When baby drops food over the side...

[ANiceBathPlease]

My 10mo drops food over the side of her high chair. Last few days she's almost done it with the whole lot. She took one nibble of a few bits and then dropped it bit by bit. We do BLW so it's things like pieces of toast, veg sticks, fruit, fishcakes etc etc. I don't think she's being naughty (can a 10mo be naughty?) and she often looks down as if curious about where it goes. Sometimes she drops it as if she is meaning to put it to one side for later iyswim! If only the high chair table bit was really wide or something! She's teething a bit so could it be that?

What should I do? Should I revert to spoon feeding? Does anyone's else's baby do this? I don't react at all by the way, I'm just passive so I genuinely don't think she knows that I don't want her to do it iyswim.

Completely normal. No point punishing them as they don't get it. Sarah ockwell Smith writes something about this, but basically give them smaller amounts so less overwhelming and don't give it attention.

At that age I would give a few pieces at a time so the whole meal wasn’t lost at once and we have the Tripp Trapp highchair that pushes up to the dining table which makes it much harder for anything to end up on the floor accidentally (doesn’t help if they’re chucking it on purpose!).

Totally normal. Our dog used to park himself under the high chair and wait for the bounty to fall on his head!

I just used to say “oh no, all gone” and let her see me put it in the bin. She soon stopped with things she wanted to eat!

Developing object permanence. Before this they don't realise that stuff still exists if they can't see it. You fetch it back they learn it's still there. There is a point prior to this they don't look for things that fall. Then they look for the fallen stuff and are initially amazed it's still there. Then they play with this amazing new piece of learning.

Totally normal but at 10month they should understand No.
So if f you don't want them doing it you have to teach them not too.

Show them where you want them to put it, say no if they drop it etc

Interesting!

But surely @caramelsalted if I start saying No then there have to be consequences if she still does it? And then aren't I creating a problem?

Utterly normal. She's learning about food. Don't worry how much she eats. Both DC were never spoon fed and we used to end up on the floor of rest so picking everything up! We left big tips!

Dummer is great. Eat outside. Birds will get the message after. You're showing her great skills but her appetite may not increase much till she's older anyway. My DD is now 12 and a very fussy bugger. DS is 9 and eats anything including spicy curries etc.

Yup, very normal. We just give small amounts, enough to keep her interested, and frequently put stuff from the floor back on the tray (depending on what it is).

Totally normal. As others have said it might be too much in front of her and she is playing with dropping seeing where it goes. Try putting smaller amounts in front of her, with more in sight so she can point or sign if she wants more.

I'd pick it back up and give it to her, not in a mean way, just she's experimenting with throwing it off and obvs doesn't get that it's her lunch/dinner.
If she really doesn't want to eat then never mind, she maybe will at the next meal.
So long and she's happy, healthy and growing its not a big deal

I used to have a large plastic tablecloth under the high chair if I needed to. Would that help?

IME it just means they are bored of eating and want to play a new game of where does the food go.

Sometimes I ignored it, if it was persistent I'd just clear the food away and take it as a cue for the end of meal time.

You can also try offering them another plate to put their discarded food onto, if it's just that they don't want it on the tray, that sometimes works.

Don't worry my 12yo no longer does this :o

The weather's getting nice, if you have a garden I'd encourage feeding her outside to ease clean up.

It's completely normal though and as other PP said she is learning object permanance and cause and effect.

Toddlers/young children learn through schemas and they tend to have a favourite, it's interesting you should look into it. My Dd loved to envelope things, was always writing letters and putting them in envelopes or wrapping things up. My friends son loved to throw things instead so things were constantly being launched around the room.

Completely normal.

Pick it up and give it back to her.

If she does it a few times I'd take that as a hint that she's finished with that bit and say 'all done mango (or whatever it is)' and take it away.

@caramelsalted I don’t know many obedient 10 months olds.
My own 18 month old might understand no but she rarely listens!
I don’t actually bother saying no to her dropping her food as the only consequence that I could think of would be to end the meal and then I would have to deal with a hangry child. So I just ignore and hope one day she gets bored of doing it.

cause and effect,
totally normal,
i had one happy dog under the high chair for all 3 of mine

So none of you say No to your children when they do something undesirable?
I didn't say anything about consequences did I? Yes consequences would be pointless and counterproductive around food but saying No isn't pointless at any stage.

I said no when baby bit me breastfeeding, I said no if they pulled my hair, I said no when they dropped food deliberately and for all sorts of things.

I bought a really cheep shower curtain and put that under the high chair
.
Gave only small amounts as it’s just play rather than eating a meal at this stage.

Short lived stage ime. They soon get it.

I've got one of these

tidytot.com/product/tidy-tot-bib-tray-kit/

Very very good!!

You're better off redirecting behaviour than just saying no.

So 'gently' (and demonstrate) when they pull hair. Or 'all done' or 'oops' when they throw the food.

I don't think saying 'no' all the time really achieves anything and if you've got a child who is showing a lot of undesirable behaviour can create a very negative environment.

@caramelsalted I only said no to behaviour that caused pain or would break something.

At 10 months there's little point, particularly when it is developmentally normal, if the weather was warm then we just moved outside to reduce the clean up operation at that age I just treated meal times as an activity and if Dd ate something that was a bonus as she was still BF for the majority of her nutrients. 10 month olds barely know the difference between what's a toy and what's food so why tell them off. They soon outgrow these phases.

We had success with small quantities and one type of food at a time, also offering a plate for him to take something off and deal with before offering another. And now we have a rejects tray, so that if he looks like throwing stuff away we offer the tray and say if you don't want it put it on the tray. Also if he's just slinging each item one at a time we grab either the plate or his arm and say"i can't let you throw that as it will make a mess, let me take it for a while" and let him have a break" Sometimes he is throwing to get food he doesn't want out of sight, so giving an alternative helps (resist the temptation to make him finish everything that hasn't been thrown) if he does throw food or cutlery we just leave it, and when he's finished we go round and pick it up with him and put on the tray.
But yes overall it's a phase and the rule is only give him what you're happy to clean up at a time. Good luck!