting/spraying. I too have tried saying "no, gross and bad" but did not work out. Taking away their food and just letting them to sit where they are without playing is as good as telling them it is bad. By this she would understand that you do not appreciate what she does. They cannot stop playing or go hungry for a long time. So go ahead try doing this and see what happens. Good luck.
My daughter has done the exact same thing at probably the same age. Deciding she wanted a drink and spitting out her food to take the drink. My niece did the same thing around the same age. I think most kids do this. I noticed that she will do this too when she gets to much in her mouth. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and it eventually stops. I think that they can think of one thing at a time and don't have the self control to finish one thing before moving on to the next. They do it in play all the time, so it seems natural to them.
Just encouraged her to swallow first, then drink. We just told our daughter that it is not nice to spit out food and ask her to please swallow. She eventually caught on. However, on occassion, it still happens.
My 27 month old son used to not quite spit it out but let the food drop on the table from his mouth when he was done chewing it or had too much in his mouth or decided he wanted a drink. I just kept mildly disapproving and also instilling the "if you are going to play then you are done" and he seems to be pretty much done doing that. Mostly now it is with meat he can't be bothered to chew all the way. It is getting better and I have no doubt he'll drop this behavior soon enough. Hang in there!
J.,
My 20 month old daughter is throwing her food at her brother at every meal. Whenever she's full, or at least not hungry anymore she starts throwing her food at her 5 year old brother. Of course, he throws it back.
I think it's a phase they go through, because my daughter did, and still does sometimes, dribble her milk/juice/water down her chin. She'll take a sip, then let it all dribble down her chin into her clothes and whatnot. I usually take the cup away at that point and tell her "no, please. Not nice".
Melissa
