15 Month Old Throwing Food

My 2 older boys did this as well at about the same age...my husband and I had a one warning, then its gone policy!!! They would throw food and we would say "NO throwing food" if they did it again, we would say "looks like you are all done with lunch." We would wipe them up and have them help us pick up what they threw (yes, it usually did make a bigger mess but we wanted the idea that it wasn't a game.) If they were hungry again in a little bit, we would put them back in the high chair and start again. They will not starve themselves...if they are hungry, they will eat correctly. It really only took a couple of days of this consistant message for the behavior to stop completely. You just have to stick to it! Kids can learn these "acceptable" behaviors even at a very young age. After all, they learned the unacceptable behavior somehow :) Take care and good luck!

The minute she throws food she is DONE! Regardless if she's full or not or still wants to eat she is done. Remove her tray and let her continue to sit at the table or put her down. Donot let her eat anymore. This will show her and teach we donot throw food mom/dad are done with me my food is gone now.

I can TOTALLY relate; my daughter did this, and it was a nightmare. It was torture to take her to restaurants and the floor in my dining room is all but ruined. The floor is completely dented everywhere from her projectile sippy cup, and there are more stains than I can count. I can say, however, that is DOES get better. My daughter is 20 months now and doesn't throw her food, but she also doesn't eat it, which is our new issue. When she was throwing stuff, this is the approach we took: we limited snacks so that she really was hungry when she "sat down" to eat. We also only put one or two things on her tray at a time. When she did throw the food, we simply picked picked it up or left it there and didn't acknowledge it in any other way. We found that by telling her "no throw" only encouraged it because it got a reaction, and since they don't understand consequences for the most part, that was thing that seemed to work. It doesn't happen overnight, though, so be patient.
Hope this helps.

She sounds like my son. I know how frustrating it is. We've been working on this since it seems forever ago. He still throws, but much much less. What I've been doing is getting him down from his chair and, hand over hand, having him pick it up and put in in a bowl, or wipe it up if it's sloppy. try not to show your frustration. use a calm voice and instead of using "no" responses, use redirection and give an alternative. I say if you don't want it, leave it on your plate, or give it to Mommy. Another thing I've done is provide a little bowl for him to put the unwanted items into. And I praise and say thank you when he does it right. Now he will automatically go pick things up he dropped even accidentally and put them in the trash, or I give him the bowl on the floor and he picks it up, a rag and he wipes (sloppily, but it's the process that matters). He's just turning 18 months, and doing really well. hang in there, and take a lot of deep breaths.

S. - my daughter is just about 15 months too. i have the SAME situation as you. She mostly throws her sippy cup off her high chair, like constantly. It drives me batty. I try to say "no throw", or "put it here (on the tray) when you are done with it" but she still knocks it off the tray all the time.

She also throws food off, whether she likes the food or not. She is a great eater, in general. She just always tosses some food on the floor too. She sounds alot like your description of your daughter. I don't have any answers, because nothing we've tried works for her either!! So at least I don't have to think she's the only one who does this. Hopefully she will stop it as she gets older??

Our daughter was very similar at about that same age. It seemed like when she was full or wasn't hungry was when she would throw the food. But she would throw her sippy cup and then cry because she couldn't reach it. I found that she did get better about not throwing her food when I started putting her food on a small plate and not just on her highchair tray. She did out grow it fairly quickly. She is almost 21 months now and almost never throws food anymore. I think it must just be a stage that kids go through.

My daughter went through a similar phase around the same age. I started just putting one or two bites at a time on her tray, and the sippy would get put on the table where she couldn't reach it. When she'd reach for it, I would let her have a drink but then put it back on the table right away. If the throwing continued, the meal ended. I think this lasted for about a month, maybe not quite that long. She's now almost 20 months old and doesn't throw anything anymore. Good luck!

I wouldn't worry too much about her going hungry. My son is only 10 months, and I take his cup and food away as soon as he starts throwing it. After a week, he barely throws anything on the floor, and will simply say "done" If she is hungry, she will eat, and if you take it away, she will learn quickly that if she throws it, it goes away. By 15 months, she understands ALOT more than you realize she does. She will understand "we don't throw food or it goes away" if you say it AND do it!

Good luck...I hope you also have a hand vac

We went through the same thing. The more you react and get upset, the more she's going to do it. I clear the food form his tray for a few minutes then try 1 or 2 pieces again. If she's hungry , she'll eat them, if not...let her down. She might tell you later that she's hungry, then try feeding again. She'll get the idea eventually.

My niece would do the same thing, a good eater but when she felt like she was done or didn't like something, it was on the floor. You have to be very consistent at this age for her to understand what is ok and what's not. Give her smaller amounts at a time, it's not as tempting to throw it when it seems limited. But when she does throw it, have her pick it up. This was key to my niece understanding what she was doing wrong. Get down there with her and keep telling her "No, we don't throw food on the floor" (or however you phrase it) but keep it consistent! That's what worked for me.
Good luck!

My son is 15 months old, too, and I can tell you how we handle this. When I first give him food, I only give him literally 2 or 3 bites of food. That way, if he's in a throwing mood, I'm not cleaning up a ton of food. If he does eat up right away, I give him a little more food, but I never give him a lot at one time. He sits right next to me in his high chair, and I refill his bowl as needed.

If he throws his food or starts playing with it, he gets one verbal warning, and only one warning. "Stop playing with your food, or I will take your bowl away and you are done." Then we actually follow through. If he throws his bowl on the floor, it stays there. If he is playing with his food, we take it away from him and then he sits there until we are done eating. My son gets 3 meals and 3 snacks each day, we are never more than 2 hours away from food, so I don't feel like I am taking food from him.

This was effective for us, and we don't have too much problems with food anymore. He caught on quickly that we mean business.

IME, if kids are really hungry, they eat the food, they don't sit and play with it. You've noted yourself that this behavior incresase when it's something she doesn't like or she's starting to get full. If she's not going to eat it, why not take it away instead of having to clean it up? Also, throwing things (cup, plate, silverware) on the floor and then you picking them up repeatedly becomes a game to them--don't play it.

Same deal with a sippy cup, wave it around or throw it and you get one warning, and then you are done. My son has gotten to the point that he will drink what he wants and then just hand the cup to my husband or I--he is "over" the thrill of throwing it.

We heap on the praise when he eats and drinks well. "What a big boy you are--look at how nice you are eating." He gets a big grin.

One last thought--I've seen people put 2 or 3 different bowls in front of a toddler, a sippy cup, and some silverware. IMHO, this is just too much temptation and too much to play with at this age. Keep it down to 1 bowl or plate at a time, and try handing her the sippy cup only when she needs it. One piece of silverware (if she's using it) is sufficient. Good luck.

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice. But for some reason, 15 month olds just do this!! My son does, and so did his big brother at this age. Its so frustrating! He does it at the beginning of the meal when he's not sure if he likes the food, then once i get him to eat a few bites he's okay, then if I am not fast enough at recognizing when he is done, he'll start throwing food at the end of the meal too. I especially love when he throws his sippy cup and the valve gets knocked loose and leaks all over the floor. Fun times!

Reading other people's responses reminded me of what helps us. If I only give him a couple pieces of food at a time he does a lot better. He seems to get overwhelmed sometimes by all the food on his tray at once. I give him 2 chances and if he still throws food he is done (or I will just try again later, but he is done for the time at least, or until I finish my food and can feed him once bite at a time, which he hates since he thinks he is so independent).

Hello, I have a 15 month old doing the same thing. It is so frustrating (we have carpet in the dining room) and it doesn't help that my 4 yo is there laughing at him which only encourages the bad behavior. Having gone through this before I do know that it is only a stage, give your daughter no reaction. At this age our kids are learing about cause and effect. They are understanding I do this I get this reaction, good or bad, just know she is not doing it to upset you. My son usually does it at the end of the meal also, if I know he has had enough to eat and he won't stop, I remove his tray and clean him right up, all done. At the end of the meal the last couple of days, I do have him stand by me and watch me pick up the food and say "no no" or "naughty" Last night he even helped pick some of it up. This too shall pass!

what i foudn worked for my son is to completely ignore it altogether. dont give positive or negative reactions then she will keep doing it.

its going to be messy.... for quite a while. you can cover the floor with a tablecloth or towel if you want to make cleanup easier. i call it 'protecting the floor from ____'

good luck!

In our house throwing food ends the meal. I think it's something almost all toddlers go through and they have to learn that it's not ok. When my boys would throw their food I would take it away. If they still acted hungry I would give it back and give them one more chance. If they threw it again the meal was done and they were taken out of the highchair.

Hi S.,

Sounds like you've gotten some good advice...I would just like to impress upon you to be consistent, and follow through. Don't do things that you can't follow through on because children pick-up on that really quick. Children understand a lot more than we give them credit for...how they understand so quickly in life is beyond me, but it's like they are born knowing! It's, also, important to nip things in the bud...don't allow them to do things early in life you won't want them doing as they get older...they really do understand at an early age.

Good Luck!

C.

As near as I can tell, this is a phase all kids go through (I have 5). I used to put a cheap plastic table cloth on the floor under his/her chair. Then I would just gather it up and shake it outside, wipe it down and be ready for the next meal. This works great in a restaurant. Shower curtains also work! Every child comes through this phase. In 6 months it will be something else. Save time, save stress, let the baby work out the throwing phase. Much less hassle!

I have known other families to try taking the food away combined with turning the highchair (or chair with booster) around for 20 or 30 seconds each time the child throws food. The idea is that they don't get the other reactions from the family and they are missing out on the social experience. After the time frame, turn the child back around and try again. As always, consistency is key! I am not sure on the time frame of 20 seconds--it may be more like a minutes b/c the child is over a year. BUT, in anycase, the food is not "permanently" taken away. I have not had to try this yet, but have heard of good success with it. FOLLOW UP TO YOUR OTHER RESPONSES: ending meal time and removing child from high chair may be exactly what the child wants s they get older. We have tried to encourage that even if you are done eating, you sit at the table b/c it is family time. Just a thought. And I would not have the patience to get my child down several times a meal to clean up off of the floor--once is enough for me, at the end of the meal! BUt again, it sounds like those approaches worked for those families. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck!

I too have a 15 month-old doing the EXACT same thing. It's funny, no one told me 15 month-olds were food throwers. I have no advice because nothing I am doing is working- but thanks for bringing it up! I needed the tips too. I am going to try the "no food" idea since I have done everything else

I would recommend getting a dog to solve this problem, I have a large Golden Retriever that I can loan you during meal times! ;-)

My son does the same thing, my daughter did the same thing, she outgrew it but it did drive me crazy at the time. With my son I try not to make a big deal about it or he does it more. I figure he is not too hungry if he is throwing his food on the floor.

My 15 month old son does the same thing and I have read articles telling me to just ignore it. It's slowed down a lot. The more we react to the things we don't want them to do, the more they realize they've got our attention. He even throws the biggest fits when he can't do something. Again, I put him down in a safe place and I walk away. Good luck!!! ;)

Maybe try not reacting at all. She may be realizing this cause and effect type of thing. She is getting you to react. In order to keep your sanity while not reacting, put a big bed sheet under her chair so it's easy clean up. Within a couple of times of doing this, and seeing you have no reaction, it will not be nearly as entertaining. Also, praise the pants off her when she does it right. I remember all different scenario's where I thought, "My goodness, everything I do is not working". But within a couple of weeks that issue was done and a new one was started. So, just know that "This too shall pass."

Good luck.

My fifteen-month-old is doing the same thing. If he throws once, we say "no!" and hope for the best. If he throws again, we take him out of his high chair. If he still seems hungry, we try again in a few minutes. But usually, him throwing means, "I'm not in the mood to eat right now." I'd say try removing her from the situation.