meal time chaos with 17 month old

[bunnybunyip]

OK, I'm not expecting perfection but just wondered if anyone had any tips.
DS prefers to eat everything with his fingers (beans, yogurt etc) and tends to chuck everything on the floor, walls etc if he doesn't want any more. He will be spoon fed if we are in a rush and can't take the mess, but I was hoping to see signs of him wanting to use a spoon.
He used to eat of a spoon loaded by us but now screams if we even attempt to give him a spoon to hold whilst eating, or put on on his tray.
We say "no" sternly if he chucks food and take it away (but tend to give it back once calmer as he has to eat!) praise for nice eating, but is there any more I can do?

Don't give him 'runny' foods! Ignore the experimenting (that's all it is) DCs don't see food in the same way as we do; he'd learned to use the spoon so he's not bothered any more!

'If he doesn't want any more " that's the key; just take the food away calmly. Also try eating round a table with him. Tell him a story while eating so he can't see he's annoying you!!

Thanks,
Will try and avoid runnier throwable foods!
The problem is where we have a mixed plate; e.g. he had a sausage salad for lunch, ate all the sausage and threw the salad on the floor. I don't want to stop offering him vegetables though. And I tend then to give him something else as the thought of him being grumpy because of hunger isn't much fun. So the outcome is, he throws food he doesn't like, and gets something he does! Not an ideal education.
I generally do try and eat at the table with him.

Sorry but lol at sausage salad. I would chuck the lettuce too.

It was a bit of my usual cobble together stuff out of the fridge; maybe that's where I'm going wrong!

when ds went through this stage I use to give him crackers with cheese spread and cucumber carrot and pepper. Because he could smear the cheese he seemed to get the satisfaction from it!

Mindyou ds would NEVER throw salad he is freakily enamoured with the stuff - he actually gets exited at lettace

Another trick I used was cutting up fruit and covering (thinly!) with yoghurt - again slightly less to spread around.

It is a phase though and I promise ds will grow out of it.

ds is 16mo and also loves throwing everything... what I do is if he throws something, warn him that if he does it again I will take it away then when he inevitably does throw it again take all of that food away. I do usually try him with something else but not his favourites in the hope that he will eventually learn that there is no point in throwing things. I have also observed that he usually only does it if he is either not hungry or when he's had enough of that type of food or if he's thirsty.

I always worry about him going hungry too especially in the evening as don't want a disturbed night! But also really want to stop the throwing so it's hard to know what's best. My ds does like to try and use a spoon/fork now but his co-ordination still isn't there but it does distract him from throwing stuff trying to get food on the spoon/fork and actually get it into his mouth!

If anyone else has any tips I would love to hear them too!

DS is also 16mo and loved throwing stuff around and generally making a massive mess at mealtimes (sticking peanut butter up his nostrils is a favourite at the moment!!)

He used to just chuck everything on the floor when he'd had enough/was bored but I've found that over the last couple of months we have a new 'game' that helps: when he starts mucking around and is starting to get fed up or has eaten enough I get him to 'ta' the food to me. I've found that if you make it a game for him to give the food to you rather than chuck it everywhere it can sometimes reduce some of the mess (not always, but it does seem to help).

My DH uses this game to get DS to give him his leftovers, which he then scoffs!! DS find this really funny for some reason.

Worth a try anyway, though it might not work for everyone.

Still haven't managed to find a solution for DS using porridge as hair gel yet though...

PS. DS also eats mostly with his hands but will sometimes take a loaded spoon if he's in the mood.

DD 20 months has just come out of a few week phase of throwing food once she'd had enough. We did the warning that food would be taken away and there would be no pudding and then acted on it. I realised that she expected pudding to follow throwing the main course hence the more draconian approach. I would give her something else before bed - usually a mug of milk to make sure she'd had something but often she just wasn't hungry, hence the food throwing in the first place.

Of all the different behaviours we'd experienced, this was the one I found most difficult to deal with. She also doesn't get yoghurt in a pot anymore as she'd rather squeeze the pot and tip it up than eat with her spoon - don't have this problem if I decant it into a bowl first.

Thanks all, it is great to know that we are not on our own; and that things are likely to get better. And that will take a bit longer for DS to master the spoon.