Make the Whining Stop

kafunder

DS has taken to doing a lot of whining. It's not crying--it's these long mournful whines over and over again. His favorite time to do it is when I put finger food on his high chair tray. He just whines and whines b/c he wants us to either put the food in his mouth or feed him purees. He refuses to touch the food himself, except an occasional puff, particularly if DH or I are watching him. All the while, Piper is sitting across from him eating all her finger foods.

He also does it if I put him down across the room from his toys. He whines and whines b/c he wants the toys, and even though he can crawl perfectly well and sees his sister crawl to get the toys, he wants us to bring him toys. If we leave the room, he'll crawl over and get them. But, if DH or I are there, he just whines and whines.

Any ideas how to break this habit? The food whining is particularly annoying and loud. If we don't give in, he'll eventually go from whining to crying, with tears and all, which breaks my heart. How can I get him to pick up his own food? I've tried lots of different things, including mum-mums, crunchies that Haven suggested, strips of toast, etc.

tmbuchmann

I don't think it's this bad at my house, but DD would not crawl around on the floor, and she would just wait for someone to push a toy closer to her. Well I got to the point where I would just put her where there weren't any toys, but close enough that she started to reach and then crawl more to them. (there was whining/fusing involved and I just ignored her on the floor until she would move around.)

DS didn't eat with his fingers, for like ever, but he never puts anything in his mouth, so I just kept working with him, by putting little pieces on his plate, then I would put some in his hand. I finally just stopped putting the food in his mouth and he finally has gotten the hang of it. I've also started giving them little spoons to play with while we eat, and DD will grab the spoon and her and I guide it into her mouth.

I don't feel like I've helped you at all, I just told you my expereince, sorry.

SpinningJess

I'm one of those mean moms who will just let him figure it out.  Leave the room if you can/have to, or plug an iPod into your ears.  My son goes through stages like this, quite often we just have to totally ignore him in order for him to eat.  If we pay attention to him, as in talking, telling him he needs to eat, stop throwing food, etc. it just gets worse. 

jxd215

We were in a similar situation, where DD was chowing down on her finger foods while DS would whine, throw food, spit it out, etc to the point where he had me in tears.  Then one day, two weeks ago, he magically started eating!  The situation turned around literally overnight.  I can't say for sure what changed, because I'd actually taken the evening to hang out with friends after work while DH handled dinner and bedtime.  DH says that he pretended to eat finger foods with great exaggerated enjoyment to model the appropriate behavior (this really seemed to help), I wasn't around to get all visibly stressed about it, and some combination of those factors just clicked in DS's head. 

I don't know if any of that helps you, but trust that your son won't still be whining for purees when he's ten.  He'll get there!