WHY DO THEY CONSTANTLY THROW FOOD ON THE FLOOR

THIS AM I CAME IN THE KITCHEN TO FIND THEM JUST OVERTURNING THEIR CEREAL BOWLS ONTO THE FLOOR EVERYTHING SPILLED ALL OVER THE PLACE..I KNOW ITS THE AGE TO EXPLORE BUT IT WASNT FUN TO CLEAN UP FRUITY PEBBLES OFF THE FLOOR !! PLEASE TELL ME IM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO GOES THROUGH THIS AND HOW DO I GET THEM TO STOP.

 

My boys sit in their highchairs and throw about half of their food on the floor during the course of a meal. Sometimes even before even tasting what I have given them, they will immediately toss it. For example the other night the first 10 beans on Ira's highchair were deemed inedible while the rest of them were totally acceptable. This without putting any of the first 10 in his mouth.

I bought a 3 yard length of oilcloth that I put under their chairs to catch the rejects.


Sometimes, however, I feel like all I do is clean up food.

 

My twins started throwing food at 18 mos. I used to just say "no" and clean it up. I did this for a year, and it was very exhausting. I got so tired of making scrambled eggs and pancakes only to clean them up off the floor later. If I was not sitting there watching them while they ate, they would have food fights . My son would take his cereal bowl with milk and put it on his head like a hat. He had everything in his hair. I had to give many baths after breakfast. Well, DH had enough of it and implemented time outs for for food throwing. If any food purposely was thrown or tossed onto the floor, they would have to sit in timeout. At first, I thought it was harsh, but it worked. I was amazed how they just stopped after a couple of times in timeout got the message across that food throwing was unacceptable. Your twins might be too young, but mine were 2.5 yrs old when we put them in timeout for food throwing.

 

Mine are in boosters for meal time and throw food too, I am hoping it will stop soon.

 

Ours throw food too Yesterday I tried saying "No throw cup. Cup on table." I think they caught on to that one, since instead of throwing the cup on the floor, they put it on the table and pushed it away. Today they started throwing their food onto the table. It's still a mess, but at least I don't have to bend down

 

I believe that mine throw their food on the floor because it tastes better that way. That's right - I let them eat the food off the floor (I do clean the floor after every meal).

I say no and all that stuff but nothing stops them from throwing it. I used to try to clean it up before they got out of their chairs, but then they would just throw more at me while I was cleaning.

Chalk it up to one of those things I said I would never let me kids do before I became a mom...

 

I can't serve food on plates because then they turn into flying objects! Thankfully we have dogs!

 

QUOTE(Erykah @ Nov 1 2007, 11:12 AM) [snapback]476649[/snapback]
I can't serve food on plates because then they turn into flying objects! Thankfully we have dogs!



Another thing I thought of was...Have you tried only putting a small amount in front of them when they eat. This helped a lot, too. We would only put small portions on their trays. If they ate it, we would add a bit more. Once they started tossing it, the tray went bye-bye. They may get the message that way. Also, it keeps the food cleanup to a minimum.

 

It's called being a toddler!! Everyone goes through it. That's why you'll see so many plastic floor mats sold on Baby websites.

Like everything else, it takes ALOT of reinforcement until it sinks in. So keep explaining..."we don't through food", etc. Remove their plate if it becomes a game and set the boundries for proper mealtime behavior. The mess at mealtimes WILL gradually improve. From what I remember, things started feeling alot better as they approached 2.5yrs? It seemed like I wasn't picking as much off the floor at that point.

 

QUOTE(Hillybean @ Nov 1 2007, 09:56 AM) [snapback]476622[/snapback]
I believe that mine throw their food on the floor because it tastes better that way. That's right - I let them eat the food off the floor (I do clean the floor after every meal).

:laughing: Food tastes better here off the floor too.

 

QUOTE(summerfun @ Nov 1 2007, 02:22 PM) [snapback]476923[/snapback]
:laughing: Food tastes better here off the floor too.

OMG - same here! I have recently pushed their high chairs together because they were throwing most of the food in between their chairs. Now, they share back and forth, and still throw food off the other side, but not quite as much.

We have a 2 on purpose drop rule for sippees - then it goes to the table where they can't get in until they whine/ask. If they start dropping all their food on the floor, they are done eating for that snack or meal. No one goes hungry, but no one drops tons of food on the floor anymore, either. A little is ok, all is grounds for removing from the high chair. Especially the side swipe/dump with the side of their arm thing.

 

We throw food. To top it off, they now spit mouthfulls of milk on the floor. I take away their plates or cups whicjh helps a bit.

 

I agree to only serve small amounts at a time. I only give 2 pieces of everythign at a time. If they drop it on the floor or their sippies, then like others, the tray gets cleaned and they are done and taken out. If they realize they are still hungry, then back in the chair they go and we continue eating. It's a lot of work but they only drop food each about once a week. Yes, once a week. I started this ritual as soon as they started table foods.

 

Mine are in this stage too and I can't wait for it to end!!!!!

 

We went through this around 18 months too. We took the food away once it got thrown on the floor and then we fed them one bit at a time. They love to feed themselves and learned quickly that we will take the food away from them if it gets thrown on the floor, so they have pretty much stopped now. Katelyn will only do it now if she is overly tired.

 

QUOTE(Song @ Nov 1 2007, 11:33 AM) [snapback]476337[/snapback]
My twins started throwing food at 18 mos. I used to just say "no" and clean it up. I did this for a year, and it was very exhausting. I got so tired of making scrambled eggs and pancakes only to clean them up off the floor later. If I was not sitting there watching them while they ate, they would have food fights . My son would take his cereal bowl with milk and put it on his head like a hat. He had everything in his hair. I had to give many baths after breakfast. Well, DH had enough of it and implemented time outs for for food throwing. If any food purposely was thrown or tossed onto the floor, they would have to sit in timeout. At first, I thought it was harsh, but it worked. I was amazed how they just stopped after a couple of times in timeout got the message across that food throwing was unacceptable. Your twins might be too young, but mine were 2.5 yrs old when we put them in timeout for food throwing.



That is what we did an dit worked they were 19 months at the time.

Erin