My almost 20 month old son throws food on the floor almost every time he's in his highchair. It got worse after spending some time at Grandma's house since he thought it was funny to feed their indoor dog. I started sitting with him every time he eats since he does it worse if I turn my back (probably looking for attention) I take away the tray as soon as he seems to be satisfied and starts playing with his food, but sometimes he starts right away. He usually starts by throwing his bowl or utensils. Please let me know if you have any ideas.
Grab the hand he threw it with & firmly say no while looking at him in the eye. If he continues, take his food away.
Explain to him that if he throws his food he can't feed himself. Start feeding him each bite without letting him do it at all. He'll get frustrated and want to do it himself. Gradually allow him to feed himself a little at a time until he can be trusted. As soon as he starts throwing again he looses the privelage of feeding himself and you do it for him. I don't think it should take more than a few days for him to figure out it's more fun to feed himself correctly than to have Mommy do it for him.
Our daughter started doing this when she was about 16 mos old--it was usually to tell us she didn't want to eat something or that she was done with the meal. She knew the sign for "finished" and had used it in the past but it seemed more fun for food to go flying. We finally told her if she threw food, then dinner was finished. And we took her out of her highchair. It may sound severe, but she has not starved, I assure you. And it cut out alot of that behavior. She still does it every once in a while, but it's not as fun for her anymore. Good luck! I know it can be so frustrating!!
A.,
My 20 month old son does the same thing! I try and get over to him and take away the food and utensils as soon as he starts doing it and tell him no, but it doesn't seem to work! Especially since I have a 5 week old and am nursing, so don't always get to him while he is in the process of doing it. We have tried everything! I think that it is a phase and you just have to be consistent in telling him no and eventually he will stop it. It is just annoying because it is a lot more cleanup!
Yup, you have a toddler. This is a perfectly normal and natural part of their development unfortunately. He's experimenting with cause and effect (what happens if I drop this? what sort of reaction can I get from Mom?) The best things you can do is to continue doing what you're doing and avoid any and all reactions on your part while doing it -- they love to see Mommy get frustrated/angry/whatever -- stay completely calm and blase about it all. It will pass, and if it doesn't, get a dog. Seriously.
I have a 22 month old who started doing that at about 13 or 14 mos. We realized that when we reacted, it got a lot more fun for her, so definitely don't give a big reaction. The best thing we have done is tell her that she'll be all done with dinner if she throws food (and following through the very next time she did it), and she started learning pretty quickly. She's still in that phase a little bit (frustration with Daddy being on deployment made it come back), but it makes her stop and think when I tell her she'll be all done eating if she throws food. It will pass, though. My cousin's son is a little older than my daughter, and he has stopped doing that for good.
Oh, and we have started using techniques from a book called Parenting with Love and Logic. If you don't have it, get it and read it. It's fantastic! Makes parenting so much more fun and less stressful.
Every child I think goes through this. Mine did this starting around this age as well. Plus she liked to throw her sippy cup. You are doing the right thing by removing the food once he starts to play with it. That pretty much means that he is done. I would also remove the food if he plays with it at the beginning. just make him sit in the high chair with no food. He will start to get the idea. He may not be hungry sometimes. Kids don't always eat all of their food at every meal. Also, there are times when they only eat one bite then they are done. Especially, at this age. Don't worry he won't starve. Just make sure you feed him healthy snacks througout the day and if he doesn't eat his dinner it is not the end of the world. Keep it up girl!!
Hi A.,
I know what you are going through my 15 month old son does the exact same thing. We havent seemed to find a great solution to this problem. One thing I have done is to give him a very small portion of food a little at a time. My son will eat what he has and then will eat a little more. He's not the best eater but when he starts throwing the food to our dog I take his food away and put the dog outside. Then maybe 5 minutes later I will give him another piece. If he continues to throw the food on the floor then I get him down. I hope that this dosent' sound cruel but it's the only way I have found to somewhat stop him from doing it. He still does it at resteraunts and that drives me crazy because you know that the staff just wants us to leave. :o) Now this hasn't comepletly stopped him from throwing his food on the floor but it has helped. I hope that this will be of some help to you. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks,
N.
