spitting out food

[Gracesmum]

help! my dd is driving me mad, she has a habit of spitting out food, not at anyone (thankfully) but just back on her plate. i think sometimes she just cant be bothered to chew, she's 2 by the way. she doesnt do it all the time, mostly around teatime when she starts getting cranky and fed up.
if at home i give her a bigger meal at lunchtime and maybe sandwich or soup etc for her tea and this works better for her, but when she spits out perfectly good food it drives me demented.

she can verbalise when she has had enough.

[threebob]

Does she go to daycare at all? My ds's revolting letting food course out of his mouth half chewed habit comes from there.

[Gracesmum]

she goes to a childminder so she could have picked it up from one of the children there i guess?

[threebob]

I'd ask the childminder what she does and then be consistent.

[Gracesmum]

thanks i will do that.

[sazhig]

Does she do it at the end of meals or throughout them? My DS (22 months) spits half chewed food out at the end of meals & I think its because he suddenly realises that he is full and doesnt need it.

He also spits out occasionally during a meal if he has put too much into his mouth for him to swallow.

[wangle99]

My god your post could have been written by me! DS is 2.8 years and does this all the time but he does it because he's seen something much better he'd like to eat on his plate instead of what he has in his mouth.

We just ignore him and are hoping it will go away.

[Gracesmum]

sazhig, i think she also sometimes realises that she has had enough but she can verbalise this very well, think it just easier to spit it out than say 'i've had enough'. difficulty is that sometimes your idea of enough isnt always the same as theirs.

[sazhig]

Not a good idea imo in trying to make kids eat more than they want to - sets them up for a lifetime of overeating. Its very easy to get out of the habit of listening to your own body telling you that you are full if someone else is saying "just one more mouthful" etc. The "clear your plate" idea from my parents generation has a lot to answer for & I am battling with my own weight issues & trying desparately to lose weight, yet I cant seem to leave a dinner table without finishing my plate, no matter how full I am

[Gracesmum]

i know what you mean sahzig, i am also heavier than i would like to be. i guess i worry more because she is quite petite. she is only just off the centile line, so not classed as underweight but she is dinky. she was breastfed for 9 months, and i know breastfed children tend to be leaner.
just think that if she doesnt eat enough at tea time then she may wake in the night because she is hungry and i dont really want to get into midnight snacking either.