very impatient LO

[ewabear]

Hi my LO gets very impatient when waiting for food in her high chair. She is also impatient when she knows that she is going to be breastfed.
She cries and screams, is she really that hungry? How can I show her that she needs to be patient.

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

I'm not sure!  My Medi is exactly the same.

[jessmum46]

Hmmm.....not sure you can really teach patience at this age.  Distraction may be a better tactic - maybe some finger foods to play with as soon as she is in her high chair while you prepare everything else?  Or save putting her in the chair until the last possible minute?

[weaver]

How can I show her that she needs to be patient.

She really is too young to *learn* patience yet, so maybe time to lower expectations.   I'd say the crying and screaming is probably excitement rather than hunger.

You can model patience for her in your daily shared life as she will copy what you do...eventually...!  You can talk her through every step of the way of food prep and see if that helps.  I would definitely wait til the last minute to put her in the chair. Take her with you and let her see you preparing her food.  If she must sit and wait, give her a spoon and (empty) bowl to play with in the chair, or a breadstick and some hummus! She'll have a ball.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

My older two are still working on their patience, much less the baby! I never put her in her booster until her food is all prepped, she plays in the cupboards while I cook if no one else is home to help and I try to make her bottle up where she can't see me do it as she is that hungry! Or if I really need her out of the way (ie if I am using the oven) I wear her on my back!

[creations]

Along with what pps have said, I found it helpful to answer DS with a "yes" wherever possible. A positive response which can confirm the food is coming and that LO has been heard. I agree that it's too young to expect them to learn patience, but I don't think it is too young to begin teaching so long as expectations are low (very low).  So perhaps a "yes" then follow up with what you are doing, "I am getting your food right now, it won't be long" or "It's right here, we just need it to cool down a bit before we eat" even guessing what she might be saying and echoing that back may help "you want me to hurry up, you really want your food now, hurry hurry mummy!".
I tended to offer something easy and immediate if mine was being fussy, like pp said, a bread stick or keep some pre-cooked pasta in the fridge which can be offered immediately.

[weaver]

^^^ I agree. I always say 'yes, it's coming' or 'yes, look here's your XYZ, it's cooking/I'm slicing it/it'll be ready in a minute' then she knows something is happening and can learn (slowly!) to wait a bit.  I really do talk them through every stage of going to the cupboard, taking it out etc and I have done since they were tiny.  They seem reasonably patient (again with fairly low expectations). Also if she's watching the action, she's more likely to be interested and not bored.