throwing/ dropping food

[jakobsmommy]

18m old...how do we deal with this in a good way???

he was baby led weaned and ate anything and everything up till 16m now is getting more fussy (think poss in combination with sore gums) but the throwing and dropping food off his tray is not teeth related.  he often propels his fork or spoon across the room, much to the amusement of DS1 which doesnt help things

ive tried removing everything from him and saying nothing, ive tried saying 'no throwing'. ive tried 'reasoning' as best you can with an 18m old.  Is ny next option to remove him from high chair...he isnt usually trying to get out at the throwing stage, he will tell me when he wants to get down.

v frustrating

[Tweakster]

It's very frustrating, I hear you.  Sadly my kid is still doing it at 2 1/4 :-(. Less mind you, but still projectile food items are commonplace in our home.

What we do now is end the meal after his warning because he knows what he's doing now and typically it starts happening at the end of the day when he's tired or had enough to eat. 

But at 18 mths, they really don't have any impulse control.  So at that age we kept up with the 'food is for eating, it stays on our plates' and modeling the behaviour we want to see.  We also got him to 'help' clean up the thrown food so he could start to understand that what he did impacted the whole family. 

[Mum of PA]

Ugh, we are in the same boat here (DS is 18 months as well) and I was just going to post about it as it drives me crazy. I honestly wonder why I bother to wash the floors.  We have just begun to get him to help us clean up the floor which I am hoping will show him that there are 'consequences' (for want of a better word) for him throwing his food.  Even DD says to him 'food stays on the plate' automatically in a monotone voice when he throws food because she hears from us at every meal time  .  Hopefully one day soon it will sink in.

[Duckie]

My dear nephew does this - he's 13 months old.

He does it because their dog enjoys dn's food as much as dn does. The dog is a pretty efficient eater.

Perhaps get a basset hound?  He could help with cleanup, at least?

[babyrose]

My lo has started doing this. He us 13 months, in hoping Its just a phase.

[sarahjoy]

Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one DS has been throwing food for a while but it seems to have really turned into a game at 13 mo.  I will start making him help clean up, that is a great idea!  Last night he threw food and then clapped, argh.  I have taken to growling really low and staring at him.  But my MIL is the one that is home with him during the week so I need to check with her about what she's doing, she's kind of a pushover

[jakobsmommy]

well i tried the 'food stays on our plate', he looked at me and dropped it in a slow motion, exagerated fashion. asked him to clean up and he thinks its a game so squirms away from me laughing so i tried 'putting him to the wall' (just stand him with his back to the wall and explain what hes done and that its not ok then ask him again to clear up) squirming/ laughing and saying 'yuk'! eventually he put it in my hand...then did it again at the next meal. 

Its the fork thats the huge problem tho as he does it a couple of mouthfulls in, maybe because its too much effort, although hes very good with it...then eats with his hands.  hes also started dropping his crayons when colouring.  have to say he has an excellent throw!! lol

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

I am in the same boat as all of you ladies!! My DS (15 months) has been teething on and off for months now, and while I believe his pickiness is due to the sore gums, I know that the throwing is not! He had gotten better with it for about a week at one point, but is really in rare form atm. 

Jakobsmommy - my DS does the same.exact.thing with the looking, and dropping in a slow exaggerated fashion.  I can't believe it! They totally know they're not supposed to be doing it! He has even faked me out by putting the food to his mouth and then quickly throwing it off of the side.  He also laughs at me when I saw no throwing, food is for eating.  When he knows I'm going to take the tray away, he starts throwing them rapid fire and will even grab for crumbs on the tray as I'm removing it so he can throw them too!