Throwing food

mypeanut22 · September 2013

I am in tears right now because I am freaking frustrated. Dd is a wonderful kid except at dinner time. She throws everything off her high chair tray as soon as its placed there. She has gotten really bad this week. Today I pulled her out of her chair and told her if you throw your food on the floor then you don't eat. I know my kid needs to eat. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have tried ignoring that she's throwing her food, getting on to her, and just saying we don't throw food. I know she understands that throwing food is a no no. Someone please help me.

mypeanut22 · September 2013

I've tried feeding her later too, thinking she's just not hungry, but that didn't work either.

blu-eyedwife · September 2013

1) This is really typical toddler behavior. Try not to get yourself too worked up about it. I know very many toddlers who do this, and very few adults who do this, so it is something she will outgrow/get over.

2) That being said, obviously you want to curb the behavior as soon as possible. It's a mess and extra work for you! When my son threw food, the meal was over. Really, to me, throwing food means "I'm not hungry." I just can't get worked up over my son missing a meal here or there. Some days/nights/meals he's more hungry than others. Toddler's don't necessarily recognize the fact that they're supposed to eat three similarly sized meals a day. They eat when they're hungry. Sometimes that means a big lunch and no dinner, sometimes that means all the food they can get their hands on.

AlliM3191 · October 2013

My daughter does this too, what I do for the mess is put newspaper under her chair so when she starts throwing it over the side I can just pull her out, put her down and fold up the piece of newspaper with the food in it without having to pull out the vaccuum. I also kept the rest of her food nearby in case she should be hungry still in a little bit.

traveltheworld · October 2013

blu-eyedwife said:
1) This is really typical toddler behavior. Try not to get yourself too worked up about it. I know very many toddlers who do this, and very few adults who do this, so it is something she will outgrow/get over.

2) That being said, obviously you want to curb the behavior as soon as possible. It's a mess and extra work for you! When my son threw food, the meal was over. Really, to me, throwing food means "I'm not hungry." I just can't get worked up over my son missing a meal here or there. Some days/nights/meals he's more hungry than others. Toddler's don't necessarily recognize the fact that they're supposed to eat three similarly sized meals a day. They eat when they're hungry. Sometimes that means a big lunch and no dinner, sometimes that means all the food they can get their hands on.

This. DS gets one warning, then meal time is over and he has to play by himself until we are done eating. He learned quickly. We pretend not to notice if he accidently drops food on the floor, but if it's deliberate, that's a nono.

doggie mama · October 2013

I take the plate away for a minute or two, then give it back. In my experience it doesn't mean she's not hungry, it's just something she wants to do but she needs to be taught not to. Same thing with tossing the cup over the side. Usually there's some food that has spilled over the side, and she'll eat that and then I give the plate back.

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