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Baby Throwing Food On Floor? Why & How To Stop It ASAP
baby throwing food on floor reason #5
Baby doesn’t have good control or coordination yet.
Fine motor skills are needed for successful self-feeding. If your 6-9 month old is flinging food around, they still might be honing those necessary skills. If you have a 14 month old throwing food on floor, that’s more a case of play or signaling they are done.
How to deal: Let baby practice often! Baby led weaning is a wonderful opportunity for babies to practice these fine motor skills. Handling loose toys often also helps them develop these skills faster.
Now is still a great time to talk to baby and show them where things go. This way, you are in the habit of showing, teaching and reminding them. (There is LOTS of this for years to come!)
conclusion
If you have a baby throwing food on floor, keep calm and direct them about what to do instead. Avoid saying “no!”, “don’t throw”, or “stop”. Babies need clear instructions to change impulsive habits they have or do and don’t even realize or know what to do otherwise.
Be sure to give baby lots of sweet, playful attention outside of directing them, this way they don’t get into the habit of doing behaviors for your attention.
Check to ensure they are hungry before sitting down by offering a little piece of food. If they turn their head away from the food, don’t reach for it or seem uninterested, you can wait to feed them. A hungry baby is far less likely to throw food.
Keep an eye for when they are done and clear their tray. Sometimes, I replace the food with a toy that interests them if I want them to continue to sit with us for the meal.
Remind them what to do and teach them the simple sign language for “all done” any time they throw and you will soon notice they stop throwing or signal “all done” instead.
Once you have all these boxes checked off, mealtimes will be so much easier to enjoy with your quirky little baby!
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baby throwing food on floor reason #3
baby is not interested or liking the food served.
Your baby is just getting used to all the textures and flavors of all the different foods. They’re discovering, adjusting. Their palate is changing. As they grow into toddlerhood they will have clearer preferences and dislikes, but will continue to learn new foods and change in likes and dislikes.
How to deal: Once you have been serving solids for a month or so, their eating skills are improving and you feel confident in their ability to handle a variety of foods, be sure to start serving a few options on the plate/tray at each meal or snack, and serve at least 1-2 you know they have been enjoying recently.
By having several small servings of things on their plate, like mac n cheese with a piece of broccoli, sliced grapes and a piece of bread (rather than just 1-2 things like mac n cheese and broccoli), the likelihood that they will find something they want at that moment will be higher. And, you will not feel the pressure to make something else if they don’t eat.
I’ve found that from 6 months to 1 year, it’s not too disruptive to switch what you served to baby or offer them something else if they refuse everything on the their tray (which if you are serving 3-4 things is very unlikely, unless they are sick), but once you hit 12-14 months plus, this is where you really want to focus on serving that one meal for the whole family (with 3-4 things on the plate), regulary. This way, you are setting fair dinnertable rules for the family and not setting yourself up to be a short order cook, which can cause lots of stress and divide in the family.
Read this next:
The Ultimate Starter Guide To Overcoming Fussy Children’s Eating HabitsThe Best Way To Start Baby Led Weaning As A Nervous First Time Mom
Baby Not Really Eating Solids? 7 Common Things Babies Do With Solids (Besides Eat Them) Habits
baby throwing food on floor reason #4
Doggy distraction or other distraction.
How fun it is for them to see the cause and effect of tossing down food bits to their furry little housemate. Or, maybe they are completely engrossed and enthralled by their older sibling at the moment. Sometimes a show can distract too, or even get them eating more.
How to deal: Put the dog outside or in another room during meal times so your child isn’t tempted to throw food down. Maybe they can give the dog a treat after meal time is over?
If they are captivated by a sibling, let them finish watching for a minute or two and then have your older child go play in their room/another room until baby is done or come sit and eat too!
Depending on your screen time stance, you might opt to let your baby watch some tv during meals, so long as they aren’t too distracted to eat all the time.
Eating together, letting them see you chew, enjoy and talking to them about fun, silly things while you eat can bring their focus to the meal and the experience of family meal times.
