Throwing food

[Psyche]

DS is going through and has been going through a throwing food phase. Help! I am so frustrated with it. I've been saying no, then yelling, then taking his food away. He still continues to do it at the next meal. What am I supposed to do? He's got to eat and I hate cleaning up messes after messes.

[MarynMunchkins]

Most kids throw food when they're full and bored. Teach him to say "all done" and have him "help" ;) clean up the mess that he does make. He'll outgrow it.

Giving him a couple pieces of food at a time might help you with the mess.

[inesperada]

The only thing that ever helped us was to give ds very small portions - a couple bites at a time. If he saw a small portion, he didn't think he had any to waste and he would eat it. If he saw a large portion, he thought there was plenty to spare for throwing. :doh I also had to watch very, very diligently for the first signs that he was finished and/or bored to get him down before he could start throwing out of boredom.

[hopeforchange]

my dd (13 mo.) throws her food...to the dog!!! :doh on purpose, just chucks it at the dog...so she only gets little bits at a time and i tell her that "food goes in anwyn's mouth".

[mamaKristin]

you've had some good tips already. It's a normal developmental phase, frustrating, but normal. The key is to working at keeping the mess to a minimum to keep mom sane. ;) He's a little scientist, trying to figure out how things work. If you frame it that way, is it easier to deal with at all?

[Katigre]

Your DS is just a month or so older than mine. Here is what I do that has worked very well:

1. Small portions (i.e., two bites of food on his tray at a time - any more than this and he loses focus on eating and instead gets into a 'swipe my hands all over and send food flying' mood ;))

2. Teaching him "Hand it to mommy" (instead of throwing) so when he does throw a piece of food I pick it up and have him hand it to me. After a few days of doing this he gets the drill and is fairly easy to redirect with handing me food he is done with instead of throwing it (for him, he would start throwing when he was pretty much done eating).

3. If it persists, end the meal - I give a few chances since he's young, but if i can tell he's not refocusing on eating then the meal is over.

:hug2 I would encourage you not to yell at all - that does not help the situation and is not a good parenting pattern to get into. Your authority will not be enforced through a raised voice, it will be enforced by firm and consistent boundaries such as I outlined above.