How do I stop my toddler from throwing food? I'm losing my mind!

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My 18-month old has become an absolute terror at mealtimes. After every meal, I end up covered in food stains, and it's all over the floor and wall. I'm at my wits end. I don't react - I very calmly pick it up whilst telling her "no, don't throw your food" but inside I'm absolutely furious and very frustrated. I tried taking her meal away, to try to make her understand that if she throws food she loses it, but it doesn't bother her - she's never been a particularly hungry baby - and obviously I don't want to deprive her so after a short period I bring it back and try again. But she'll just throw more or drop it over the side of her high chair.

What should I do? How should I react? I'm so fed up of this

Like you, I haven’t got much of a clue on this one. Have you tried feeding her in different places like a picnic in the garden? Would she do it then so you think?

Perfectly normal! It could be she may not like the colour of the food or understand fully the concept of picking it up and putting it in her mouth. With my youngest I would sit with her and put each item in her hand and then put to her mouth. This stopped her from throwing the food.

Babies do tend to throw food, they are using their throwing skills and its fun for them. Using the eating action and hand to mouth action will eventually teach your little one to eat and not throw.

Also providing various finger foods which appeal to their senses will help too. Good luck! And well done for staying calm

@BunnyRuddington it's a nightmare, isn't it? Yes, we've tried moving her around a bit - kitchen, dining room, garden - in the hope that a bit of variety might help, but it doesn't seem to make a difference (except that I mind slightly less when she throws food in the garden!)

Oh she absolutely knows what she's doing, @Minky12 Until recently there was no issue with throwing/dropping food, she's never been a hungry type but would pick up bits and eat them, and use her spoon. Now, she will systematically pick up each item or piece and drop it over the side. Quite quickly, sometimes, she'll have most of her dinner on the floor unless I intervene and take the plate away. It would be a total waste of food and she'd have no meal if I didn't. I've been so careful not to create a game of it, or react, but it's so hard. I need her to eat

Your last post - my 13 mo DS is (intermittently) identical. Some days he’s okay, then other days 3 full meals seem to find their way to the floor. The rapid fire pick up and drop of each item is the worst - before you know it the entire meal is gone. He definitely knows what he is doing - he’ll bring the food to his mouth so our guard is down, then rapidly move his hand/the spoon when he senses his opportunity and drop 😂

It’s not ideal, but we’ve resorted to giving him his own plate with only a few items on (we’ve done full BLW - he had no interest in purée). We then have a spare plate we top up his main plate from. It just means there is less available to hit the floor if he goes for the rapid plate clearing approach. I think he finds a full plate too overwhelming and just has to do something about it - when he was younger he’d stuff as much food into his mouth as possible which gradually changed into throwing.

If you find any magic solutions please let me know!!

Watching with interest, meals times are full on chimps tea party at the moment!! lots of screaming and throwing. Today we sat on the decking on the floor and managed a few mouthfuls.....ah the joys!

It won’t be forever - just suffer through! Not great advice I know

I have found that giving a choice helps a lot more than giving an instruction :)

My advice would be to pick a ‘mantra’ phrase and stick with it. It promotes consistency for your child and I find that repeating it calmly helps me to control the urge to stick my head in the blender.

So, for example, when my toddler goes to throw I say firmly

“We do not throw our food. You can put it in your mouth, or you can put it in your bowl”

I always make sure I have a spare bowl to hand for this so it feels to him like he’s doing something ‘different’ and the food is still ‘clean” when I sneak it back into his bowl 😆

I also do the sign for ‘food/hungry’ when I say “put it in your mouth” and gently tap his bowl when I say “bowl.”

Boring and repetitive, but I’ve found it quite effective! Especially if he’s just thrown something right in my face - it helps me to stay calm knowing what to say!

Hope that all made sense!