How Do You Stop a 1Year Old from Throwing Food?

My son did the same thing. Nothing at all worked to stop him from doing it. The more things we tried the worse it got.

He finally grew out of it when we stopped hassling him.

Try not to get too worked up about it- Just give a fat tip and try to relax- I know it's hard but at least in my case there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

H.,

I clicked on this to see what other mothers were saying about throwing food. I would like the answer, too. I guess there are no pearls of wisdom yet, but you can rest assurred that you are not alone. Almost without exception, every mother that I have spoken with, has had a similar problem (one mother did say that her son liked his food too much to give any up to the floor). My two girls (1 and 2) both throw food to various degrees. My older daughter responds better now to limits, and threats of time-out (since she has been placed in time-out repeatedly for throwing her food), but the younger one is not there yet. We taught our girls to say "all-done" verbally and in sign language (first) and keep encouraging them to push the food away, but leave it on the table. They don't seem to have the concept that the plate can remain in front of them without doing something with it (like launching it, or using its content to paint the table, etc.) Repetition seems to be the way that we have "cut down" on the behavior. I won't pretend that dinner is fun at my house yet. We also try distracting at the table while we are eating, so they can learn to sit for a few min at a time without making a ruckus (playing music, singing, counting, asking about colors/objects around the room). As far as restaurants are concerned, we like all you can eats. Everyone can eat hot food. The kids get a variety of different food that I wouldn't cook at home to try, and I don't feel bad WHEN they make a mess. I just keep moving things out of their reach when they are finished with it and leave a nice tip.

I have been told that this passes before they go to college. I'll think of you as I catch the bowl of Yogurt from my daughter tonight.

S.

It sounds like you are doing the right things. It just takes time to train them to be polite. He'll get there eventually. One thing you might want to do is calmly tell him no, then turn your back on him for a 30 seconds or so. Then he won't be getting any attention, so it won't be so fun. Just keep trying and eventually he'll get there. It's a process. I thought we would never be able to take our son out when he was that age, but around 20 months he shaped up and became a good little diner.

Hi my name is D. and we had the same problem when our child was that age. The only thing that I could get him to stop was to have him pick up the food off the floor and throw it in the sink or garbage when he got down from the table. After several times, he didn't want to pick up the food before he could play and it eventually stopped. He wouldn't be able to get all the food but picking up the big pieces still helped to get him to stop.

I read that they first start throwing their food or their bottle/cup to gain trust, if you pick it up it establishes that you will be there and they can trust you. However after that has been established it gets very aggravating.

I hope this helps and hopefully he will see that cleaning up isn't as fun as making the mess.

:-) D.

Hi H.,
My son is now almost 3 and still throws food from time to time, but has gotten much better. I think you are doing the right things by just giving him a few bites or by giving him a break from the food. I know he will grow out of it, but it certainly is frustrating while he is still doing it.

I did the same things with my son. The one other thing I started to do, is make him pick it up. At 15 mos. he is old enough to understand what you say. So when you are at home, tell him to sit and pick up the mess he made and then help him throw it away. My son resisted several times, but by explaining to him, and not letting him leave until it was clean, that slowed the food throwing!

Hope this helps! -J. L.

H., the only thing I can suggest is that you sit with him and feed him. Most of the time at that age they are learning to be independent and they prefer to feed themselves. Since, he is misbehaving...... this is a way of reprimanding him. I am expecting for him to try to resist you feeding him and wanting to do it himself. That is when you explain to him that since he can't eat without throwing food, you are going to have to feed him. At 15 months, they may not be able to talk that good, but they understand very well.

This worked for my now 16 month old daughter. I started teaching her the baby signs for "all done" and "more". She would throw food I would sign and say, "are you all done"?. Then take the food from her. That has developed into her saying all done and handing me the food she doesn't want on her tray any longer. And ask for "more" if she is still hungry. The signs don't come automatic. It took us time. She isn't over the top in her verbal skill but I know she understands language. The signs have helped a lot! You can check a book out at the library or I've even looked up american sign langauge on the web and adapted the signs to suit our needs.

It sounds like you have tried just about everything. 15 months is a really hard time to get through, I don't care what they say. Our son would do the very same thing, and to your acknowledgement, you have tried just about everything. The reason 15 months to 2 years can be so tough with a precocious little boy (he is smart and thus bored.) is because he is too young for time out or any other method of discipline.

He is so smart that he realizes the whole agenda about placing one or two items before him, so he says "ok, watch this." That is why all your efforts have been thwarted. All I can say, is do the best you can. Don't feel like a bad mother, because you take him out and see other little "angels" behaving and even worse get stares from their parents like "Wow, she must be really off base. Why can't she just control her kid."

I know because I went through the EXACT same thing. This is about temperment, attention span, and intelligence. Don't compare or let others compare your child to another. It is a complete waste, because all children are different.

I think that the only methods you can really do to even help is make sure he is hungry when you put him down and don't expect him to eat everything. At this age, it is good if you can get him to eat one good meal a day. They are experimenting heavily at this age, and they don't want to sit still to do anything. Of course, there is the idea to limit what is on the tray. Tell him no when he does it, and try not to give him too much attention for it. I realize you have tried all this already. Just hang in there, and consider purchasing a handy vacuum or a floor mat for easy clean up til things tame down a little. This is just a phase, or at least until he reaches an age you can discipline him and he can reason.

Believe it or not, you will like these qualities when he is older. He has an independent mind and he is not easily coaxed. LOL!

It reminds me of when my son was little and he would throw his toys everywhere. One of my husband's aunts told me she made clean up a game with her daughters when they were around that age. She was appalled by my son's behavior. All I could think was, um....this won't work. I gave it a try anyway, but it was all in vain. He knew exactly what I was trying to do, manipulate him into picking up his toys. So, he just ignored me. Later when he was older, I would take things from him or discipline him in order to pick them up, but this was much later.

H.,
Sorry I dont have any advice but i can sympathize. My one year old delights in dropping food on the floor... and then delights when i take him out of his chair becuase he woudl rather eat food off the floor than from his chair. Its maddening. I have been letting him use his fingers for stuff and now that Im trying to get him to try spoons and forks he just plays even more. The only thing that I have noticed that really gets his attention is what someone else recommended, I take away the food and feed it to him myself. He usually really hates this, but it gets his atttention, and by the time Im done he usually is through eating. Anyways, I'll probably keep an eye on what other people post here and see if there is anything else I can try.

My son (17months) would do the same type of thing, or he'd just refuse to eat. I didn't want to get in the habit of making him tons of stuff-I want him to eat what I give him the first time. I started letting him watch a show when he does this. I totally distracts him and he'll eat pretty much anything. I recently got a Christmas card with pictures of my whole family on it, he started looking at that and finding different people and that distracted him enough too. I would try something like that- get a magazine or book (something you don't mind getting dirty) or even the TV. Hope that helps! Good luck!

If I knew I would definately let you in on the secret, but my 14 month old is doing the same thing. The other day he actually whacked me upside the head with a piece of cheese pizza. His favorite foods make it into his mouth for a few bites, but pretty much everything eventually ends up on the floor. We have noticed that he favors his right side, so we place the trash can to the right of his highchair to catch some of the debris. We have purchased the suctioned bowls and training forks to try and interest him in the techniques of forking the food and eating that way...but they end up on the floor too. Some days he shows interest and gets into picking up the food and placing it on the fork and then into his mouth...but it always ends up on the floor. I guess the key here is remaining steady and strong on the course, keep trying and eventually they will get hungry enough.Good luck and I will be reading to see if anyone has any other ideas.

H.--put very limited amounts on the tray and make sure he is very hungry. talk to him while he eats and tell him stories. sing him some songs and he will forget throwing food because he's totally taken up with his mom. His behavior is very normal and he will stop doing this in a couple of months but right now he's really getting your attention and loving it. You must bring him to another place with your imagination and small portions at a time. I have six adult children and every one of them did this! and they are very terrific adults!!