Food throwing / refusing...advice please!

[PregnantGrrrl]

My 14mth old DS is throwing almost all his food on the floor, and seems to be eating very little lately. He isn't unwell, i haven't been giving him new things he doesn't like, and he is drinking lots of milk.

But what's the best way to tackle to food throwing? He is doing it on purpose, and tbh, i'm starting to lose my rag. I can live with him not eating it, but when i have to crawl round picking it all up 3 times a day (plus bump, plus hormones) it gets me down.

Help please!

He could be teething, but might just not be hungry, esp if he's drinking lots of milk.

I find it best just to ignore dd when she does this, or if I think she'll eat a bit, I take her plate away and just offer a tiny bit at a time.

You could also try eating outside more often, so that there isn't as much clearing up to do.

It's tedious, but it does get better.

well why dont you try giving him less milk as he will be filling himself up on that,do u allow baby juice or fennel drink??.

he's refusing food (by throwing) then drinking milk afterwards. he sometimes has some water in the afternoon instead.

giving it to him one piece at a time doesn't help either...in fact, i think he enjoys it more then, it's like a game.

Sounds like he likes the reaction he's getting. warn once and then take the food away and remove him from the table calmly. don't let him see he's revved you up otherwise he wins! Always give the drink after the meal otherwise they fill up on it. What about diluted juice or water and milk at other times of the day with a biscuit?

I mean juice or water at meal times and milk at other times.

Don't have any helpful advice myself, but watching this with interest for top tips. Ds (16 months) is doing the same (although not drinking much milk either). He hasn't eaten what I consider a 'proper meal' for about a week. He finds it such great game to throw the food on the floor, and shrieks with laughter as he does it.

We don't have the clearing up problem though. The dog does that for me.

Stay calm, dont shout or give any reaction.

Say 'we dont throw food' and take the bowl away for a few minutes. Give the bowl back and repeat when food is thrown. If after a few times your child is still throwing food, call it a day, until next mealtime.

It probably wont work 1st time, but its a learning process. Its pretty normal for a child of this age to throw food or anything else, they have just discovered a new skill!!

Good luck!

i'll try reducing his milk intake a bit- he drinks more than enough.

thanks law3, that sounds really useful. he is going through a phase of grabbing and throwing- CDs and DVDs are also flying at the moment. Saying 'no' and moving him to his toys works for that (mostly)

managed to feed him a small bowl of natural yogurt before his night time bottle tonight, so i feel a bit better that he's eaten something other than 2 bites of banana and 1 bite of bread.

fingers crossed for tomorrow!

my 19 month old dd has been throwing food since about 8 months. we tell her no, take the food away and then make her pick it up of the floor and put it back on the plate so she learns to clear up her own mess!! She just thinks that's a game though! If you are expecting then learn from my mistake and don't try and BF your baby while your toddler is eating otherwise they just throw food for attention!

hi pregnantgrrl, have you tried letting him eat some food that he can hold in his hand and walk around with, rather than sitting in a chair. I know when my ds was that age he couldnt sit still for too long and behave!!

my ds wasnt a big food thrower, but he threw almost everything else he could get his hands on!!

I used to take the bricks or whatever he was throwing and give him something that he could throw ie a ball and say we dont throw bricks, we throw balls.(i wouldnt do this at mealtimes though)

Its just about learning whats appropriate to throw and whats not. Although my ds is now 3, my 2 other ds (who are a lot older) still get a truck or dinosaur launched in their direction every now and then!!!