How do I stop him from throwing food?

fauxshelley

Jack throws food every time he eats.  Usually he "drops" it to the dogs, who are more than happy to clean it up.  Sometimes he straight up throws it!  I will take the food away and ask him if he is "all done" but he just whines for more food.  When he gets it, you guessed it, he throws it again.  I will tell him no and then let him down from the table.  He will then try to eat any food on the floor or in his chair that the dogs didn't get to, so it's a race to see who can clean the floor faster, me, Jack or the dogs.  I have tried to clean the floor before letting him down, but there is ALWAYS more food that falls from his clothes or lap when I pick him up.  It is especially embarrassing when we go out to eat or have dinner at friend's or family's houses.  HELP!

BrideBuddies

I've found that Charlie throws more and fusses more when there's too much food in front of him.  I just give him a few pieces of green bean, toast, cheese, whatever and he tends to eat it more than throw it.  If he has a whole plate in front of him, it gets a whole lot messier--fast.

Just a thought.

mtnrider

Try putting less food on the tray like Bridebuddies suggested.  Simon does the same thing and I just let him eat it off the floor.     I lock the dogs out of the room during mealtime.  Maybe if Jack can't see the dogs he's less inclined to throw food to them.

kimisuejoia

L is a little younger so we may not be at the full stage that Jack is, but when he starts throwing food I will take it all away and just feed him individual bites. When he pulls away or tries to grab the bite from my hand I'll let him feed himself again, but the second time he throws it then he is done for the meal!

His highchair hooks onto the table, so we clean up the floor and then lift him out over his chair to brush off the food on his lap. A few still fall to the floor, but most ends up in the chair so I can just clean it up while he wanders. We also bought an inexpensive shower curtain liner from the dollar store, cut it into fourths and put it under his highchair- SO much easier to clean up than the dining room rug! We can wipe it down with a baby wipe when he is done, and when it gets too yucky we just throw it away and put another piece down.

Piranha54

I agree with BrideBuddies and MtnRider - less on the tray.  For a while, I'd been putting a smattering of everything down on the tray and we then had problems with throwing, but since I've started only putting 1-2 pieces of food down, or holding out just the spork with a bite and not the bowl of food, it's been much better.  

It's interesting, Ellie is more likely to drop food early in the meal and she just loves to watch it fall and splat.  When she's done eating, she won't touch the food, not even to drop it.  And if my brother's dog is anywhere near at meal times, she knows Bunker will eat what she drops and it's a bit of a free for all.  Bunker does often get banished.  And as hard as it can be, I find that if I ignore the behavior to a point (she needs to learn manners), she's less interested in doing it.

peeper72

I agree with only a few pieces at a time.

Also, put the dogs up when he's eating. Not too much fun to throw food to the dogs if they aren't there to eat it.