12 mo dumping food on the floor from highchair

[me and bean]

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.

[Bea's Mum]

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!

[notenoughshelfspace]

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.

[me and bean]

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.

[Cari]

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

[me and bean]

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.

[mum101]

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   

[maggieruth]

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

[Mom2Pearce]

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

[maggieruth]

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 ? 

[CanadianMom]

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

[Pigeon]

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!!

[mum101]

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?

[andibig]

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.

[Pigeon]

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!