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Original poster

Thorwing food on the floor - driving me nuts!!!

14 replies

tatcity · 14/04/2004 22:50

17 month old just chucks food on the floor constantly. Really good eater usually but not at the moment as poorly, but generally will not let me feed her, feeds herself then gets bored and chucks everything on floor, yoghurts the lot. Have tried telling off, encouragement, getting sibling to help feed, nothing works. Spend most of my day cleaning up after her - don't remember this from last time. To make matters worse, have black kitchen floor (stupid me) - its driving me mad. Any hints?

Even found traces of yoghurt on celing and windows today........... help............

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
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goosey · 14/04/2004 22:51

Get a dog.

justtheone · 14/04/2004 23:45

I had exactly the same problem with my DS. He did it on and off for about 3 months. It only happened at the end of his meal, so generally I was able to anticipate the start of the avalanche and take some action.

DS is a terrible eater and I must admit I was always trying to persuade him to have a little more. Flinging his food seemed to be his way of saying that he was definitely finished, i.e. leave me alone Mummy. So now when he says he is finished I respect what he says. As an interim stage I managed to get him to push his plate gently away from him when he had finished instead of lifting and flinging.

Original poster
tatcity · 14/04/2004 23:49

Lifting and flinging, I love that!

OP posts:
Evita · 15/04/2004 14:05

Urg ... it drives you nuts doesn't it? I got dd (18 months) to start to give me what she didn't want rather than lift and fling it on the floor (like that expression too!) but now she's finding it funnier to hold it out as though she's going to give it to me and when I reach my hand for it, she stares me in the eye and very deliberately drops it just as I reach her hand. Sigh ... I don't think there's actually a solution but I think they start lifting and flinging at the point they are no longer interested even if they seem to have eaten very little (dd has a miniscule appetite, not enough to maintain a flea). So now I bite my tongue and say 'ok, you've finished then' clean her up and get her out of the chair before any major mess has taken over. I also avoid giving her anything like yoghurt. If she's feeding herself it with a spoon that's fine but I won't let her play with it.

Thomcat · 15/04/2004 14:12

lottie is still doing it aged 2 and a bit. It drivces everyopne around her mad, more so me who has to clean floor 3 times a day!

It is getting mildly better by just sheer peserverance with asking nicely to put unwanted food in mummys hand, and really praising and being very happy when she puts her drink back on the table rather than flinging it across the room!

Original poster
tatcity · 15/04/2004 14:27

Thanks I feel better now. There may be a link here as normally she's a big eater. But when she's under the weather/teething/tired - this is when she does it - so maybe she loses her appetite. She's ill at the moment, maybe thats why there's so much lifting and flinging going on.

Afraid the only thing she would eat today was yoghurt - so can't ban that at the moment!

Have only scrubbed back floor tiles twice so far today.

Should leave them but its so depressing to look at!

OP posts:
Twinkie · 15/04/2004 14:32

BUY ONE OF THOSE PLASTIC MATS TO PUT UNDER HIGH CHAIR???? (Sorry did not mean to put that in capitals!!)

Original poster
tatcity · 15/04/2004 14:36

Thanks, tried that - not really big enough to cover the area involved!

OP posts:
Twinkie · 15/04/2004 14:39

Dust sheet - plastic one from B&Q?? - you can get them inpacks that are real cheap - could use one a day!!

Original poster
tatcity · 15/04/2004 14:42

Brilliant idea - got some in shed - do you mean the really thin ones?

Never thought of that - would be a joy to scrape it off the floor at the end of the day thereby revealing sparkling floor underneath

OP posts:
Twinkie · 15/04/2004 14:45

Yep the crappy thin ones - I buy them for DD - cover the floor inside and out for her when she is doing sticking or painting (I am a bit obsessive!!) - the amount of money youspend in terms of cleaning products and your time is probably more expensive than a cheapy packet of them should be!!

kiwisbird · 15/04/2004 14:45

we made a game out of it and get our dd 17 mths to hand us the food rather than throw it, also we take her out of the highchair if she starts messing around..
it has really worked she is devout little eater now and wastes nothing
she is hoover baby

Original poster
tatcity · 15/04/2004 14:47

Yeah mine used to be hoover baby - hope its just a blip!

OP posts:
kid · 15/04/2004 20:44

My DS (2) has been a good eater since birth. Its amazing the amount he can eat. About a month ago he seemed to not need or want as much food so instead of eating eat, he tries to thread it onto his fingers. If that fails, he squidges it between his fingers, very messy! To make matters worse, he doesn't have a highchair and manages to make a mess everywhere. He can move very quickly for a little lad! I watch him very closly and move his plate from him as soon as he starts to play about with the food. I think we have to be one step ahead of them at all times

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