the food throwing is geting out of control!

ok so this happens every meal, every day and I can't take it anymore!

so everything starts off great, they use their fork or spoon and eat, then the fork
goes on the floor, and eating without hands begins.. (which is fine with me, I don't mind the after meal clean up of them

but no later than 5 minutes after that one will throw a piece of food directly on the floor...
and laugh, this makes the other one throw food on the floor, and laugh..

then its take some bites, then throw a piece on the floor... then soon enough its lets grab out plate and turn it upside down on the table

then in an ever so graceful performance which I can only describe as the windshield wiper effect, they take the hands or arms and go across all their food and it just goes right on the floor..

I am afraid they will be hungry so I try to let them finish..

i have read just to take the food away once they throw 1 thing, but im too afraid they will just be hungry and misserable the rest of the night till milk time.

I dont like the idea of them going hungry when i can prevent it but i dont knwo what else to do

but I don't know what to do anymore, we spend 10-20 minutes making a meal, then it ends on the floor for the dog within 5-10 minutes of giving them their plates!


has anyone experienced this? how did you control it.. what can I do??

Please help! What am i doing wrong?!


my vacuum at the end of the day looks like it just went over the thanksgiving day food table

 

My kids do the SAME THING!! It is infuriating. And, like you, I worry they will be unbearable to be around and fussy if I take their food away and they are hungry. Plus, my DD is already so little, I worry about her getting enough food on a daily basis as it is.

What I have started doing which helps a little is that when they start to throw the food, I take the tray away for just a few minutes. I scold them and tell them "no throw" and then I wait awhile while the other "non-thrower" gets to keep eating. After a few minutes, I ask the thrower if he/she is ready to eat. Sometimes he/she will shake their head "no" which I take to mean they are done. (I may ask again after a few more minutes though) Otherwise, I give them back the tray/food. Usually, this seems to work at least until they really are done, at which time they usually start throwing the unwanted food again. Good luck, though! I can't wait for this phase to be over with. Ugh!

 

Food time out. We just take the plate away for a bit, then give it back when they're ready to eat. If that doesn't work, we just end the meal. I take that as a sign of them not wanting to eat anymore. They won't starve themselves and will let you know they're hungry. Good luck!

 

It was the same for us until we got rid of the high chairs and put them in boosters. Then we got them their own little table and chair set and since then, once they are full, they get up and leave where before they would start throwing food. I think it gives them a scenic of control. Maybe try that and see how it goes.

 

All kids go through this stage. I gave them three shots...after the third time of food winding up on the floor, their meal was over. I found also that the more I reacted to the food throwing, the more they liked to do it, so I started to react without emotion. I would just say, that's your first chance, etc.
Hang in there, it does get better!!!

 

When they start that, I ask "are you all done?" and they will let me know if they are. If not, they will eat normal again, if so, they nod yes. I would say somehow ending the meal or pausing the meal is your best bet.

 

This is exactly what we did when food throwing got to be unbearable. We'd warn them that if they threw food it would get taken away, then followed through, and only gave it back if they calmed down. After the third time of taking it away, then I knew the meal was over. :good:

 

This is what we do too. They still throw food, but at least it isn't a game. DD also likes to throw her sippy on purpose and I've stopped getting it for her since it became a game.

 

Spencer is almost the same age as your LOs. And he loves throwing food, too. Seems like all mine did at this age. When they're really hungry, not much gets thrown. But as they start to fill up, it becomes a game. I've just gotten laid back about it. It seems like when I started picking it up right away, we ended up playing the pickup game, which feels like them throwing to see how much of a rise they can get out of mom. So I figure that when they're throwing food, they're not hungry and it's time to get down. That ends it... until the next meal. But at least it's pretty short lived. And now he's realizing more that he better not throw anything if he's still hungry, because it's a sure signal to me that that meal is over.

 

The food time out did not work for my two. It was all or nothing. I worried like you that if I took their food away they would starve, but they don't. They eat when they are hungry. I also figured out that mine started throwing food when they were coming to the end of their meal. So I started making smaller portions and that also helped. We then moved them to the kitchen table and that pretty much stopped the behavior. We still have meals where they will throw food, and as soon as they do we ask them if they are done and they will normally grab one more piece of food and eat it and then they want down. Good Luck!!!