Struggling with 14 month old in a food throwing phase

[Justlostmybagel]

14 month old DD has generally been a really good eater, up until the last couple of weeks. Now almost everything I give her is getting launched across the room.

It's honestly getting a little hard to keep my cool, especially when it's something I've spent time making and I know she likes. She puts her hand out for it and then either takes a single bite and throws it, or will immediately toss it onto the floor.

Obviously, I don't show my frustration and just ignore it or say "no throwing". She doesn't get anything back that she throws away either. I'm getting worried that she's not eating enough though now. She's definitely eating a lot less.

If your toddler had a food throwing phase, how long did it last? And did anything help deal with it more effectively?

Is she hungry enough @Justlostmybagel? How much milk does she have and which type?

Have you tried something like swimming so that she’s properly hungry before a meal? Does she still throw the food then?

It does sound as though she’s going through the Trajectory Schema. There are a few ideas here in hpw she can explore trajectory without launching her food

@SleafordSods thanks for your reply! That's a really helpful link, I'll try and set up some activities for her that involve throwing.

I think she should definitely be hungry. She runs everywhere and climbs everything. She doesn't stop moving, unless she's asleep.

She doesn't have any milk, except a couple of breastfeeds a day. We're still working on getting her to like cows milk but she's not interested so far. Swimming is a good idea!

PP was right about schemas. I just used to say food is not for throwing, zero reaction after a week of it just started taking the plate away. The problem arises when they learn that they get (negative) attention for throwing food. Set up some throwing activities. We did balls and soft toys.

I've always been fairly strict about meal times - never understood the whole sensory exploration argument at meal times. There is plenty of time in the day to get messy and explore textures but if someone cooks you a meal, you sit down, eat what you want, say thank you, get down and play.

DD dropped food looking for a reaction a couple of times and I took that to mean she was done eating & took the plate away (but she was a real milk monster so I never had concerns about her not getting enough). We also did a phase of picnics on the floor which worked well

We used to have “carpet picnics” too on those days when it was too cold or wet to go out, often involving Teddies.”

@Justlostmybagel two BFs sounds about right. Are you wanting to introduce Cow’s milk becauae you want to stop BFing?

Hand one piece of food at a time.
If she keeps throwing then get her down and try again later.

I try not to react to the negative behaviours, but clap and praise for the positives - and mine will now often do the "right thing" and look to us for a positive reaction (e.g., give me food she doesn't want instead of lob it on the floor) - but I also find it relentless at the moment and a bit disheartening! Trying to keep the long term goals in mind.....

One tip I read was that instead of saying “no throwing” you should say “keep the food on the table” - ie tell them what you want them to do, not what you don’t want as otherwise they just hear “throwing”.

Can use it for all sorts of unwanted behaviours.

My three DC were good eaters but they all went through this phase. No reaction, act as if you don't care, and hopefully it will be a short one!

Your correct but less words food table is enough as they are processing the first bit of what your saying the rest gets lost.

I found it really helpful to put a second bowl/container on the table. Every time my son deliberately dropped or looked like he might drop the food we would redirect it to the other bowl. He very quickly got the idea.
Sometimes that bowl would just be the rejected food and we would just leave it there without comment. Other times he would actually come back to the second bowl once he had finished eating the bits he liked from the original one.

We have found this/similar helpful with all 3 DC, youngest one is 14 months also. They still throw don't get me wrong but less of it this way.