Author Topic: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair  (Read 5063 times)

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Offline me and bean

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12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« on: April 25, 2006, 03:53:44 am »
ok, so i have looked 7 pages back to try and find similar stories... 

bean is picking up food and just letting it go over the side of the highchair.  i will put food down, and without even trying it, he picks it up and drops it over.  he is doing it with favourites even.

he is not using a plate or spoon (still at the refusing stage since finger foods were introduced) so i can't tell him i will take those away.

i tell him, "no, we don't throw food (even though he isn't actually throwing)."  and he just looks at me and keeps doing it.

i don't know if he is getting enough to eat.  he is very happy & content.

do i discipline him?  how?

is it just a phase?

do i keep offering different things to try?  seems it doesn't matter what it is right now, he just wants to dump it.
Susan -
mum to michael, aka bean!  april 1st, 2005
and cope, october 15th, 2007

Offline Bea's Mum

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2006, 12:31:00 pm »
Beatrice started doing this when we first bought her booster seat (she was 9 months then).  I guess it was the novelty - she'd never sat high up before.  I think it stopped when we started ignoring it and not picking the dropped food up.  We'd just carry on feeding her like it hadn't happened. (We'd pick it up later on, obviously!)

Recently she's started doing it again, so after the first time I ask her if she wants some more.  If she opens her mouth it means yes and we carry on (the food dropping seems to stop) and if she doesn't, I take her plate away on the assumption that she's playing with her food because she's had enough.

A few nights ago she picked her whole plate up and dumped it on the floor, complete with spaghetti bolognese.  Mummy didn't find that quite so easy to ignore!
Anne (Mum of Beatrice, 01/03/2005)


Offline notenoughshelfspace

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2006, 12:53:00 pm »
Mine does that too and has been for about 2 months now. Very annoying; when she does it I just take the finger food away. Hoping it will stop. ON a similar note;  when she has a piece on food she does not like in her mouth she pokes her tongue out and flicks the food off. Sometimes she puts the food back into her mouth, sometimes not. Gross.
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Offline me and bean

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2006, 03:13:47 am »
he will drop everything.  i mean, he will drop some of his veges, then eat some, then drop some...  then i give him something else, meat, fruit, toast whatever, and he repeats the process. 

anne...  awww i haven't seen a wombat for aaaages...

notenoughshelfspace...  yep we have the same carry-on here too.  chewing food, then getting it out to inspect it and put it back in for another go, then getting it out again, and asigning it to another area of the highchair...  then putting it back in again...  ok, so two months hey?  that's quite a phase - lovely.
Susan -
mum to michael, aka bean!  april 1st, 2005
and cope, october 15th, 2007

Offline Cari

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2006, 00:11:15 am »
My 14 month old daughter does the same thing!  She eats some, drops some, then eats some more.  I have recently showed her how to use a fork, and she will eat the food if it is on the fork.  She can't do it on her own, so I have to put the food on.  Maybe she is asserting her independance.  Who knows??  I am just sick of picking it up off the floor!  If you find a solution, let me know :)

Offline me and bean

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2006, 05:06:20 am »
hi baileysmom

for a week or so, it stopped!  and today, it's back.  along with smearing food all over the tray.  nice.

he will eat off a fork also, if i put the food on it and put it in his mouth, or he will take the piece off the end and put it in his own mouth.
Susan -
mum to michael, aka bean!  april 1st, 2005
and cope, october 15th, 2007

Offline mum101

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2006, 10:32:54 am »
hi,
my 15 mo often drops food off, especially when she's not that hungry. I have found that ignoring her is the best (and when i turn my back is often when she eats because i look back and she's chewing).  Her food intake seems to have dropped off. 

I find the rejection of food quite hard, after all it's our JOB to feed/clothe/settle.

I got cross with her at one stage and yelled 'stop it!'.  She just laughed at me.  Cheeky chops   ::)
mumma to 2 former BW babies, DD 11, DS 8

Offline maggieruth

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2006, 14:39:46 pm »
my ds has discovered spitting food out with quite impressive trajectory and spray (hard to ignore!) and this really slow process of sticking his tongue out with mouth open so that saliva will eventually reach tidal level and carry his food away!!!! (appauling yet compulsive viewing)
thats if it gets as far as his mouth.
he is also a big fan of knocking food onto the floor.
he has only tried a spoon hand over hand when he has looked interested
oh yeah, he also tries to hold the spoon in one hand and remove food from it with the other?
no solutions, only ::)
x

Offline Mom2Pearce

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2006, 14:17:43 pm »
glad to know i'm not alone...my LO has been doing this at least a month now...it drives me NUTS. i just wonder if trying to correct it is like trying to teach a pig to sing (frustrates you and annoys the pig)...there's a part of me that thinks he does really know what he's doing, then another part that says, nah...he's just a little guy trying to learn about cause and effect or gravity or something.

Oh well,if you have any further insights, please don't hesitate.

jenni
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Offline maggieruth

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2006, 17:44:09 pm »
tonight, when ethan knocked food onto the floor again and again, it was pretty obvious that actually he was done eating and knocking food on the floor was the best way he had to let me know he was done(so much for a good sideswipe or clamping the lips shut)
as much as i hate comtemplating bringing in the hose after dinner due to the mess ethan makes, i guess i am pleased he can communicate with me ?  ???

Offline CanadianMom

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2006, 12:17:17 pm »
I am just sick of picking it up off the floor!  If you find a solution, let me know :)

Liam also puts his food over his high chair - to an eagerly awaiting dog!  So I never have to pick any food up off the floor! LOL!

I do believe that this is a phaze, Callum and Gemma both did it too, but tended to stop when they realized that they liked it.
Lisa

Offline Pigeon

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2006, 19:24:07 pm »
Just wanted to add that my DD went through exactly the same phase - with her it was definitely to get attention (when she started it we would say Megan noooo, and laugh - big mistake!). Eventually we learned our lesson and ignored it for the large part, and it stopped. if its any consolation, now she gets upset when it falls on the floor, because it means she can't eat it!!
Laura, studying SAHM of
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William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline mum101

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2006, 08:54:13 am »
Help!
Is it realistic for a 15 months old to understand that throwing anything from the high chair is not allowed?

Rory has been doing it for months now.  I am starting to get tired of it.  I never chastise her (with the exception of tonight - see below). 

I pretty much ignore her, but am close by when she eats (as she gets annoyed when I try to intervene in her feeding), so I don't know that it's an attention thing. 
However tonight I calmly told her not to throw things off the high chair.  She ignored me and dropped food off so I told her she musnt' be hungry and took her out of the chair. She complained a bit then a few minutes later asked for 'more' (=food).  We repeated that process about 5 times. 
I stayed calm, but the whole friggen ordeal has left me frustrated that I can't get her to stop it. 

Any ideas?
mumma to 2 former BW babies, DD 11, DS 8

andibig

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2006, 19:10:35 pm »
we have the same problem. dd is 11.5 months old. good thing is we have a dog (never have to buy dog food again-LOL) so no need to clear up! pretty fortunate he likes fruit!! best way is ignore it thats what i've started doing with dd even though its annoying when you've prepared a meal and the floor gets it.

Offline Pigeon

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2006, 19:39:14 pm »
Hi ladies,
One piece of advice that has come flashing back to me was something my health visitor said when I complained of the same thing to her. She said, "prepare more food, have some as a standby in the kitchen to wheel out if the first plate ends on the floor." That way it can be less stressful/annoying and if they don't need the extra food, you can freeze it and have a ready-made meal for another day.
Might sound too simplistic, but hope this little idea helps a bit!
Laura, studying SAHM of
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William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline me and bean

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2006, 04:27:23 am »
a month later... he's still doing it.  i just ignore him now. ::)
Susan -
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and cope, october 15th, 2007

Offline mum101

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2006, 02:07:19 am »
I have found out how stop food droppages!   ;D I don't know that it would necessarily work for other munchkins; each kid is so different...

I sat with her and watched her eating habits at every meal (which I hadn't done to that level before) and worked out she has 3 stages.  Eating with her fork/spoon, eating with her fingers, then playing with her food (she'll start by poking her food). As soon as she starts poking her food I ask her if she's done and remove all bar a few pieces of food if she does want more. 

Mum and Dad eating with her too is a big help (doesn't happen for every meal though).  She is motivated by trying to do what we do.  I've extended her dinner time so we can all eat at 6:30.  She now eats at the big table on a booster seat. 

It's interesting as she used to drop everything off the table at any time during the meal - full or not.  Now she's more interested in eating first.  A big change!

char
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Offline *Nicola*

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #17 on: June 01, 2006, 12:06:03 pm »
Exellent news  ;D
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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #18 on: June 01, 2006, 12:18:45 pm »
DD is very creative in this area.

I am able to identify when she doesn't want to eat anymore, so as soon as I see it, I take her down from her high chair.

What kills me is that as soon as she is down, she'll start picking up the food that she threw and starts eating it  >:( OR she searches for food that might have fallen on the seat of her high chair....

No matter how fast I run to get the vacuum cleaner to pick up the mess, she always manages to grab some food that fell...


andibig

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #19 on: June 01, 2006, 18:21:45 pm »
god i thought only my DD does that ;D. i think my dd tries to get it b4 the dog does (LOL)

Offline me and bean

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #20 on: June 04, 2006, 01:51:46 am »
char - thanks...  am going to take your advice and see what happens.

andibig & s_olano00 - bean also goes back to the scene of the crime to eat the evidence!
Susan -
mum to michael, aka bean!  april 1st, 2005
and cope, october 15th, 2007

Offline micah'smom

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #21 on: June 12, 2006, 02:57:18 am »
one of my biggest lifesavers these days are those huge vinyl highchair mats you place under the highchair. ours is sesame street and ds likes to drop his food into big bird's mouth!!

like a previous poster, ds eats much better when he's eating with mom and dad. or when i'm not looking. so i guess it's an attention thing?? he also LOVES to swish his food on his tray....arg. so ignoring is the way to go?
selena, mom to micah 4/14/05

Offline LizzieW

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2006, 11:46:43 am »
Hello everyone, i've been reading your posts and so glad to know I am not alone!

Until the last 3 weeks or so my 14 month old son Oscar was a very good eater. Mealtimes as follows: breakfast at nursery 7.30am, lunch at nursery 11am, afternoon tea at nursery (toast, sandwiches etc) 3pm and then supper at home around 6pm. At weekends we stick to the same sort of mealtimes, just a bit later and the afternoon snack at home is usually just some fruit.

I felt like things were working out very well (pride comes before a fall hey?) especially as his suppers typically consisted of mashed root veg with some chopped/grated green veg and grated cheese followed by a yoghurt. I felt this was important as the nursery lunches are often lacking in "real" veg, baked beans are typical for example and the breakfast/tea is mainly carbohydrate. but I felt he made up for that in the evenings. 

Well, not any more. He refuses to eat from the spoon, shouts "No!" and bats it away. I put small amounts on his tray and sometimes he will put some in his mouth but will quickly start playing with it and throwing it which is infuriating. Some days he does not even taste it. He will usually accept and eat a rice cracker, and dried fruit. Sometimes I will offer his yoghurt just to get something in his tummy before bed. Sometimes he eats it, sometimes not. He has been known to throw that too.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong so suddenly? i'm racking my brains over whether it could be his teeth (he has front teeth and I think side molars are trying to come too), sore throat (he's had a cold), lost appetite due to hot weather, asserting independence (i.e. would prefer things he can feed himself)??? Nursery say he is eating less in general but that is typical once they are over one year. I also considered is he eating too much at teatime but we have cut his teatime snack right down at weekends and still have same problem. Someone has also suggested I am feeding him too late when he is already tired but 6 is the earliest I can pick him up after work and the nursery tea is too early for im to last until 7.30 next morning. Besides he always ate well at 6 until recently.

He never liked formula milk and had to be coaxed into drinking, now he is on cow's milk (from a cup) he drinks plenty... but is this why he has gone off solids? Should I restrict his milk and give him water instead?

Some other clues he likes us to sit at the table with him and he is keen to try what we are eating, so I pretnd to eat from his bowl, but this does not work all the time, sometimes he eats better  - or at least has a few tastes - if i actually go out of the room and leave him to it. He seems cross about being fed and prefers finger food (though sometimes he just squashes that and throws it). I work full time and really look forward to seeing him at the end of the day but now I'm starting to dread it knowing I will prepare a meal, try and fail to stop it being rejected and thrown across the room and then have to clean the floor!!!!

What do i do? Should I persist with the 6pm supper even though this is getting stressful ? (the one time I gave up and sent him to bed with no supper he was awake and hungry at 4am - he never usually wakes - no joke when i have to be up for work at 6am). Should i allow his just yoghurt and fruit as he's more likely to eat it? (I'm worried about encouraging faddy eating). Should I make this meal finger food only? How can I get some veg down him considering I don't have a say in what he eats at nursery? Does anyone have any ideas for finger food veg that can be prepared in advance, or quickly?

Heeeeellllpppp!!!!!!! Sorry for writing a whole novel here but I feel desparate to crack this problem and have my vegetable-loving boy back!

Offline notenoughshelfspace

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2006, 13:50:16 pm »
No real advice I am afraid just know that you are not alone; my daughter used to be the best eater but things changed about a month or two ago. Now I have to produce an endless cycle of spoons, finger food, drinks, distraction etc... just to get her to eat a few spoonfuls of food.  She has also gone off her old favourites... I just keep persevering with real food followed by dessert. I know she will not starve herself and I hope this is a phase... Any advice will be appreciated!
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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2006, 13:58:21 pm »
no advise here either i'm afraid. DD doing the same ::) she has now decide she wants to spoon feed her self as well. so i have to load the spoon and give it to her ::) lots of mess everywhere. i think their appetite goes down quite drastically when they reach one. everything else other than eating is more interesting ;D

Offline Pigeon

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2006, 14:15:46 pm »
Hi Lizzie,

Quote (selected)
Well, not any more. He refuses to eat from the spoon, shouts "No!" and bats it away. I put small amounts on his tray and sometimes he will put some in his mouth but will quickly start playing with it and throwing it which is infuriating. Some days he does not even taste it. He will usually accept and eat a rice cracker, and dried fruit. Sometimes I will offer his yoghurt just to get something in his tummy before bed. Sometimes he eats it, sometimes not. He has been known to throw that too.
My DD went through exactly the same thing. I really think it IS a phase...once you rule out any health issues they may have (including those pesky molars coming in...) you kind of just have to grin and bear it and work out what works best for you. My DD refused to eat ANYTHING from a spoon, so I ended up just putting loads of "bits" on her tray (matchstick carrots, cucumber, pieces of cheese, ham, etc etc) and she had a finger food buffet every night for about a month. Seriously, some evenings she would only eat one cherry tomato  ::) and I was going frantic, but thought, she's not going to starve and if she's hungry enough she WILL eat. The other thing I did was push her highchair into the kitchen, so she could watch me making tea for DH and myself while she ate - I found (and still do) that if I was standing over her, she wouldn't eat, but if I was around, but busy, she'd eat.
A lot of it with my DD was to do with wanting to feed herself, but not having the coordination yet to feed with a spoon.  Sasha's mummy, I also had to load the spoon and leave it on the side of the plate for her to pick up - time consuming but worth it in the end.
The main message is try not to stress about it (I know sometimes easier said than done), especially in front of them, they will pick up on it and mealtimes will become a battle ground.....
And I used to ignore the throwing - took that to mean she wasn't interested. If she continued I would get her down and said, "You are throwing your food, I think that means you're not hungry."
HTH someone
From someone who has been there and come out the other side!  ;)
ps: do you bake with your LOs? I only ask because sometimes doing something like making a mini pizza or having them help stir something, and then eating it for tea, can be quite fun and give them some interest in food....
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline LizzieW

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #26 on: June 14, 2006, 14:46:45 pm »
Hi Ladies thank you so much for all your tips and reassurance.

Dinnertime last night was a bit better. The bowl/spoon of mashed parsnip was batted away with a loud NO! So I left it on the highchair tray and trying to be calm went to do the washing up the other end of the kitchen. TO my surprise he didn't throw it and when I next peeped he was helping himself out of the bowl. He soon gave up with the spoon and was scooping handfuls of parsnip into his mouth. Most of it was being spilt but not purposely.

Wondering if it is an independence issue I searched the fridge madly for suitable finger food and put some chopped tomato and apricots on the tray. What do you know, that went down quite well too. I then tried to "help" by sneaking in a spoon of parsnip but he wasn't fooled and hurled the bowl onto the floor. End of parsnip.

After he had finished the finger food I offered the yoghurt. He let me feed him two spoons and then it was "NO!" and him geting cross again. Before it could escalte I put the yoghut pot with spoon stuck in it onto the tray and then started doing something else. With a great deal of mess he ate the whole thing with a spoon and even whined with dismay when there was none left. I think it was easier for him to scoop out of a pot than the bowl, so I might try putting his mash in a pot from now on! And rack my brains for veg that can be served as finger food. Any ideas gratefully received!

Offline TDR'smom

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #27 on: June 14, 2006, 14:52:04 pm »
Hi LizzieW,

Your dinner last night sounds like an exact replica of my household!  It is so frustrating.  I feel like I am wasting so much food by preparing all these little things for him and having him reject it.

In regards to finger foods....have you tried steaming carrots or peas.  Cut the carrots up into small pieces he can pick up himself.  Also, lima beans and green beans work well for me.

Good luck and keep me posted.  I will be thinking of you during our meal times.

 :) :) :) :)
Judy







andibig

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #28 on: June 14, 2006, 16:22:28 pm »
lizzie
its like that at our house as well!!!!! believe it or not sashas fav food is cous cous and shes quite good at feeding herself withit. also another sneaky way of getting veg in them!!!!

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #29 on: June 14, 2006, 18:15:51 pm »
Lizzie, Firstly, congratulations on keeping calm and persevering and congratulations to your LO for getting the message so early and feeding himself. Sounds to me like its a real independence thing, so maybe finger food IS the way to go.....
The sky is the limit really, anything you can think of that can be cut up, cut it up!!  Diced chicken, tuna flakes, boiled potatoes, brocoli florets, any other veg that can be made matchstick like, you can pretty much get a balanced meal in them if they will eat! My DD loved (and still does) eating sweetcorn, peas, even grains of rice with her fingers (and good for fine motor skill development too)
Good luck! ;)
Laura, studying SAHM of
Megan Isabelle - April 2004
William Harvey (Billy) - March 2007

Offline LizzieW

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #30 on: June 21, 2006, 08:32:38 am »
THanks for the brilliant food ideas. Peas and sweetcorn have gone down especially well - he does not eat as much of it as I'd like as the effort takes him longer, but its all progress. I am going to buy a pack of frozen mixed veg and put a (cooked) handful on his tray at each meal. I will let you know if gets eaten or thrown!

I haven't yet tried the broccoli florets or carrot matchsticks as he only has a few front teeth and can't chew properly yet. But I did try grated raw carrot mixed with cream cheese in a sandwich cut into fingers, and that went down well.

I was concerned that now I am concentrating on finger foods his carbohydrate intake is almost exlcusively bread! He used to love mashed potato and other root veg and now its just bread, toast, breadsticks, savoury biscuits and the occassional rice cracker. However, thanks for the tip about slices of boiled potato - I've got some new potatoes in the cupboard & I will try this!

Other things that have gone down well this week (both of which I made for "grown-up dinner" but were also a hit with Oscar):
Salad of brown rice, chopped red bell pepper, sultanas and pineapple pieces with an olive oil and pineapple juice dressing.
Quiche Lorraine made from homemade pastry, eggs, cream, smoked mackarel, chopped apple and spring onion - cut inot bite sized chunks for Oscar.
Lots of mess! But that the way things are.

I've also tried spoonfeeding again to see if it was just a phase but the angry NOs and bowl-throwing started again.

Any more recepie successes for getting some veg into cheeky toddlers welcome!

Offline workingmum

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #31 on: June 27, 2006, 06:27:29 am »
Boy does this sound familiar. We have just gotten advice from the child health centre and a paeditircian about DS (16 mos) not eating fruit, veg or meat. He will eat yoghurt, weetbix and vegemite sandwiches and not much else and also throws food from his high chair and mashes it into the tray. The advice we got was:
- give less milk during the day to make sure he's not filling up on it
- if he refuses the meal given to him, don't give him something else we know he likes as if he knows this is coming he will never try new foods (sometimes he eats fruit and daycare but never at home so the problem is clearly behavioural)
- don't worry about the mess, ignore any playing with the food etc - this is part of his learning experience and it's important not to turn mealtime into a battle
- if the mess bothers you, put an old shower curtain down on the floor under the high chair. This makes cleaning up much easierj.

Hope some of this helps. We have had a little success so far but still have a way to go.

Melanie.
Mum of Jack, Feb 2005,
baby no 2 due Oct 2006,
Brisbane Australia.

Offline LizzieW

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #32 on: July 04, 2006, 14:43:30 pm »
Hi Melanie

Thanks for the tips. I've just bought something called a Splatmat for going under the high chair but I think a shower curtain might be better! Someone else has suggested its a good way to recycle newspapers. I know what you mean about it being behavioural. For example my son will allow his childminder to spoonfeed him but not Mummy or Daddy!  It has been hard to relax about it but you are dead right, it makes things less of a battleground and if I get on with something else or pour myself a glass of wine (BAD mother!) while he is having his tea I sometimes look round and find that despite a bit of fuss, and a lot of mess, he has eaten the lot.

I don't know if you have tried dried fruit with your little boy. I don't care for it much myself but Oscar tried some raisins and never looked back. He will now eat things like (well chopped) dried prunes, apricots, figs and papaya, better than fresh fruit. Maybe he thinks he's getting sweeties!

L x

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Re: 12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair
« Reply #33 on: July 05, 2006, 06:14:49 am »
Thanks Liz. He does eat raisins but I haven't tried other dried fruit. I guess I've been determined that I will succeed with the fresh fruit, especially given that he will eat it at day care. We have had success with apple now so I think the persistence is finally paying off! Little victories do make it seem worthwhile, but it certainly takes a lot of patience! ;D

Melanie.
Mum of Jack, Feb 2005,
baby no 2 due Oct 2006,
Brisbane Australia.