Throwing food to the floor

[creations]

We rarely get food on the floor any more.  He does still try it on a little but as soon as he makes a move to drop food I ask if he is finished and hold his plate so he can 'clean up' onto it.  His food starts on a plate on the tray (or plate at table depending which high chair he's in) but a few bits end up off the plate onto the tray/table and he will pick these bits up and replace them back onto the plate, then his fork and spoon go on the plate too.  His sippy cup he either also puts on his plate or hands to me.  I thank him for helping me clear up and he then claps himself for being so good (cheeky monkey)!
I started this by bringing play time to food time, we were doing a lot of 'on' and ''in', then 'out', now 'off' ie blocks go 'on, on, on, on' to build a tower of 4.  Small toys get put 'in' bigger containers, lids go 'on', potty contents goes 'in' the toilet etc etc.  He totally loves that clear up at food time involves 'on'.
Try it, it might work.

[*Kara*]

Great idea Creations!!!!

[creations]

A little OT but quite cute - he understands 'on' as 'on top of' rather than 'wearing' so when I give him his socks and shoes and tell him to 'put them on' (I'm going to do it for him obviously but it's the way I chat through stuff) he carefully puts them in a pile one on top of the other on top of one foot   2 socks and 2 shoes stacked onto one foot.

Let me know if the clearing up idea works for you.  You still have to be pretty vigilant about food drops but it makes it a fun way to end the meal getting them to clear up, I'm just waiting until he can carry his own plate to the sink

[*Kara*]

Will give it a shot and keep you posted!

So cute about the shoes and socks - DD does the same, balances everything "on" her feet!

[julesdq]

My LO would throw her cup and food on the floor as soon as she didn't want it anymore. It drove me CRAZY!!!
Now I put an extra bowl on her tray and she puts all the unwanted food in there and says 'ta' when she's done that. Sometimes she throws things on the floor so when she's finished eating I say it's time to tidy up the mess on the floor and we pick up the food and put it in that same bowl and she takes a wet wipe and wipes the floor. She really enjoys this but at least she's sort of learning to tidy up after herself. It took a weeks for her to learn this but i find it much easier than before.
Hope you find a way to reduce it :-)

[anna*]

I used to put only tiny bits on Stan's plate or tray - just like 3 mouthfuls - and then top up when those bits were eaten. Seemed to help keep him focussed on eating rather than throwing!

[We Three]

That's what worked for me too....only two or maybe three things on the tray at once.    

[*Kara*]

I think it was a really short phase!  She hasn't really been doing it anymore... I did start to ask her to put things on the "big people table" that she doesn't want... If I see her think about tossing something I grab the rest of the same item off of her tray and put it on the table... then I ask her to do the same with the bit in her hand - she generally does it and then moves on with eating again!  YAY!