Seriously irritated at the food dropping

I don't know exactly why this irrates me so much. I try to not "react" when they drop food off their trays. I keep a straight face the first time. The second time, I say "no dropping food". Now, it becomes a game for them and they look me right in the eye and do it...waiting for a reaction...which I almost never give them...I'm sterner this time and just say "No". The next time, I take it way and if that means eating time is over, it's over. I feel bad about that because I know they must eat (or they'll be crabby later big time). Meanwhile, my blood is boiling on the inside...silly isn't it? I don't exactly why...I know its a phase and it will pass...but When??? It's not the mess either that bothers me...it's not even enough of a mess to bother with newspaper or anything really. I think it really is the food waste and the fact I can't make them stop.

Anyone else feel this way??

 

It used to make me mad, but I got over it quick because there was nothing I could do about it. I moved them to the regular table on booster seats and put the food directly on the table with their own forks and spoons and the food dropping got a lot better. I can honestly say they don't even do it now. Hang in!

 

Food throwing really gets to me too. (In fact, throwing in general will make me lose my shizz. <_<) Warning them and taking the plates away if they persist is the only thing that works. I find that they get worse about throwing at the end of the meal, so I guess they're trying to tell me they're done! :lol: If they throw at the beginning or middle of the meal (when I'm sure they're still hungry) I have instituted a "food time out", where I take away their plates or trays for a few minutes, and give them back while telling them that the food will be taken away again if they continue throwing.

 

It drives me insane. ANd it is not the mess that bothers me either. I think for me it is a couple of things....1. I took the time to make it so please eat it. 2. I know you are hungry so please stop throwing your food on the floor. 3. I am tired of my dogs getting to eat the food I make for the girls. There have actually been moments where I have thought about taking out the middle man and jsut giving the food to dogs, or jsut letting the girls eat off the floor since apparently things taste better from there. It is so frustrating and so far I have found nothing that really works except jsut taking the food away and not letting them eat. I hate to do it, but it only seems to take a couple of times and they are apparently hungry enough at that point to eat the food instead of throw it. Good Luck!!

 

Grrr, I get so mad when our boys do this too!! I know if they do it near the end of the meal then they are full so I remove the food from their tray asap and get them down. But this morning we were out of pancakes so I heated them up waffles instead (and made them all yummy with butter and maple syrup) and on the first bite Brandon then started chucking the waffle bits over his shoulder. Okay fine, he didn't like the waffles, but it was so darn irritated. I raised my voice initially and when he threw even more pieces I slammed my hand down on his tray saying "NO!!" I hate it when I lose it like that. We even have a "splat mat" but its not just picking up the food that irks me. There aren't many food options for breakfast that they will eat so when he started throwing away the waffles I knew he wasn't going to eat much breakfast. And he didn't, just 1 sausage patty and 2 oz of yogurt. Anyway, I wish I had advice for you, but I am in the same short fuse camp as you unfortunately. I know things will eventually get better, but I don't know when, sigh.

 

Let me just let you know that it does get better.

They don't care if you made the food or if it came out of a box or if the milk is from a garden gnome's teat. So please don't take it personally, as if they don't like your cooking. It's just something that little ones do. I never acted like it annoyed me, so they grew out of it really fast, when they learned that #1, they weren't getting a rise out of me, and #2, the dogs would eat it and they wouldn't have it.

They won't starve. Look at the size of their fist. That is the size of their stomach. Are you giving them too much food? Maybe. Give them less. I found that 1/4 cup food is more than they needed at that age. (That's why you feed them frequently!)

Now they cry if they drop their food because the dogs eat it.

 

[quote name='Nate and Jack's Mom' date='04 October 2010 - 12:55 PM' timestamp='1286214941' post='1704658']
Food throwing really gets to me too. (In fact, throwing in general will make me lose my shizz. <_<) Warning them and taking the plates away if they persist is the only thing that works. I find that they get worse about throwing at the end of the meal, so I guess they're trying to tell me they're done! :lol: If they throw at the beginning or middle of the meal (when I'm sure they're still hungry) I have instituted a "food time out", where I take away their plates or trays for a few minutes, and give them back while telling them that the food will be taken away again if they continue throwing.
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This is exactly what I do!!! It got better for us when they moved to boosters and the table. When it was at it's peak I would only offer a few bites of whatever we were eating. Tedious but it helped. Now we use plates and sometimes they fling those off the end of the table. That's an immediate meal time is over and straight to time out. This food business is for the birds, I tell ya. Hang in there. It will get better!!!!!

 

I tell them every single time...no throwing..floor is dirty now...I try to prevent it by asking them
if they are done when they get to the end of the plate, and they usually give it to me (it's
when I 'm doing something else when they thrwo it...) and last but not least..I keep my dog nearby :rotflmbo:

 

I don't think I have any better advice then what's been already said...but I just wanted to add...it does get better. As mad as it makes you (and it used to make me mad) try to stay as reaction-less as possible. I can tell you that my two were out of it fully by 18 months and now if they drop food, it's by accident and not on purpose.

 

Mine feed the dogs now, on purpose. Eh, I figure at some point they will eat. Bringing them to the table in booster seats helped a lot. Also, I never give them large amounts of food. They get 1-2 things at a time and when they eat that, they get more. If they throw it, they get down.

 

I feel like I am always frustrated, angry about one thing or another. I dread mealtime, especially when I make something and they don't want it. GRRRR!! But yes, they throw food. Some days are worse then others. I just try my best not to lose it. However I don't know who is more messy at mealtimes, my 16 month olds or my 3 1/2 year old?? UGH!!

Most people tell me "they won't be doing that when they are 18" but serious how is that suppose to make me feel better?? Makes me laugh!(Mostly this is in regards to potty training) By the way, I would rather deal with food throwing then potty training. I HATE POTTY TRAINING :headbang:

Seriously, I hope you find a way to not get frustrated. If you do, please pass it on, I am still searching LOL!! I just try to let go of the things I can't control which is majority of it. Hard for a control freak like me.