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Original poster

When do they stop throwing food all over the floor?

27 replies

bumbleweed · 27/09/2006 18:48

Just following on from my question in bf section about babies who dont take to solid food till after 12m ....

My HV said that this is the key age for throwing their food all over the place, and mashing/breaking it up rather than eating it.

So how long does this phase last .... and how do you get food into them in the meantime?

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Lact8 · 27/09/2006 18:52

dd 9 months, food everywhere

ds2, 2.6 mths, food everywhere

ds1, 9 yrs old, food everywhere

DD spreads it about the most but more of it ends up in her mouth than with the boys!

Send the dog in after every meal, is easier than getting the hoover out

Lact8 · 27/09/2006 18:53

oops, ds2 is 2.6 YEARS

Don't stone me mumsnet, I am NOT weaning a 2.5 month old baby!

Lact8 · 27/09/2006 19:13

Sorry bumbleweed, just seen some of your other threads.

I've done blw with dd and been lucky because she just about eats anything

With the ds's I did a mixture really. Gave them some food to try with and then fed them some of it myself so I knew they were actually eating some of it

HTH

jambot · 27/09/2006 19:41

DD (18 months) will throw her food onto the floor if she's had enough, along with her cup. Now take the food away as soon as she throws it, with a sharp no, but not much notice taken of me I'm afraid.

aviatrix · 27/09/2006 20:18

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aviatrix · 27/09/2006 20:20

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Original poster
bumbleweed · 27/09/2006 20:38

lact8

OP posts:
Original poster
bumbleweed · 27/09/2006 20:39

wasnt sure whether to take it as a signal that she's finished / not interested

she seems to watch my reaction with great interest so have started to ignore and casually pick up rather than go NO

OP posts:
PinkTulips · 27/09/2006 20:40

dd 20months, i filled the container on the dyson hoovering after her dinner tonight!

aitch71 · 27/09/2006 20:45

dd is 9 months and drops food when she's finished, more or less... i imagine it'll get worse if your HV is right though.

aviatrix and lact8, can i ask for some help from you, please? i am looking for mums who have been doing BLW for a while to every so often look in on my blog here to comment on the mindless twaddle i have written... i'd be ever so pleased if you'd help out a wee bit - i'm a bit concerned about being seen as an expert when i am in fact, an idiot. don't worry if you don't want to...

shimmy21 · 27/09/2006 20:47

at about 15

years, I mean

onlyjoking9329 · 27/09/2006 20:50

never..... my mate says cut out the middle man just chuck all food & drink on the floor

saralou100 · 27/09/2006 21:13

good question - have been wondering this myself.

ds now 19months

iwearflairs · 27/09/2006 21:55

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This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

lrwg · 27/09/2006 22:00

Oooo - like the sound of BLW - hadn't heard of it until today and then it cropped up twice. Now to convince DH it's the way to go....

Lact8 · 27/09/2006 22:18

Have done aitch

(My tyoping gone to pot since being on mat leave tho so you'll have to excuse the errors)

Great ides though

aitch71 · 27/09/2006 22:48

no typing errors that i could see. thanks for that, and i'm not kidding about the recipes. email me (my address is on my profile thingie - just press Aitch) and i'll put them up. i bet you've got loads if you have three children...

aviatrix · 28/09/2006 14:46

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divastrop · 28/09/2006 20:57

from what i remember it stops around 2?obviously they still accidently drop food on the floor,but i seem to remember the throwing stopping around then.
i think they do it on purpose cos babies seem to like eating things off the floor(caught dd2 about to eat a bit of fluff she'd found under the chair today).
when my other 3 were at that stage,i used to just clear up without saying anything.i assumed they'd eaten enough.

Original poster
bumbleweed · 28/09/2006 22:49

okay so the food throwing is just par for the course eh? silly me, how naive to think it was a momentary phase

must get a tiled or laminate floor when we move house (currently have a cream carpet in dining area which predates baby)

I suspect my friends and relatives who know we have followed BLW and waited to 26wks for intro of solids, put dd's small appetite down to these things. I think they are wrong, because the whole ethos of BLW is to let the baby decide what and how much to eat and allow them to play an active rather than passive role in their own eating.

I think her eating skills are really good, its just her appetite that is small really. Its just so frustrating to see the food getting chucked all over and not react in some way, especially when she's barely eating. Aaargh.

OP posts:
TenaLady · 28/09/2006 22:51

Mine did this as a sign of attention and that he really wasnt interested in the food.
I stopped reacting to the throwing, took the food away.
Took a week or more but it did stop.

wheresmyfroggy · 28/09/2006 22:52

Soon hopefully

DD2 (18 months) still thinks it's great (but only after she has had her fill thankfully)

aitch71 · 29/09/2006 00:49

cheers aviatrix, i'd appreciate that - if you manage to snatch a minute. what's your OU course?
oh yes, i'm a member of the yahoo group, wouldn't have known where to start without it.

mamama · 29/09/2006 01:14

DS, 12 months thinks its great. I thought he was saying he'd finished but he still eats while he's chucking food everywhere. In fact, he looks at me, dangles some tasty morsel over edge of high chair, waits for a raised eyebrow from me then shakes his head to say 'No' (as in 'No, throwing food')and throws it anyway! Bless him!

Hadn't realised it was a phase that lasted so long though. Good to know it happens to everyone else too!

LoveMyGirls · 29/09/2006 12:19

dd2 is 1 today (cant believe it!!) and obviously i've been weaning her for a while now, i give her a bottle in the morning follwed by me feeding her weetabix/ porridge then later she will have something in her hand to chew on fruit/ biscut about 11am i put her in her high chair and give her small broken up bit of something like veg/ pasta/ bread/ breadsticks whatever i keep giving her tiny amounts until its on the floor or shes eaten then i give her a bit more and so on until it seems she's had enough or it almsot nap time (12pm) i will usually give her fruit puree or yogurt to finish with, sometimes i give her half a jar if i dont think she's eaten that much. same at tea time, though she has started eating what my other children eat now so i put some in a bowl and feed it to her and give her some to feed herself i.e cottage pie, i will spoon feed and she will east the veg off her tray herself.

good luck she will get there, the mess is unfortunate but its part of the development/ earning stage and hopefully they will grow up and stop or clean it up themselves (i highly recommend this from the age of 6/7 as it encourages them to keep their food on their plate imo. (my dd1 is 7 and is very good at helping mummy tidy up ) hth