One Year Old Throwing Food off High Chair

Oh, don't bother to try to discipline her too much. This is just a phase and a totally normal one. Most kids throw food off their high chairs at various points and doing it at the end of the meal is SO NORMAL. I'd just pay closer attention to when she's getting done eating and stop giving her food so she doesn't have anything to throw. If she does start to throw food, I'd take the rest of the food off her tray and give it to her one at a time (or just feed it to her). Saying no and trying to discipline at this age is pretty pointless. Better to distract her and create a situation where she can't be naughty. As she gets a bit older, she might be doing the throwing for attention (at this age, I think she's just doing it because its fun!). If that is the case, I'd just pick it up and ignore her. You can say no, but I doubt it will have much effect until she's much older and better able to understand "rules". Redirection works so much better for the 3 and under crowd.

B.
Momma to a 25 month old and baby #2 due in April

Sounds like she's doing it when she's done eating and/or doesn't want more food. You can't make a kid eat, and it's probably her way of saying "no thanks". She's also 1. She's learning about cause and effect and cool things like gravity. Her sippy cup makes a totally different noise than a spoonful of oatmeal when it hits the floor. And bananas stick while blueberries roll. How cool! Try to help her find some other ways to explore this and end meal time when something hits the floor. It will pass. My 2.5 year old did the same and he has pretty good table manners these days. Hang in there!

Both of our kids did the same thing at that age. I think your idea to end the meal makes perfect sense. That is what we did. I wasn't sure about it either because I wanted my one year old to learn not to do that. The kids are 2 and 4 now and have pretty good table manners despite that rocky one year old time. Good luck!

Oh.....I can so identify with you!! You are doing exactly what you need to. I have had two kids of my own that did that as well (we have a dog to that loved to be fed by them!) and now am watching my nephew (who is 14 months) and he tries it as well. The best you can do is say no like you are, end the meal when that happens and remember that it is a phase that does end. The only other thing may be to remove the dog from the room your daughter is eating in so that temptation won't be there. Good luck!

immediately take the food away and turn your back saying all done. When she cries say no throw food (demonstrate pointing to the floor). Give it back and say eat nicely. If she does it again take it away and take her out of the chair. Let her have a fit, she'll learn. Try again in a few minutes. If she's truelly hungry she'll eat. She may be going through a growth spurt and doesn't have an appetite.

Ah, the memories. I remember those days, vividly!!! We went through the same thing with our two children. You're right on. She's testing boundries, doing it because it's fun to throw and feed the dog! FOOD FIGHT!
We first kept the dog out of the room. Then when they did throw the food, we'd try to ignore them doing it. If it got too crazy we'd just take the food away. They seemed to just out grow it... Thank goodness!
Good luck. Stay patient and just think, in 30 years you'll look back at this and laugh when their kids are doing it!
:)S.

You've received some really good advice here, I agree with everyone so far. Your question reminded me of an article I just read last night talking about how kids (esp. as young as one year) haven't formed their brains enough and therefore lack the willpower to follow a rule versus do what comes naturally to them, which is to explore their environment (ie, do science experiments about how peas roll). If you are really bothered by her behavior, remove the food when she starts to do it and assume that she is full (or more full than hungry).

My 2 1/2 year old is also very fond of feeding the dog scraps she doesn't want, and the dog has taken to sitting directly under her table for meals. If I'm worried that he's begging too much or if she seems not interested enough in her meal, I'll put him outside right away.

Again, it just depends upon how much these things bother you and how much effort you want to put into making them not happen. Better to think about changing the situation than to expect her to follow "rules" about not doing them.

Good luck!
T.

First, have the dog out of the room so that fun is not there. Second, if she throws once, do the same as you are - tell her no, but I would not make a big deal out of it. The more you react, the more fun it is for her. If she throws again, she is done - especially since she is doing it at the end of the meal. Almost all kids throw food, they are experimenting with how the food falls and how you will react. She will grow out of this and it will be something else! :)
S.

It doesn't really have much to do with the dog, not as much as it has to do with grabbing your attention.

any attention is attention.

My youngest is 19 months old and he still will 'get ready to' throw his food, once he is done, he will say all done, all done, all done and really if I am not there by at least the second time he says it....the food will get thrown.

It is a phase, there honestly really isn't too much that can be done about it...getting upset really is going to just be a wasted emotion for you and your husband.

funny thing, after my kids are done eating, I let the dogs inside to get the most of the food they have thrown on the floor...those dogs help me out a little at least!

I have found that it happens when my son is either wanting something that he can't communicate or that he is full. I ask him what he wants when he starts throwing (and it might be just to feed something to the cat - then we get the cat treats out) and he usually points at something and he is happy. If not, we just take his food and drink away.
I have taught my boys to raise their hands (like "so big") when they are all done and that helps with the throwing too. hope that helps.

what I have done in the past is put them at the table in a booster seat when they start throwing. My son is 19 months and he has been in and out of his high chair since he was one. Sometimes I think they like to be one of the big people at the table.

Good luck!!

Missy

My advice would be to have her immediatly get out of the chair and clean it up herself! After awhile hoefully she'll be tired of picking it up. It may take assistance and patience on your half to show her how to do it and be consistent in making HER clean it up.

Both of our children did the same thing and our dog loved it too. My advice--ignore it. Soon after my children realized that we could have cared less they stopped throwing their food off the high chair. Now, the dog, on the other hand, still hangs out in the vicinty in hopes of a gastronomical extravaganza. My 2 1/2 year old would occasionally feed the dog until she was 14 months; quit doing it; and now recently took up trying to feed him what she does not want. Because she regularly terrorizes the dog, he usually takes off running when he sees her hand coming with or without food. As a result, she seems to be losing interest in trying to feed him as she hasn't done it for a couple of weeks now.

My 14 month old appears to be following in his sister's steps--he is starting to lose interest in graciously handing out food to the dog. I suspect that we will repeat the cycle again at about 2 1/2 years.

ignore it. she's getting attention, and that's her goal. just clean it up after dinner. when she's a little older you can get her help to clean it up. Kee[ the dog out of the kitchen during meal times.

Personally, I just end the meal. Since you've noted that she does it when she's getting full or is disinterested in what you've given her, she's letting you know that she's done. If she's throwing it, she isn't going to be eating it anyway, so there's no point in keeping her in her seat and trying to get her to eat it IMO.

We do that with DS. Kids won't starve themselves. If they're hungry they'll eat, and when they're done they let us know - usually by tossing it. We just end the meal and clean up DS if he throws food/drinks. He knows better, and never throws food that he wants to eat these days.

B.,

You're right. She is testing you. If she throws food, do just what you described, but end the meal. Take the food away, clean her up and move on to bedtime or whatever is next. She won't starve - I promise. Children who throw food aren't hungry (ask someone who has visited a third world country) and they know when they have had enough. I know sometimes we look at how little they eat and wonder how they can survive on it, but they do.

Best wishes,
S.

That is so frustrating, isn't it? I would take more immediate action with her. I would take her out of her highchair, give her a time-out and then make her come back and clean up the food she through. You'll obviously have to help a little, but this worked really well with our daughter. They need to see how much work they create and cleaning it up is another form of discipline. We don't have a dog, so I can see that would be a challenge. Maybe one of her special "treats" when she sits nice in her high chair is to feed a treat to the dog? Even if this happened some of the time, it might help her to see there is a reward for listening and doing the right thing. It's amazing that the more you set these patterns, even at this age, they start to grasp what you are doing rather quickly! Hope this helps!

B.,

We went through the same thing with our daughter who is now 21 months old when she was around one. I think most of the time she didn't like what we were giving her and just wasn't hungry. But to prevent her from throwing her food on the ground we gave her timeouts. We turned her chair around facing away from the table. So, she's not looking at my husband or I. She did not like that. She would cry and we would tell her that when she stops being naughty then we'll turn her back around. So, after a few minutes we turn her back around. And if she threw something again we would do the same thing. And after a few times she got the point - she throws food - she gets turned around by herself.

Good luck!

Hi B.,

I have experienced this with my son (fifteen months) as well, and what we've learned is that it signifys he is done eating. We haven't worried about disciplining him but instead signaling that dinner is over. We tell him that he is all done and we remove the tray or remove him from his chair at the table and put him down. It works just fine and he really only does it once he has had enough to eat.

J. D.