Do you let LO walk around and eat?

piper09 · February 2011

I swear sometimes DS is too busy to eat. He will refuse his meal, but once he's out of his highchair, he wants to "graze". Obviously I want him to eat, but I definitely don't want to encourage bad habits. I have allowed him to walk around with his snacks in a snack catcher cup, so I want to be consistent. Any other LO's "eat and walk"?

Shayna0182 · February 2011

We're trying break the habit, because he tends to smash goldfish cracker or teddie grahams into the carpet. I feel like I vacuum everyday now. The only meal, I will let him eat bites of out of his high chair is small bites of pizza.

dragon_chica · February 2011

Sometimes. Especially if she didn't eat much in the highchair. I wouldn't be too worried though. Keep in mind that most successful "diets" involve eating smaller meals more often. So as long as your DS is "grazing" on healthy snacks I don't see it as a problem. These first few years will help establish his eating habits so if it's filled with the healthy stuff I wouldn't worry too much.

DiscusCoach · February 2011

Every once in a while - a cracker or something.

MrsPatterson · February 2011

Only occasionally. If it's been a few days of him not eating much and I'm desperate, I'll let him walk and eat.

groovygrl · February 2011

Occasionally but I try to make it something nonmessy (banana, cheesestick...) and it is generally when we get home from daycare while I'm trying to get their dinner together so they don't have hunger meltdowns waiting! Sometimes I'll let them eat goldfish out of a little bowl now that they are able to just eat them out of the bowl without grabbing the bowl & dumping it everywhere...

MammaBear81 · February 2011

Our rule is eating at the table only. IMO walking and eating is a choking hazard, and it usually ends up making a mess. There are a few studies that show "grazing" promotes bad eating habits, but in the end it's a personal decision.

celiabwatson · February 2011

Sometimes our boy will be in the middle of a mouthful of food and decide he is done with his high chair. He gets pretty worked up and I'd rather get him out and let him finish chewing while heading off to play then have him choke because he's screaming. I usually try several times to convince him to chew before getting up but with limited success.

alovelylady · February 2011

it depends, usually for her snacks we let her.

Mereou12 · February 2011

Yep, daily.

DS eats ALL.THE.TIME. He's a pig, and if I made him sit in the highchair every time he eats something, we'd spend half our day there. He eats normal meals, but has 1-2 snacks between each meal. I make him sit down for at least one of his snacks (usually after his nap, when he's pretty hungry and eats a significant amount), but otherwise I give him a snack cup and let him eat/play.

It's probably a bad habit...but I dunno, I just don't see it as a huge deal right now. We'll deal with it at some point.

juliane2004 · February 2011

We always have puffs (and water sippy) on a table for her to graze with. But all other food (and juice or milk) is at her high chair. Mostly because anything more than puffs and water is WAYYYY too messy for me.

ETA: Do you let DS be involved in eating at his highchair? We didnt, and DD seemed to hate eating in her chair, but once I started putting the bowl/plate on her tray, and let her touch it, she ate all her food every day since. (I'm a little OCD, so this was tough for me to accept, but I'm thrilled it's working.)

Kingston54 · February 2011

I do not because I don't want him to choke.

slukd79 · February 2011

Yes, and I hate myself for doing this really bad habit. I justify it to myself by saying that she is such a peanut that she needs to eat as much as she can (and sometimes this is after she is in the highchair.) No excuse. I need to stop this.

in my life · February 2011

She has a snack cup or cracker while she's out of her booster, but for other snacks (fruit, yogurt) and meals she is seated.

Que*Syrah · February 2011

If I'm trying to get something done in the kitchen i do. He usually just stands at the gate screaming at me so I often turn on sesame street and give him a snack which he wanders with. I usually put bunny snacks in his snack trap.

thequeeenbee · February 2011

Yep. DS grazes and snacks all of the time.

Mrs.Christie · February 2011

No, I'm very strict about this. I worry about her choking, plus I want her to be used to eating at the table/highchair. So far this has worked and DD is very cooperative and eats well. Even when we are out she knows that when she's in a highchair it's time to eat. She's well behaved when we are at restaurants and I think being strict about eating in a chair has really helped.

chef'swife · February 2011

We don't do every single snack in her chair. She is a grazer...Dh and I are grazers too. We really don't do 3 BIG meals. We have three smaller meals and snacks several times a day. We eat healthy meals and snacks and typically serve smaller portions. I keep fruit slices and veggies on my desk while I am working. I don't have a problem with Aven snacking on a few slices of fruit or string cheese in her room in the afternoon while we are playing. Dh and I are very slender and DD is still only 19 lbs at 13 months. We aren't worried about her snacking away from the high chair leading to obesity.We eat healthy and often. We don't eat processed foods very often. Dh is a chef and his focus in culinary school was on nutrition.

mariannerules · February 2011

Usually just for snack time, but I do occasionally feed her bigger meal items out of her chair.

kmdixon · February 2011

Mereou12:
Yep, daily.
DS eats ALL.THE.TIME. He's a pig, and if I made him sit in the highchair every time he eats something, we'd spend half our day there. He eats normal meals, but has 1-2 snacks between each meal. I make him sit down for at least one of his snacks (usually after his nap, when he's pretty hungry and eats a significant amount), but otherwise I give him a snack cup and let him eat/play.
It's probably a bad habit...but I dunno, I just don't see it as a huge deal right now. We'll deal with it at some point.

Same here. DD eats all the time. She either has a piece of cheese in her hands or a bowl full of crackers/kix/whatever at all times. Meals, she eats in her high chair. Beyond that, our only concern with her walking and eating is sharing with our dogs

linday121 · February 2011

I sure do becuase one of my boys eats very little at mealtimes. I bought one of the Dr. Sears food plates and I put healthy snacks in it. They will come up to it- have a few bites and sit down right next to it to play until they are done chewing. Probably not the best habit but it works on the days when they eat little at mealtime.

kabarbanel · February 2011

alovelylady:
it depends, usually for her snacks we let her.

This.

Jessys_Girl · February 2011

MammaBear81:
Our rule is eating at the table only. IMO walking and eating is a choking hazard, and it usually ends up making a mess. There are a few studies that show "grazing" promotes bad eating habits, but in the end it's a personal decision.

This. It's quite dangerous.

My neice (who is also a toddler) walks and eats and she has tripped/fallen many times, she's scratched herself (drew blood) with a cracker, poked her eye with a carrot and nearly choked on a piece of cheese.

We have a table eating only rule. If DD is refusing food she gets down. If she acts hungry again later, I put her back in the highchair and offer more food.

AutumnBride929 · February 2011

Yes, all the time. We don't even sit down at the table together to eat. We eat on the couch in the living room, LOL! Isn't that terrible? Our dining room is basically a storage room. I plan on changing things around as soon as possible (like next week) though because I think it's just terrible what we do now. I have a meal plan all ready to go. DS doesn't hate his highchair but we just let him "eat and walk" because we're hanging out on the couch anyway, lol.

I don't think it's terrible to let them eat like that every so often but every night (like we do) is pretty bad.

shoeboxx · February 2011

When I'm feeding him a meal, b/l/d I put him in his high chair. For snacks, he can walk and eat. That being said, H keeps LO in the morning and does not put him in his high chair when he eats breakfast. I keep telling him to put him in his high chair, but I can't control what's going on when I'm not there.

whirli · February 2011

Yep. DD always has snacks available and a water sippy on her little table. 7 out of 10 times she'll sit down to have a bite but sometimes she'll grab a bite and go. Most things are cut in small portions and she eats them quickly so I'm not terribly concerned with choking. She's always been a good, careful eater.

ryry1977 · February 2011

Not for his 3 meals a day, but he always has snacks and is walking around playing while eating them. He only eats his meals in his high chair or else our carpet would be worse off than it is!

MrsHughesNC · February 2011

No, we don't. We only eat meals in the kitchen, at the table. DD will sometimes eat snack at a little table that's right between the kitchen or living room, but she must be sitting down. Sometimes she'll also sit on the floor in the kitchen, if she just wants a quick bite of something.

I'm less concerned about the choking aspect as I am the poor eating habits/mindless eating aspect of it.

chefs_baby · February 2011

I have to. K, 17 mo, is a terrible eater and sometimes the only way I can get him to eat is to let him eat and walk. I keep a close eye on him. The worry I have is him trying to feed his brother, 3 mo.

seniah · February 2011

Occassionally - but only puffs or cheerios and never unattended. Meals and other snacks are in the high chair or in the bumbo with tray. And if its to keep him occupied while I do something he's sitting in something within arms reach.

I took a tip from my mom that she used to do with us. She'd spread cheerios out along the furniture (tables, couches, chairs) some high, some low, some far back, some closer, some partially hidden. Its fun watching him cruise along the furniture and find a treat lol.

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