2 Year Old Spitting Out Food!!

Are you feeding him or does he control the pace (using his hands, utensils)? Just a thought if you are feeding him... try giving him the fork/spoon. He may be bored and ready for the next eating stage.

Possibly he's doing a little cause/effect learning, too. In retrospect, I can see some little things that my son did around that age to learn how I would react. I strongly recommend that you not limit his food as a consequence to spitting. To find out if he's still hungry after spitting the food, cut up his favorite fruit and set it out after the meal. If he goes to it right away, the spitting was due to something about the meal (food texture, taste, the fact that he had to sit, etc).

R.,

Is he eating or always spitting food out? Have you tried telling him "no, no" and taking the food away until the next meal? (I suggest that since you said he's "always" doing it.) He may simply be teething and want to chomp on something. He may be playing games with you. He may have some "sensory" issue - although I don't know much about them.

They say keep offering kids new/different foods they don't seem to like 5-10 times...that's how long it takes for them to recognize "new" foods and like them.

Feed him healthy foods he's already used to. If he spits it out (like he's being defiant) or just being messy, the meal is over. Otherwise, he may just be getting used to the tastes and textures. Try small amounts of new foods and don't expect him to eat much - more taste. Two year olds feeding themselves is a messy endeavor!

I've also heard drs say that we feed our kids WAY TOO MUCH. That they really don't eat a lot. When I talked with my dr about this (because one child is particularly thin/light wt), she laughed and said it's called "camelling" - kids will seem to go on "food strikes". Take a BIG poop, then eat like there's no tomorrow until their systems get all backed up again, and it will start all over again. When my daughter DID chow down, I honestly couldn't feed her enough. She'd cry at preschool, after lunch, that she was still hungry. The ped said to talk to them about making sure she's getting enough fiber at lunch and for me to give her a good fiber breakfast in the morning. When she was not interested in eating she'd play with her food, push it around the tray/plate and overall just get messy. It was her way of saying "I'm done" without knowing to use her words yet.

I hope that helps!

Sara

I don't really have advice, but my 21 month old has been doing this for sometime now, so I know it isn't teething or related to any of the other things mentioned. He is a good eater and eats just about everything (meats, vegetables, spicy, ethnic, you name it, he will pretty much eat it). For my son it seems to be the opposite of picky, he seems to do this when he is bored with the food in his mouth and he decides he wants something else (eg he is eating meat and decides he wants the accompanying veggie, but ehe isn't done chewing). He often goes back to that same food later during the meal. It doesn't happen all the time, but fairly regularly. We certainly don't encourage it or give him any positive feedback, but it continues. I really think it is a phase for my son. As long as your son is eating well, has plenty of wet and dirty diapers, gaining weight, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Yes it is a bit gross, but a lot of things with babies and toddlers are! Good luck!

There are a couple things it could be, one is teething. Is he chewing on other things again? Drooling more? Fussier than normal for no apparent reason? Then it is probably teething.
Another thing it could be is a sore throat or swollen glands. A good way to test this is to offer him lemonade. Kids will generally like lemonade, however, when they have a sore throat it will sting and they will reject it. You could also take his temperature to rule out an infection like strep throat.
As far as nutritionally, just make sure he is still having regular wet and dirty diapers. Keep giving him a multivitamin, and if you get concerned about his energy levels, or any other symptom that makes you worried, check with your pediatrician.
Good luck!
-N.
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