throwing food - when to say "no"?

[mollysmum82]

My daughter is 11 months now and I have been doing baby-led weaning with her since she was 7 months. She has accepted a spoon on occasion but nearly always refuses so the only way to get her to eat is by offering finger foods. Sometimes we have success but nearly every meal time she throws the food on the floor that she doesn't like or when she's full. Some mealtimes she won't eat anything and just throws all the food on the floor. I'm just wondering whether to start telling her off for doing this. I know there are some trains of thought that she is just a baby and is learning about gravity/object permanence etc by throwing the food and I don't want to create bad associations with food by being too strict. But then if it has turned into a game I should probably put a stop to it soon - I don't want her to always think throwing food is acceptable? What do others think? Many thanks!

"But then if it has turned into a game I should probably put a stop to it soon - I don't want her to always think throwing food is acceptable? "

That's fixable when she gets older, and I'd stick with the idea that food and mealtimes are fun. Right now she thinks that pooing her pants (i.e. nappy) is acceptable, and you know she's not going to be doing that forever. She'll learn, but she's very wee, and has no idea what No means.

Put a bit less on her tray, so that she has less to chuck - if you think she's full, give her a couple more goes, and then calmly take the food away (or offer something else - ds (10 mo) often gets a bit bored with first course, eats some fruit, and then goes back to main meal). Don't make a game out of it with her, iyswim, just put stuff back in a slightly bored fashion. She'll get over it.

My DS is 10 months and has recently started to really purposefully drop / throw stuff over the side of his highchair. I'm taking it as he is now learning that he has some control over what he eats / doesn't and that he can get rid of the stuff he doesn't want. He's also started doing this with his toys. He's learning about how to pick up / let go of stuff, it's a normal developmental stage and it'll pass.
I just put the stuff back on the tray, and if he throws it off again a few times I assume he doesn;t want it, so I offer something else or end the meal.
I'll be interested to see what they do about it when he starts nursery!

i never bothered 'telling him off' when my Ds was that age. Yes, he flung stuff about but they don't understand what 'no' means really and as Habbibu says, she won't still do it in 2 years time, I promise.

It's far more important that mealtimes are fun and eastgoing - pleanty of time for table manners later.

Put food out in small amounts and when you think she's had enough, take it away.

But don't turn it into a battleground, it's really not worth it

My son (12 months) does this. I don't put the food back that he's thrown, and like others I'll try once or twice more and then just take it away. I try not to react but sometimes I'll say "no thank you mummy" as he chucks it, in the vain hope he'll eventually learn the phrase and stop throwing!

For a few months I have said and signed "have you finished?" at the end of the meal, then unclipped the high chair tray He recognises the words/sign now, and tries to push the high chair tray away when I say it. I assume he would protest if he hadn't finished!

Annoyingly he sometimes does it at the beginning of the meal, and throws all the food off, even if I just put one thing on the tray. Then I'll replace the food, and he'll begin to eat it. Who knows what he is thinking? :)

I accidentially solved this issue with ds, and now dd is learning. Once they have reached the age purposefully drop food over the chair and look to see its gone, they see the dog eat it (she is well trained - only if I grant her permission). My ds learnt very quickly that food dropped did not return . Accidental droppages if possible, were replaced. But dd is now learning that food over the side goes to the dog.

By the time my ds had reasoned that he could get rid of food he did not want on purpose, was the time I reasoned he could understand the concept of it being naughty...and he did!

As Jojay says its not a battleground, they get their whatever you do.

Thanks for your replies everyone, that was kind of my instinct so I'm glad others have allowed the same! x