Our Toddler Throws All His Food on the Floor....

You are not doing anything wrong. It's his age and developmental stage. Keep working with him gently, and he'll grow out of it. Having him help clean up is a good idea!

I agree with the other responses. If you "take the food away" then the child will learn that if he/she throws their food they will not get to have it anymore. My son does this too, he will be 2 in November. We just take the food away and have him sit there while we continue to eat. We also just give him smaller portions or only one thing at a time as often they can get overwhelmed if there is too much food on their plate (start with less then give more if he eats that). Good Luck. It will pass. My older son is 3 1/2 and he is a great eater at the table!

Try saying, Oh you must be done. Remove the food, remove the child and don't give him any more until next regular meal/snacktime. Don't get cross with him or make it a big deal. Just - Oh , you must be done. This has worked for all 4 of mine when they go thru this stage, it won't last lon. They'll be hungry, and as long as you are consistent, along with all others who feed him , i won't take long for him to get the picture. To cut waste, I wouldn't give him his wole serving right at once, less to clean up. Good luck!!

Dear S.,
This is very common for a 2 year old. The one thing I can tell you is be consistant. Don't keep trying new things, pick one and stick to it! Usually when they throw their food they are finished or they think it is a game. Once he starts to throw his food - take it away, clean him up, take him out of the area. If he continues to misbehave- then use your normal pusishment (time out). Believe me when I say be consistant even if it seems like it's not working, they eventually get it. Sincerely, Mema (mom of 2, grandma of 5)

JUst go buy a shower curtain or a plastic mat thats made for high chirs. That behaivor is normal and there is nothing that you can do about it. Have you heard about the terrible 2s? Somtimes 3s can be worse. It will pass. There are so many wonderful things that he learning by throwing his food. Cause and effect. Textures. Hand eye coordination. Now by giving him such over correction at such an early age your setting the table for more misbehaving. You need to choose your battles and save your energy for the really bad stuff. EX: painting poop all over his body and walls. That is another faze they go through. Luckily only one of my kids did that. But, she is grown up and a famous artist! LOL

For me, when my kids threw food everywhere, I just told them NO sternly and picked it up. I hand fed them the really messy stuff and expained why I had to that. I told them if they were big girls then I wouldn't feed them like they we babies. That included not throwing food.

Remember save your energy and choose your battles wisley. By reacting badly, we are teaching them how to react badly.

Hope this helps, I'm so glad the food throwing days are over for me. I remember how much I hated that faze. It will pass.
Hang in there.
N.
www.aromaticbotanicals.com

I hate to say it but this is a good thing. Think of it this way, he is learning about gravity.:) I hated it when my kids did this but I tried to change my thinking on it. When I've had a day when I could not deal with it, I would just sit down and feed him small amounts at a time. This could be your special time with him. Let me tell you .... this time goes sooo quickly and you will wish for it one day.
Good luck
R.

How long did you try each of these methods? Was it just once or twice or did you do it over and over again?

For me, having the kids pick up after themselves did not help because they are at the age where they LIKE to "help" Mommy clean up.

I don't know what your eating situation is like, but it helps if you are able to eat as a family...with the tv off every night. Your son is trying to get attention and he knows it irritates you and you react by giving him attention.

What works for us (I have 4 children 3, 3, 2 and 11 mo) is, we eat as a family--everyone eats together and no one gets up before mommy is done eating. When the kids threw their food on the floor, I didn't make any comment, we just continued with our dinner. Pretty soon the child would complain that they didn't have any food and we'd say, "well you shouldn't have thrown your food on the floor." We didn't get them down...that would just "reward" them by teaching them throwing their food got them up (even if it was to time out). They just had to sit there with nothing to do but watch us eat. It really only took a few times...but it takes more than once for them to understand that you're serious....if you only tried it once and then the next night try something different, you confuse him and it becomes a game "what will mommy do if I throw my food on the floor tonight."

We had our kids eat at the table with us from the moment they were able to sit up on their own and they quickly learned that dinner was a place to communicate and eat together as a family. I make sure I talk to each of my kids...encourage them to eat their food, have them tell me what is on their plates, what they did that day, etc. Then they get their attention in a more positive way.

Like I said, I don't know your situation so you may have been doing all this already, but this worked for us--our kids are always being praised for their good table manners.... Good luck!

Most of the time, it's his way of saying he's all done. He simply probably just doesn't want to look at the food any longer. So punishment is NOT a good choice. Spanking, putting him to bed, etc, seems a bit harsh for a 2 year old who is still trying to figure some things out.
Unless he has an evil laugh while doing it, he's either all done with his food, testing you, or experimenting.
Give him one bite of food. Just one tiny morsel. If he throws it on the floor, leave him in the chair and wait for him to ask for more. If he doesn't want more, don't force him to eat. If he does want more, pick up the piece he threw and put it back on his plate.
Eventually, he'll understand that he can't have more food unless he eats that one bit. And he can't eat that one bit if he throws it.
If he is truly doing it to upset you, give him a 1. Then a 2 and then say "That's a 3, you get a time out for throwing food." Don't move him to his room. Simply turn his chair so that he cannot see you. If he can hear you guys enjoying dinner without him, it'll sink in quickly that he can't throw food.
The 1, 2, 3 thing is from 1-2-3 Magic and works wonders for our 2 year old. Great book.
Good luck...this phase, like the rest, will pass.

I just had to say that I just finished picking up cheerios and banana smear from all over the high chair and floor. Then tried to give my 18 month old a teething cookie which also went all over the floor...oh yeah and I woke up to a can of formula dumped all over the floor this morning too. HA HA. Great question you asked. I hope the responses help me too. Good Luck!
♥~D.

I just HAD to respond to Elizabeth M's comment. She really made my day! I honestly don't know which would be funnier...if she made that comment as a total joke, or if she made it in all seriousness.

THAT, my dear S., is exactly what happens when people take the part of their brain normally reserved for common sense and stuff it to overflowing with parenting books and/or psychology courses.

If having (and being frustrated with) a toddler that throws food all over the floor means you need therapy, than lock me in the loony bin now and throw away the key!

My son (just turned 2) was doing this for a while too. One day my husband decided that if he threw his food that was it, he was getting out of the chair and not getting any thing else to eat. I told him that he was too little to do that and was worried about him not eating, etc... but my husband did it anyway and it worked, he isn't throwing his food anymore.

I am just taking a stab in the dark here, but maybe your toddler is not all that hungry at the time you want to feed him. Try giving him one or two bites only on his plate. If he eats that ask if he wants one or two more. At least with one or two bites, it's less to clean up if he decides to throw it. lol Otherwise, I ALWAYS recommend the book 1 2 3 Magic. It's a great way to dicipline. Happy eating!!

Have you tried giving him a choice of which food being served that meal he would like to start with (e.g. "Do you want to start with the carrots or the chicken?" showing him the choices (start by choosing only from 2 items, to make the choice easier)). Then give him only a small amount of it (one spoonful of carrots, or one chunk of meat). If he eats it then ask if he wants more of it or a bite of one of the other choices. If he throws it, in a neutral voice remind him "It's time to eat the food. Throwing food tells me you are all done eating." Then give him another chance, starting with the choices again. If he throws again, tell him "Throwing food tells me you are all done eating." Then take away his plate of food. You have to decide whether you want to take him down from his seat or not. Some people may decide to keep a child in the seat so they are still apart of the family mealtime. Others may decide on a timeout type situation. Whatever you do, do not allow him to go immediately back to a preferred activity, because then you will be inadvertantly reinforcing the food throwing (i.e. "I want to play" , it's time to eat, I throw my food, they let me down to go back to play. Then what he has learned 'I throw my food = I get to go play'; when in fact you probably want him to learn: 'If I eat=then I get to go play; if I throw food=I don't get to play (and maybe I even have to go to bed early). Also important is staying calm and neutral - no yelling. If he does eat then you can get excited and praise him. You want eating to be more highly reinforced and attended to than not eating.

Hope this helps.
M. - mom of an almost 7 year old, work full-time as a developmental specialist in an early intervention program.

You need to pick one form of discipline for this situation & stick to it..... it will take a while since he is in such a bad habit, but he'll finally get the idea. My oldest daughter was a food thrower as well..... when my others started it, I would firmly tell them no. The next time they did it, I would swat their hand.... if they continued to do it then they were done. That was my schedule for the food throwers..... it worked. :) Just be consistant! You are doing a good job not allowing your little guy to run the roost.... just keep it up!

The best thing I did was to take the food away with the first that is thrown and give it back after a short time if it was thrown again I would take it and not return it that meal, at the next meal it was the same thing, and beleive me they will not starve and find out that if they want to eat they behave at meal time.

Having raised 5 and grandmother to 12, at the age of 2 kids start the not eating stage. If he is not hungry, take him out of his chair and send him on his way. Do not "force" feed. When he is hungry he will eat. He is also rebelling a little since you have new baby. The "terrible twos" have invaded your house. And this to shall pass. Patience.

Went through this same thing FOREVER with the 2 yr old I have in my nanny job. We were getting extremely tired of it. A few things helped...one was having a set place for him to put any food he did not want ..he was sitting in a high chair with a tray that had many compartments, so one of those was designated for the food he didnt want. It helped for awhile and sometimes, not always. The most successful, tho, was one day after he did it again,(now he was over 2, and sitting in a booster chair at the table, so a bit older than yours is now) I removed the rest of his food, took him out of his chair, and in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, said this food has to be picked up before any other food will be given. I started to help him and I did pick up the largest share. It took a few hours, actually though, because he wasnt wanting to do it, but every time he wanted something to eat, I referred back to the food on the floor that needed to be picked up before he could have anything to eat. I said it in a firm but loving manner. "Oh, I wish I could give you that, but I cant until that food on the floor is picked up." I picked up the largest share so it wasnt overwhelming for him while always attempting to get him engaged with me, so he could be successful. Only a few times now when he starts to do it, a reminder that we dont put food on the floor diverts him. I dont know if this approach will be successful with every type of child, but if you can hold firm, it might work. However, the important thing, I think, is to HOLD firm once you say it. (I was thankful when he finally got it all picked up...I was worried for awhile that he wasnt going to do it!) But when I had picked up all but three pieces, he was able to complete it, and smiled with a big announcement, "I did it!" And I gave him positive feedback, "yes, you sure did!"

I think you may need to look at up to date child development resources...your efforts to suppress this behavior may be making things worse. Do not depend on just any pediatrician for psych and development advice just because they have been through medical school. Child development research has made A LOT of recent advances.
I recently finished reading "Hold Onto Your Kids: Why Parents should matter more than Peers" It sounds like it is premature to recommend it to you...but the author talks about toddler behavior at least part of the time...
one really has to have a solid and mostly smooth running relationship with one's children to get the happy compliance we all like to see in our kids. Parenting was not meant to be this difficult at all...
A question...do you work outside the home...is your almost 2 year old in daycare...bonding with someone else...or maybe worse...no one else? Are there other life stresses sapping your strength and enjoyment of parenting? (Your son may be using any method he can to keep your attention on him...bad attention, is better than none...from a toddler's point of view) Is mealtime the only problem time? and he is cooperative (as much as is normal for his young age) most of the rest of the time?
Being that you have another new demanding little being soon to arrive...I might be tempted to seek out professional help...and not just behavioral modification help...that only addresses the symptoms you are seeing. I'd find someone to really address the emotional health of your family.
Again, parenting was not meant to be this hard! Punishment has been shown to backfire or have many long lasting negative side effects. Get help...it could make a huge difference for all of you.

Hmmmm,

Well, here's a couple of thoughts I have. Toddlers/preschoolers are kinda like cave men in a way:) They operate on instinct for the most part. This isn't to say that wee ones can't be disciplined for innapropriate behavior.....I usually try to use natural and logical consequences that match the behavior as a form of discipline. But try really hard to put a positive spin on how you speak. For instance, "When you keep your food on your plate (high chair), then you may sit at the table with us." It's like saying, "Please walk in the house", instead of "Don't Run!" And if he continues to throw his food, then gently get him down from the table. He can try again later if he likes. Even, if he chooses not to eat that afternoon or evening, he won't starve. He'll be hungry later:) But you do want to make sure he isn't going to bed hungry every night.
Another approach is to make meal time more fun for him, have him help you make dinner, or set the table (put napkins or spoons and forks on table), let him be a part of it and he will feel a sense of accomplishment and maybe less inclined to throw his hard work on the floor:) - plus all kids love to help mom and dad. Sincerley praise him for how he trying and doing, not just for the outcome. And I'm just guessing, but it could be that your precious toddler is "acting out", more like getting his feelings across, about his baby sibling. Even if he's totally sweet and loving to him/her...at some point the older sibling (especially the younger they are) will have outrageous behavior because they don't yet have all the skills to verbally explain how they are feeling. I know it's really hard with an infant in the home, but try to get some extra one on one time with your 2 yr old. It could be all he needs and wants right now.
Another option for his food throwing is to just ignore the behavior, eventually he'll get bored of it.
You are right about the spanking, it's easy to do because we get so frustrated, but it just doesn't work. Bravo for you for knowing that and wanting to do more positive things.
One more things about discipline. Time out. It's overused and when it is used it's not approached right. We cannot expect our kids to sit in a chair or wherever for a certain amount of minutes and have them think about their behavior. Believe me, little ones aren't "thinking" about their behavior. If your 2 yr old is uncontrollable about his food throwing, then try a Peace corner. It's different than a time out, because it's a special place he can go sit and hold his blankie or special lovey, suck his thumb or pacifier, and calm down. It's not a place of punishment, it's a place of Peace. It helps our kids learn self control and coping mechanisms. After he's calm, give him some love and bring him back to whatever you were doing.
Also remember, that it takes about 10 times of repeating the same thing for kids to get it. So choose your battles, be consistent in your approach, and know that this will pass and someday you will laugh about it:)

Good luck and happy parenting - congrats on your new little one too!

In peace,
A.,
mom of 4 yummy children, 14 years of happy marraige, and birth and parenting educator.