throwing food....help

karadenisereid

Ok, this I can NOT stand and cant figure out how to correct.  My LO is almost 2 and shes been doing this for several months now.  When shes in her highchair and is done eating she will start to push or throw on the floor the remaining food she doesnt want or doesnt like.  i have tried the very stern NO we dont throw food approach even to holding her hands tightly looking directly in to her eyes and telling her no and why, also which I hated but lightly have slapped her hands....basically she laughs at me or just sits there.  any behavior correction I should try?  am I doing something wrong?

RedDDD

My 15 month old does this and everything I have read says to not engage them when they do it.  So I don't say anything and most times I wait to pick up the food so that he doesn't see that he gets the immediate reaction.  See the below article.  I just read this today because we are having the same problem.  I do limit how much goes on his plate or high chair and when he is done and starts throwing food, I end the meal.  GL!  Its VERY VERY frustrating.  But not sure what others will say with a 2 yr old.  Mine guy is still pretty little and Im not sure he understands when I scold him.

https://mightymommy.quickanddirtytips.com/Help-Toddler-Stop-Throwing-Food.aspx

vlcoley

My daughter is also 15 months and throws her food. It drives me nuts!  Have tried the stern "no", hand grab and hand slap and none of them seem to phase her or correct the issue. Maybe I will try ignoring the behavior and see if I get better results. Any other advice out there is greatly appreciated:)!  

dairygirl19

I just take it away, get her down and call it a day.

If she wants it/isn't truly done, she won't throw it.

It's the easiest way to fight that battle.

 

Haley.Beth

When dd started throwing food, we would tap her hand and tell her "No, we don't throw food." She usually threw a little fit at that, and when she was finished I would ask, "Are you ready to go bye? Are you done?" She eventually caught on that she could just tell me she was finished instead of having to throw food. Now she tells us "All done!" and we rarely have an issue with food on the floor. You have to be careful and make sure you're not forcing her to finish eating before she can go, or else she's going to throw food off her plate in an attempt to make it seem like she's done. If dd tells us she's done, she's done. That's it for that meal, no questions.

SusieBW

I limit how much food DD has in front of her at any given time.  She drops stuff for my dog, which is almost worse, because there's always an immediate reaction of the dog going to eat it, but also because I can't even turn my back when she's eating grapes or anything else dog-toxic, because I never know if she's going to drop it to him.

My DD is not too bad about throwing food, but the best advice I have to try and limit it is to not put much in front of her at a time at all, and then sit and watch her eat it before offering more.  We also explain to DD that some foods can really hurt the dog if he eats them, so she shouldn't give any food to him at all, just in case it's something that might hurt him.  I don't know whether or not she gets it, but we just keep explaining it, so it's got to be sinking in.

MomToNeeners

I too limit how much food I give DD. I give her a few small things she can hold or I feed it to her.

PrimRoseMama

karadenisereid:

Ok, this I can NOT stand and cant figure out how to correct.  My LO is almost 2 and shes been doing this for several months now.  When shes in her highchair and is done eating she will start to push or throw on the floor the remaining food she doesnt want or doesnt like.  i have tried the very stern NO we dont throw food approach even to holding her hands tightly looking directly in to her eyes and telling her no and why, also which I hated but lightly have slapped her hands....basically she laughs at me or just sits there.  any behavior correction I should try?  am I doing something wrong?

You are giving her attention for a negative behavior. Stop that. She thinks its a game to get you to get upset. 

If you see her stop eating then ask her if she is done. She will say she is or nod or whatever. Then clear her plate. Odds are if she is not actively eating then she is full or no longer interested in eating. So the plate/tray goes away. If she is not done she will resist your efforts to take the food away. Then you can explain to her that she needs to eat and not play. If she continues to do it then take the tray without any fuss. No reaction. If she freaks out just calmly tell her that you said the food was for eating. Then move on with cleaning up. 

DD eventually learned that she needed to eat if she wanted to keep her tray. She will still start the fidgeting and playing when she is done, but that is my cue to ask her if she is done. If she is she will nod and I clean up. If she is not she will make a big deal about still eating. I just remind her that its time to eat and we will play later.

This also cut out the tantrums when she was bored or done. She understood if she started getting fidgety or throwing food that I would be alerted to the fact that she is done and wants to move on.

The only issue we had was that she wanted to play with me right after (and I was not done eating). So I usually just cleared her tray and gave her something like crayons or a spoon to play with while I finished eating. She might fuss but I would just keep eating. Once I was done then I'd let her loose. As she's gotten older I let her loose (the house is baby proofed) and finish my food.  

 

michellepeanut

My DD is younger (13 months) but she did the same thing a couple of months ago (and has occasional regressions) when she was done eating. We introduced signing 'all done' (at your LOs age you could try just having her say it) and that's helped a ton. If she starts throwing food off we say 'food stays on the plate' and put a hand over hers and then we ask if she's all done? She will either continue eating or sign all-done and we try and respect that.

We plan on introducing staying at the table while everyone finishes their meal around 2.