Throwing food at mealtime

Amanda - posted on 05/18/2011

yep i have the same problem with my daughter:)

Cindy May - posted on 05/18/2011

you are not alone. My daughter loves feeding herself and there is no telling when the eating will end and the swiping her arms across her plate will happen. The food goes everywhere. Her favourite is to empty the plate onto the tray connected to her highchair, throw the plate on the floor, then fling off all other food she is slightly not intersted in, then empty water onto the tray mixing it all together and finally drinking the puddles off her tray. She likes the immediate reaction she gets of me getting angry so I have tried ignoring it hoping that either she grows out of it or grows up enough for me to then explain to her that it is bad manners.

good luck and let me know if anything does work.

Tiziana - posted on 05/16/2011

My son does the same, if he is full or doesn't like it it's on the floor. I try to catch him before he does it and tell him " no we don't throw food, put it on the plate" sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. When he gets real crazy I just take all the food away and tell him he is done eating. I just tell myself he will get over it soon enough.

Mary - posted on 05/16/2011

my 17 month old does it when he's full too. or if i give him something that he doesnt want to eat. my husband taught him to give it to him instead of throwing it by putting out his hand and saying, "if you are done, give it to dada."

but sometimes he still likes to be spiteful and throw a few pieces on the floor for good measure. lol. then DH will say, "No! i said, give it to dada. do not throw it. give it to dada", and caden will usually give it to him then.

If he STILL throws it, we take it away and say "all done!"

Billie - posted on 04/28/2011

My 16 month old daughter does the same thing! I just keep telling myself it will pass soon!

Amy - posted on 04/16/2011

My son does the same thing. but he likes to share with the dog no matter what it is he can have a cracker at snack time he will take a bite then give the dog the rest. same thing at dinner at first he will eat but after a few minutes he started throwing food on the floor. we have also tried everything taking the food away putting the dog outside but nothing helps. he even spits food out if he doesnt want it at that time then tries to eat it off the floor. the only thing that seems to help is to take his food away until he his ready for it.

Jennifer - posted on 04/16/2011

Our son starts throwing when he's full. When he does chuck food I don't get it right away. When he's in that mood I give him one piece of food at a time to limit my damages. I'm lucky he's a good eater so not really worried hes not eating enough. When he does throw I tell him that's not nice, we don't throw food. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Good luck but it's just a phase and they HAVE TO grow out of it at some point and that's what I'm clinging to.

Brittany - posted on 04/14/2011

before I got reading the other replies.. YOU ARE NOT ALONE and I am so glad I came across this post! My son does the same thing and I was just about to make a post if I didn't see one similar!

Allison - posted on 04/11/2011

I am having trouble with this, too. A couple of things that have helped: I taught mine to call "Mama" and sign all done when he doesn't want anymore. Then I remove the food immediately so there is nothing to throw. Sometimes he doesn't like something on his plate when he isn't all done, though, and then he wants to get rid of it by dropping it on the floor. I watch for this, tap his tray, and say, "Put it down on the tray if you don't want it." This works sometimes. I still get some food on the floor about 50% of the time, but it's a very rare meal when he throws an entire plate of food on the floor anymore.

If he makes a mess on the floor, I take his tray away, clean up his hands and face, and make him wait while I clean up the floor. It's necessary to keep him from tracking through the food and making a bigger mess. Eventually he will understand that he could have gotten out faster if he hadn't dropped food on the floor, and I think that will also help.

Unfortunately, I also want to teach him to sit at a meal with others, and he can't get out immediately when we're at a restaurant, no matter how neat he is. Anyone have ideas for that?

Misty - posted on 04/10/2011

yes my 16 month old dose the same thig i have tryed everthing nothing seams to work...

Jennifer - posted on 04/10/2011

It sounds frustrating. Of course it is a stage that will pass, but that is small comfort now. I would suggest giving very only small quantities of food, and then the MOMENT she starts to through something, whip her out of the highchair. Mealtime is over. Period. You can give her another "mealtime" later, in say half an hour if you feel she really did not get enough food. I think it may take all the fun out of it for her.

I wish you patience and good luck! ;)

Belinda - posted on 04/10/2011

No you dont were in the same boat, only tonight I gave her tea in a bowl. One of her ones with a cute picture on it. Dont know who bought it for us but ceramic bowls are not cool for little ones, it ended up smashed on the floor!!

Heather - posted on 04/08/2011

I have 16 month b/g twins it doesn't matter wether my son is hungry or not he is sharing his food for the floor. He will eat a bite then share the next one with the floor and so on and so on. My daughter on the other hand just started to wipe her tray with her arm as soon as the food is put down. I have no idea why cause she is hungry. I am sure it is normal for kids to do this. I do explain in a firm voice that it is not ok to do what they are doing but that is the extent of the punishment. If they are still doing this when they get a little older and can understand it is wrong to do it then I will choose to try time outs. So far the firm voice works. I may have to repeat myself a few times but they know i mean business.