Food throwing

[snowwhitecat]

Hi,
This is my first login to this site, i'm reaching desperation and looking for some help please!! My 20 month old has been chucking his food on the floor for several months now and its totally doing my head in. The worry about how much he's eating and the constant cleaning up id a nightmare. I think he would happily live off cheese and bread and pretty much throws everything else on the floor. Has anyone got any tips for dealing with this?? Ta.

It's a stage

he could well be exploring trajectory, making sense of gravity, cause and effect

have a read

Don't make a fuss, ignore as best you can

good luck

I can remember sitting my dc's highchairs on wipe-clean mats!!

Sorry, can't really help much - is it deliberate attention-seeking, look-at-me-mummy throwing or casual dropping?

Actually, whichever it is, I'd do my best to ignore it, or if its a big bit and the floor's clean, then give it back with a "oops, you dropped this, darling".

I'm sure he'll have stopped by the time he's 14!

Somebody with more useful ideas will be along soon.

Oh, BALD, what a great answer!

(I am a CM so have HEAPS of experience up my sleeve)

Thanks for the tips,
i do worry about his food intake tho, he's a real skinny little chap. Also the will not use a spoon or fork, he's all about getting his hands stuck in so i really can only feed his stuff he can pick up. Is this normal? I'm sure it is but i see much younger children using spoons really well.

Just read the link about schemas, interesting read. I was a bit worried he was bordering on ocd but it kind of makes sense now. I bet i sound neurotic!

not neurotic AT ALL

he is regulating his own food intake, a valuable skill to acquire

If you want to introduce cutlery, you could start by proffering banana and a butter knife for him to chop and eat, let him have a go at buttering his own toast, that kind of thing

thanks, i'll give it a go, he's such a monkey though, i'll probably get the knife and banana chucked at me! He used to acccompany the throwing with a "weee" noise, although has stopped that now. This morning i ignored him and continued eating my breakfast but he continued throwing all his toast, then the plate, then his beaker. Then he went nuts shouting until i passed him his police car off the floor, then he threw that as well! aarghhh!!

I sometimes feed my 12 month old boy on the kitchen floor. Saves the mess! I also would assume that if he was hungry he wouldnt do it so I cut down on snacks and drinks I think he's better at eating now.