Throwing food from her highchair

[Cupcakemummy85]

Hi all,
My dd is 15 months and after cracking her routine she has thrown another spanner in the works and has started throwing food from her high chair and sometimes even flat out refuses her food(which seems to b happening a lot). She has done it this morning and I'm so upset I've had to take five mins to calm down. She threw her spoon that was loaded with porrige at me. How can I get her to stop doing this and throwing food? It's so wasteful and I feel really bad throwing away a whole bowl full of porrige in the bin. Her behaviour is just getting worse I feel. Tantrum after tantrum. She does have her good days but mot of the time she is a little madam and I'm nearly in tears every day.

That's interesting about the time outs. I have never thought of that before. My dd's naps are better now. She has a nap after lunch which works fantastically. But perhaps I will try bringing lunch forward a tad, however we go to play groups now and don't get back til twelve anyway. Only last week she was eating perfectly. It's amazing how quickly it can all change.

And if it is teething, then I'm firmly in the give paracetamol/ibuprofen camp - if I have a pain then I don't think twice about taking something if I need it.

I just worry if I've judged it wrong and it's not teeth he has had a dose of paracetamol for nothing. If it were up to my dh she would have it everytime she cried lol.

Really Peshwari turning a baby to face the wall?!

Couldn't have been that effective if she was having to do it from 6 months and was still going it all that time. Toddlers under 18 months cannot hold utensils well enough to twist their wrists ad get their food in. Babies throw food on the floor out of poor coordination as well as learning how things work.

Jesus wept.

Agree with iggly Also remember they are changing all the time (it would be strange if they stuck in the crawling stage wouldn't it?) DCs don't have any emotional investment in food like us; they view it as we would view paints; so experimenting with it (which is all she's doing) is not naughty or strange it's NORMAL for L.O's.

I don't agree that if they if don't eat the meal they should go without though. Why can't a DC have likes and dislikes? Maybe she doesn't LIKE the texture of the food now 'cos they change as i said above. she's just showing her personality

I'm a bit worried tbh she has flat out refused to eat anything today. She has even turned down her favourite foods. She wouldn't drink much of her milk either. She seems well in herself though. Why do these things always happen in Fridays!! Lol

I'm at a 'parenting expert' turning babies to face the wall for time out at 6mo too. Piffle and codswallap.

OP, I wouldn't worry. It's unlikely that she'll starve. DD has always gone between eating like a horse and a bird - peaks and troughs. If it could be her teeth try some gel or something perhaps?

Turning 6 month olds to face the wall????? I'm astounded that anyone would think this was a caring way to parent. I'm sure it had an effect on the child ........ just pretty damn sure it isn't a positve one! Parenting is about being as kind and nurturing as we can be. We all have limits, we all lose the plot, and Lord knows I haven't had the errr 'joy' of parenting trips; but we do not deliberately adopt cruel parenting methods which are designed to force compliance (at an age where it is not developmentally possible for the child to achieve) because we object to messy meal times. I can see nothing at all nurturing about turning your infant away from you to face a bloody wall because they engage in normal developemental behaviour. Yes ignoring children teaches them something - as the parent of two adopted children one of whom spent most of her first year in an institution I can speak first hand on the long term damaging effects of being ignored in infancy.

As iggly said; Jesus wept!

Cupcake
I used to have the exact same worry with DD1 - worried myself sick if she had an off day with food, didn't eat as much etc. With DD2 I am much more relaxed, appreciating that they are not little machines with an identical set quota each day. Also friend of mine - with very, very small child - who asked dr. about the same was told by dr. not to look at the child in terms of what they eat in a single day, but over the course of an entire week.

Also if the little one is coming down with a cold or teething they may go off their food before you see any appreciable signs of it.

When my dd is in a bad mood from the start f the day and not much seems to cheer her up what would u suggest is the best plan of action? How do u normally deal with a moody toddler. I'm really struggling at the moment as I feel I'm at the end of my teather and I haven't much energy left in me. I try not to show it but I'm dreading meal times at the moment and now her nappies aren't as wet as normal it's starting to really worry me. I just want my happy girl back. I am literally trying everything to make her happy. But even playing with we can sent her into meltdown.

She doesn't NEED milk to drink try giving her water or watered down fresh juice if you're worried about the nappy not being wet. Just give her finger foods for the time being if she's gone off the normal meals she's not doinf it to annoy you honest!

Did you say yr friend turns her babies' faces to the wall from 6 months??? Don't tell S.S.; 'parenting expert' or not she could get them removed from her!! It's downright cruel.

She doesn't NEED milk to drink try giving her water or watered down fresh juice if you're worried about the nappy not being wet. Just give her finger foods for the time being if she's gone off the normal meals she's not doing it to annoy you honest!

Did you say yr friend turns her babies' faces to the wall from 6 months??? Don't tell S.S.; 'parenting expert' or not she could get them removed from her!! It's downright cruel.

Do you have a drink available to her at all times or just at meal times? Ideally you should allow access to water throughout the day, not just when she eats.

She always has water available to her and watered down juice I would never just give her water just at meal times especially when she isn't eating!
No that is not my friend that turns the children round when they misbehave.
I'm really worried and I'm not sure why I can do. She screams at every meal time now, not like her at all. What do I do. She turns her nose up at every food whether it b finger foods or homemade meals. It's been about two and a half days now. Not good. Her food tantrums are really starting to upset me and making me really worried, this can't be good for my dd or my baby (24 weeks pregnant if I haven't mentioned).

If you are worried about how much she is drinking try to keep an eye on intake from the sippy cup/bottle. This will give you a better indicator than wet nappies if she is drinking enough. If she is coming down with a bug she could be off her food/liquids. Her nappies may not be as wet simply because she is starting to gain more control so wetting herself less frequently, whilst you are still on the established pattern of when to change her.

She will not - no matter how worried you get - actually starve herself. I've had both of mine, at various ages and stages, go up to a week with a very poor appetite and 2-3 days here and there with very, very little to eat; but both are healthy so I suspect it is just normal and related to growth spurts. At the time of course I was convinced it was horrendous and it stressed me out no end, especially with my first. So try not to worry if you can because I really doubt there is anything awful going on: she is simply being a toddler :) and exerting some control. If she is hungry she will eat.

If she has a sore throat or sore ears it may put her off the food/drink so maybe check that out. She may well also be starting to pick up on your own stress over meal times and that could be feeding into a cycle of meltdowns and lack of appetite; she is much less likely to want to eat if she has got herself worked up. Try completely changing her feeding routine - get her out of the high chair and get her a little table - the ones from Ikea are good - and chair and let her try that. Something to totally shake up the routine and maybe it will break the pattern.

Thank you so much for ur advise. I just left my dd to it an it seems she is eating a bit more everyday and her fluid intake is up too. I have just relaxed about her eating and have excepted for now she is a small eater but what she is eating is at least nutritious and she likes it. If she doesn't it I am not making a big fuss and I've applied that to her tantrum throwing. I am now very calm around her and it seems to b working. So thanks again. :)

BRILLIANT cupcake Good luck!!