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December 2010 Moms
kat81again2
member
s/o food
kat81again2
member
I have two things to ask about / discuss related to food.
The discipline post made me think about food a lot, because DS has a problem with throwing food. I can't really use many of the suggestions you guys mentioned in halo's post because DS is so freaking fast/sneaky about it most of the time. And I can't try the meal again in 30 minutes because most of our meals are just prior to daycare or just prior to bed (though I can definitely do that on the weekends...but then it's not consistent, you know?) DS isn't just doing it when he's full or bored...he does it and then can continue on to eat a ton more. I have found that he will throw food if there is "too much" on his tray...and sometimes too much can be just one or two extra bites if his mouth currently has food in it. My solution so far is to just put a couple of bites on the tray at a time. But obviously that is annoying...it's nice to be able to take care of other kitchen things while DS eats. So, any other commiseration/tips on this topic are appreciated.
The other food question I have is about utensils. Are LOs using them yet? One thing I had read said 18 months, so I wasn't thinking about it. But recently DS has been very adamant about wanting to use his spoon for yogurt, etc. And then I read some other things that said they can use utensils at 12 months. Well then, I guess it's time. But DS is so bad and/or he doesn't really try well...he usually just bangs the spoon into the yogurt/mush and does the same with a fork for pasta, etc. I have tried to show him how to scoop the food but he's not really into it. He can be decent at bringing the utensil to mouth, though. But sometimes he will bang it around while the food is on it. I can be pretty patient with messes...on the weekend, or maybe for the dinner meal (can clean it up after he goes to bed). But this whole learning-the-utensils thing is a huge inconvenience. Anyone have any tips on how to get it to work, or whether I should even be teaching DS this right now?
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Re: s/o food
DS throws food too. Since toddlers don't have much sense of time, a few minutes probably seems like an eternity to them. I just take DS's tray away for about a minute. He usually cries and when he stops crying I give it back to him. He'll usually stop after that, but if he doesn't I take it as his cue that he's full.
We haven't been using utensils either. I should probably start on that now though.
OK this tip is helpful...I can definitely delay things a small time but can't afford to lengthen meals by TOO long. I just want to make sure the pause is long enough that he realizes it is a consequence of throwing, rather than him realizing he can throw and we'll eventually cave and give him the food back!
I don't have a good answer to the throwing - B tends to do it when he decides he's done with a particular food and we're not sure how we're going to handle it.
For utensils - B wants to use them (at least spoons) himself for a few months now. It's definitely messy and sometimes he's more interested in stirring his food than trying to feed himself. So I start to feed him, then he gets interested and I pass that spoon to him to use while I grab a second spoon that I use to actually get food in his mouth. That way he gets the practice AND still gets food in his mouth from my spoon.
I like these spoons - they tend to cling to yogurt and oatmeal pretty well even with B just dipping or stirring so he actually does get food in his mouth himself. I do wish that they made a left-handed version in case B starts showing a preference someday, but they work well for now.
BFP #2 5/27/12. EDD 2/1/13. m/c and D&C 6/21/12.
I actually think these may go hand in hand! J is all about utensils right now. He wants to use them for everything! I found that he is throwing/dropping his food less now that he gets to use utensils.
What we do is start the meal w/out - he gets more in his mouth with his hands still so we go for quantity first. Then when he seems to start playing more than eating we whip out the fork or spoon and he gets excited again. If he'll let us we help stab the food with the fork (or I'll even set the food on the fork for him) and when he gets it to his mouth we cheer. He gets so proud.
It can get pretty messy but he's getting better and better. I also found the suction cup bowls to be the best b/c they give him some resistance to help scoop/stab.
DS's food throwing is similar to yours..very quick, not much rhyme & reason to it. He'll throw one piece & then eat the next. If there's too many pieces, he is more likely to throw.
I remove the tray if I think he's done, or I'll remove it for a minute, I'll clear it off & try again with a different food. He knows it's wrong b/c he'll throw & then shake his head no & wave his finger. This makes it especially frustrating b/c I feel like he knows it's wrong & does it anyway (also true with other things he does that are bad).
DS is getting pretty good with his utensils. Some things he can pick up with a fork & feed himself, other things he needs help with. Sometimes he just likes to hold the utensil & alternate b/w using it & his other hand to pick up. Using the spoon does get messy sometimes, which is why I usually keep my hand on it also to control his movements.
We've been letting her play with a spoon/fork for a few months now and occasionally will just hold her hand with the fork in it and stab a piece of food and help her put it to her mouth. Just last week she did it on her own! I was so proud!
But now she'll only do a few pieces then get bored with it. She does like to practice most nights for a piece or 2 and then give up. It's progress! I think the forks are easier since the food doesn't fall off on it's way to their mouth like it would with a spoon. I figure once she's mastered the fork we can move on to the spoon.
J is also getting better about throwing food now that I am letting him use utensils. If he is consistently throwing then DH takes his tray away for a minute and he gets it back after we told him why it was taken away.
Lately, he won't eat a bite unless he has a spoon in his hand. Sometimes I have to help put food on there but more is getting in his tummy and less on the floor.
You are not alone. We still give DS a few pieces at a time or he will throw them (especially if the dogs are around).
We just started using spoons and forks this week. He makes a huge mess but he seems to be enjoying himself, so I let him have at it when we have time for clean-up or serve less messy food if we're in a hurry.
Nate throws food too. And his cup. It's annoying and we have been taking away his plate when he does it. It seems like he really only throws things lately when he's finished eating, so at least that makes it a little easier. We take it for a few minutes, offer it again, and if he throws food again, then he's done.
He's pretty much mastered the spoon and fork in the past month. We just made sure to offer one to him and deal with the messy results.
Thankfully we seem to be over the food throwing stage for now...at least.
We often let DS use utencils. I almost always have a fork on his tray, sometimes he uses it/likes it sometimes he doesn't even touch it and just eats with his hands. Sometimes he holds the fork in one had and just uses the other hand to eat with and not the fork at all - just holds it the whole meal, haha. Either way is fine with me, I figure I'm at least giving him the opportunity to try it out.
We don't practice with a spoon quite as much. But if its not a big deal for him to get a little messy and take a little longer to eat (i.e. we don't have plans to go somewhere after the meal, I'm not rushed to get out the door to work right afterwards, etc) then I'll give him a spoon and either some yogurt or applesauce.
I would say he's ok with both - no where near proficient with it, but he gets the concept and at least makes an attempt at it every once in a while. At this age, I'm happy with that.
This is us too. I just have to slowly give him food, and not too much at one time.
With utensils, we are trying it out, but it is really messy. We've only done the spoon, and my main issue is that he not only wants to wave the spoon around and not eat anything, he wants to dump whatever is in the bowl onto his tray. This makes it extremely frustrating and annoying. I don't even think he likes yogurt or applesauce so he has no interest in trying out the spoon. I guess we need to try forks next.