10 months old and throwing food

[arch01]

DS has been refusing to eat lunch and dinner for about a week now. We put his finger foods on a tray (usually shredded chicken and peas, carrots, beans-all steamed) and he'll take a handful, look up at us, drop it on the floor. Rinse and repeat. We tell him no and try to redirect his hand to his mouth, he'll turn his head. He'll eat yogurt drops or the Gerber lil' crunchies, but nothing else. He is also refusing anything fed by a spoon.

He eats breakfast without a problem. He gets fruit with breakfast, veggies for lunch and dinner. I know he prefers the fruit, even if I put fruits and veggies on the tray at the same time he picks out the fruit and only eats that.

WWYD? He is basically back to only getting a bottle at lunch and dinner, we try to feed him each time and are lucky to get 3 bites in. It's frustrating since he just wants to throw it all, and he really doesn't understand "no" yet. He has gone from eating 4oz of puree and 1/4-1/2c of veggies to basically no solids at 2 meals.

He is getting 2 top teeth, but they really don't seem to bother him. He also has a cold, but I would think that this would all affect him for breakfast, too, not just lunch and dinner.

[ijack]

I'd start giving him veggies with breakfast and/or a smoothie at some point in the day. It's pretty normal for him to go through phases of eating and not, so I'd just keep offering it. Have you tried to let him feed himself with a spoon?

[arch01]

Nov 2, 2012 11:28:32 GMT -5 ijack said:

I'd start giving him veggies with breakfast and/or a smoothie at some point in the day. It's pretty normal for him to go through phases of eating and not, so I'd just keep offering it. Have you tried to let him feed himself with a spoon?

Hm, smoothie is an idea. He doesn't use the straw sippy (never got the hang of it), what would you give it to him in?

We've tried him using the spoon and he flings the food and then uses it to make noise before throwing it on the ground.

[Deleted]

I still resort to the pouches to make sure DS gets veggies every day. He's been a food thrower for a long time now and it has gotten worse since he started daycare and can eat without being strapped to a highchair. ::le sigh::

Have you tried giving him pouches yet?

[arch01]

Nov 2, 2012 12:07:35 GMT -5 @choco said:

I still resort to the pouches to make sure DS gets veggies every day. He's been a food thrower for a long time now and it has gotten worse since he started daycare and can eat without being strapped to a highchair. ::le sigh::

Have you tried giving him pouches yet?

We have some pouches but we feed them to him with a spoon. They're not something we regularly buy because they're expensive and I make 95% of his food. Maybe I need to look into the reusable pouches.

[ijack]

There is a sili squeeze that is reusable and you could do purees or smoothie in it. Quinn sucks down a pouch in 10 seconds, but if you feed her with a spoon (not that she'd let you) it takes so freaking long.
here are some other options
www.amazon.com/Hydrapak-B201-Softflask/dp/B0056I2C1Q/ref=pd_sim_ba_1
www.amazon.com/Beaba-Babypote-Reusable-Squeeze-Pouch/dp/B004DS14B4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[arch01]

Nov 2, 2012 12:17:09 GMT -5 ijack said:

There is a sili squeeze that is reusable and you could do purees or smoothie in it. Quinn sucks down a pouch in 10 seconds, but if you feed her with a spoon (not that she'd let you) it takes so freaking long.
here are some other options
www.amazon.com/Hydrapak-B201-Softflask/dp/B0056I2C1Q/ref=pd_sim_ba_1
www.amazon.com/Beaba-Babypote-Reusable-Squeeze-Pouch/dp/B004DS14B4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Thank you!

[Deleted]

We're in this phase too, I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you. We just grab his hand right before he is about to let go and say "don't drop that, eat it" and then we make the "eat" sign (touch fingers to thumb and bring up to mouth). He also loves to watch the dog gobble up what he drops, which we're trying really hard not to giggle at.

[arch01]

Nov 2, 2012 12:20:22 GMT -5 @supergreen said:

We're in this phase too, I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you. We just grab his hand right before he is about to let go and say "don't drop that, eat it" and then we make the "eat" sign (touch fingers to thumb and bring up to mouth). He also loves to watch the dog gobble up what he drops, which we're trying really hard not to giggle at.

HA we also have the issue with the dog... J sneaks in sometimes and DS thinks it's hilarious to watch him eat up what he's thrown. Oy.

[dragonfly08]

Both of my girls threw food at some point. Two things seemed to help. First, I only put a very small portion on the tray at any one time. If it got eaten, I'd offer more. I didn't change their diet and/or go to purees, smoothies, etc. I wanted to continue with the foods they'd been eaten and not send a signal that their throwing had an effect on that. Second, the minute any food was thrown, the meal was over. I cleaned up, took DD out of the high chair, and that was it. Nobody starved, they still snacked enough during the day (and I made sure those were healthy) to get what they needed, and they figured out pretty quickly that if they wanted to eat they'd better keep the food on the tray. :-)

Good luck!

[shell403b]

So, I'm taking from this thread that there's nothing you can really do to get them to stop throwing food? Little E is driving us NUTS with the throwing food. It doesn't help that we have 2 dogs that eagerly scarf up whatever he throws down.

[ijack]

Nov 2, 2012 21:39:01 GMT -5 shell403b said:

So, I'm taking from this thread that there's nothing you can really do to get them to stop throwing food? Little E is driving us NUTS with the throwing food. It doesn't help that we have 2 dogs that eagerly scarf up whatever he throws down.

Say "no" and take the food away.

[hannamaren]

I think the throwing is just to let you know they dont want it.
I usually say "okay, you dont want that" and take it away. If she cries for it, I make her sign please and give her one more chance.

But she has been throwing it less. Although, she has been eating wverything too. I have such a hungry child.

[holly116]

Infantino makes a fillable pouch system as well. I bought it at BRU about a month ago. The pouches are disposable, but they are identical to the pouches you can buy, and it's a lot cheaper. The filling station is about $20 and comes with 10 pouches. An additional set of 50 pouches was $14 I think.

I bought it because I also make all fruits and veggies at home for my little guy and my toddler will eat anything in a pouch. It's good for the days she'll eat nothing but Mac and cheese. I've made a bunch of apples with broccoli so far and keep them in the freezer.

[knitty]

Nov 3, 2012 7:24:56 GMT -5 hannamaren said:

I think the throwing is just to let you know they dont want it.
I usually say "okay, you dont want that" and take it away. If she cries for it, I make her sign please and give her one more chance.

ITA It's something fun to do when you're not hungry. (it's fun because they're learning gravity and object permanence, bonus points if the dog plays too). I would put one small piece of each food on the tray. If he's hungry he'll eat, if not he'll throw/drop it. If he drops/throws he's done and you cheerily/kindly/matteroffactly/gently take him out of his high chair and go about your day. If he really kicks up a fuss you might like to make sure you give him a snack as soon as he's calmed down and forgotten. And by snack I mean meat, veg, etc.

The real trap with kids eating is when they have a not-hungry week, you oanic and start catering to them and then you can't go back (BTDT). You need to remember that they slow down in growth a lot, and there will be days when it seems they ate nothing. But really, in the absence of a medical condition you can trust them to know their bodies. Unless you make it a power struggle, because there is only one thing a toddler will enjoy more than food, and it's a power struggle with adults.

The philosophy they recommend these days is called 'division of responsibility in eating', and it says that your job is to determine what and when they eat, their job is to determine whether and how much. So you prepare a range of foods, offer them at meal and snack times and they decide if they'll eat or not, while you sit back and make it look like you don't care what they eat. There's a book that explains it all in detail, by Ellyn Satter, and it's a great read. There are corollaries, like you make sure there is at least one food on the table they like, you eat meals as a family, you have frequent snack/meal times, you don't trade some foods off others (thereby making the food they must eat less desirable), you don't make special meals for anyone, and no-one has to put anything in their mouths they don't want to.

I would not use smoothies for several reasons. You can slam down a ton of calories fast with a smoothie, they're the preferred method of fattening up kids with FTT, milk in bottles is also a common reason for overweight toddlers. You're also bypassing the whole process of learning to enjoy putting food in your mouth, chew, swallow. Fair enough to use smoothies if he's not gaining weight because he has oral sensory issues with chewing and swallowing, but if he doesn't then keep in mind the end goal of a five year old who will listen to his body and know when to stop eating.

I think he's just not hungry this week. I never am when I have a cold, plus when your nose is blocked nothing tastes good. But in general to help him enjoy vegetables, try doing more than just steam them. Roasted veggies are very tasty. You can make veggie patties by grating them, mixing with a bit of flour and an egg and then cook in a little butter. You can also mash beans into the mix. You can use purees to make (unsweetened) pancakes, and experiment with non-wheat flours like chickpea flour, teff flour or fava bean flour. You can make mac and cheese with pureed butternut in the white sauce, I also stir chopped tomatoes in before I bake it. Peas and corn can be served frozen. My kids love felafels, I used to use a little less spice when they were babies. Food cooked in the slow cooker is usually nice and soft for babies to chew. All of these can make a meal for you as well so you're less ropable when they don't eat them. I was always much less invested when they were refusing leftovers.

[arch01]

Thanks for the responses, I'll do some experimenting once he gets over this cold.

[Deleted]

Nov 3, 2012 9:32:39 GMT -5 knitty said:

Nov 3, 2012 7:24:56 GMT -5 hannamaren said:

I think the throwing is just to let you know they dont want it.
I usually say "okay, you dont want that" and take it away. If she cries for it, I make her sign please and give her one more chance.

ITA It's something fun to do when you're not hungry. (it's fun because they're learning gravity and object permanence, bonus points if the dog plays too). I would put one small piece of each food on the tray. If he's hungry he'll eat, if not he'll throw/drop it. If he drops/throws he's done and you cheerily/kindly/matteroffactly/gently take him out of his high chair and go about your day. If he really kicks up a fuss you might like to make sure you give him a snack as soon as he's calmed down and forgotten. And by snack I mean meat, veg, etc.

The real trap with kids eating is when they have a not-hungry week, you oanic and start catering to them and then you can't go back (BTDT). You need to remember that they slow down in growth a lot, and there will be days when it seems they ate nothing. But really, in the absence of a medical condition you can trust them to know their bodies. Unless you make it a power struggle, because there is only one thing a toddler will enjoy more than food, and it's a power struggle with adults.

The philosophy they recommend these days is called 'division of responsibility in eating', and it says that your job is to determine what and when they eat, their job is to determine whether and how much. So you prepare a range of foods, offer them at meal and snack times and they decide if they'll eat or not, while you sit back and make it look like you don't care what they eat. There's a book that explains it all in detail, by Ellyn Satter, and it's a great read. There are corollaries, like you make sure there is at least one food on the table they like, you eat meals as a family, you have frequent snack/meal times, you don't trade some foods off others (thereby making the food they must eat less desirable), you don't make special meals for anyone, and no-one has to put anything in their mouths they don't want to.

I would not use smoothies for several reasons. You can slam down a ton of calories fast with a smoothie, they're the preferred method of fattening up kids with FTT, milk in bottles is also a common reason for overweight toddlers. You're also bypassing the whole process of learning to enjoy putting food in your mouth, chew, swallow. Fair enough to use smoothies if he's not gaining weight because he has oral sensory issues with chewing and swallowing, but if he doesn't then keep in mind the end goal of a five year old who will listen to his body and know when to stop eating.

I think he's just not hungry this week. I never am when I have a cold, plus when your nose is blocked nothing tastes good. But in general to help him enjoy vegetables, try doing more than just steam them. Roasted veggies are very tasty. You can make veggie patties by grating them, mixing with a bit of flour and an egg and then cook in a little butter. You can also mash beans into the mix. You can use purees to make (unsweetened) pancakes, and experiment with non-wheat flours like chickpea flour, teff flour or fava bean flour. You can make mac and cheese with pureed butternut in the white sauce, I also stir chopped tomatoes in before I bake it. Peas and corn can be served frozen. My kids love felafels, I used to use a little less spice when they were babies. Food cooked in the slow cooker is usually nice and soft for babies to chew. All of these can make a meal for you as well so you're less ropable when they don't eat them. I was always much less invested when they were refusing leftovers.

This is fantastic advice and pretty much what I was going to say and more. V is a thrower (although she is getting better) and I just take her out when she throws food. I continue to offer her healthy choices and I don't worry if she doesn't eat much for a few days (or even a week). She is small (10th percentile) but so are her dad and I and she is thriving in every way so I think we're doing just fine.