Screaming 14 Month Old

[TimesAndTides]

I'm a first time mummy and my lovely little girl has turned into the antichrist when she knows food or a bottle is coming. She screams the place down and has tantrums when I am in the kitchen cooking and if I'm not shovelling it in quick enough. I try to do finger foods so that she can sort herself out and that helps, but sometimes I fancy soup or a Bolognese (we eat together as a family) She is becoming a pain in nursery too when other children are having their snacks. She throws water cups at the wall and throws food around too, sometimes her tantrums get to the point of no return. She is absolutely adorable at all other times, it's only when food is involved. She could honestly eat until she pops... any tips to try and nip it in the bud, is it a phase that she's going through? Or is she destined to be a 20 stone brat?

Is she just hungry? Can you give her finger food to play as a starter while you cook?

At 14 months she does not need a bottle unless there is a medical for this.

No, I don't think it's hunger. She has plenty of snacks, milk and water throughout the day. I honestly think she is just being greedy. She only has a bottle at nighttime (cows milk now) I'll be phasing this out too soon as she has her daytime milk in a sippy.

Are you sure she’s not hungry? What does she eat in a typical day and how much milk does she have?

She can have spag bol too, just put her a long sleeved bib on and let her feed herself

Yes to letting her feed herself everything.

My toddler often eats more food than me in day.

Have you tried giving her the soup with some chunky bread too? My DD absolutely refused to eat anything that was even slightly different to what we ate. She wanted what we were eating or she let you know about it!

On a typical working day she has a good sized bowl of porridge (same amount as me) at 7am then morning snacks of either toast or fruit in the morning at 10ish and 5oz of milk, lunch at 12 she'll have a mini dinner of what they are making in nursery and pudding, afternoon snacks of fruit and more milk at around 3 and a smaller plate of dinner to what we eat at 5.30. I do tend to do soups (always with bread or rolls) or fish/meat, veg, potatoes. It has to be quick as I work, but like to do home cooked as much as possible. Then 6oz of formula milk in a bottle before bed at 6.30. She sleeps through, which she has since a baby. She also drinks lots of water throughout the day. I always have a little sippy of water lying around so that she can help herself. My partner tried to keep her entertained today while I was cooking, but as soon as she heard me dishing up she went crazy again in the other room and had a full blown meltdown. Same again after her bath and heard me boiling the kettle. We just have to wait for her to scream herself out before she'll eat or take the bottle. It's just so strange because as soon as she's eaten or drunk she's lovely cuddly and playful again. The nursery have said she's exactly the same with them. It's hard to know what to do as you cant reason with such a young one. Even if I give her a slice of apple or bread to eat while I'm in the kitchen she just screams at whatever's on the hob or in the oven. It's getting to the point I can't take her out for lunch with friends as she screams as soon as she's in the highchair, knowing food is coming. Or as she did last week- whacking a lovely lady who was eating her dinner at the next table, although she did give her some Yorkshire to keep her happy until food came

I think it’s just a phase. She’s linked under and eating and she knows she’ll feel better once she’s eaten. If you are worried about her being overweight when she’s older, is she creeping up the centiles? Do you model healthy eating and lifestyle? Those two seem to be more important than her appetite at this age.

No, I'm not worried about her weight. She's certainly a chunk, but not overweight. She's always on the go and I think when she starts walking properly she'll lose her big tummy. We do eat well and me and my husband are active, and as I say I do mostly make fresh healthy dinners and snacks so she's not eating badly. It's just the tantrums and how to avoid them, or get through to her when she's in one. It's not over something I can remove from the situation like TV or a toy. Even if I take her into another room to calm down she'll kick off again as soon as she sees the food. It's been a good few weeks now and it seems to be getting worse. I don't shout or get worked up, I've tried cuddling, talking, playing singing and just ignoring her....

To be honest, I’d just totally ignore any tantrums. I always found that whatever i did to try and stop them just resulted in more screaming.

You’ve probably said the answer to this already, so apologies if I’ve missed it. What happens if you sit her in her high chair withsone cutlery and a bowl and something like a few raisins or baby breadsticks whilst you dish up?

I haven't actually done that, I've always left her playing while I cook and giving her snacks when she finds me in the kitchen. That's a good idea. Hopefully with a bit of CBeebies she'll be entertained long enough to get dinner on the table! I will give it a go tomorrow

I did this with mine and it seemed to keep them saisfied, to a point. It’s hard though because they are usually so tired at teatime. My DD would also happily play on the kitchen floor with some utensils or —sit on the worktop— watch from her high chair in the kitchen.