January 30, 2019

5 Best Ways to Help your Child Stop Throwing Food

In this article, you will learn about 5 best ways to help your child stop throwing food. While you may be anxiously monitoring expenses and tracking your food expenditure, your kids will eat or decide not to eat without a care in the world. Little ones may have a hard time investing too much energy in food waste. You can increase kids’ awareness about leaving uneaten food on a plate to encourage budding responsibility. With a little effort and training, your youngsters will never look at a discarded sandwich the same way again. Explain that it’s important to use all the food that Mommy and Daddy buy to eat. There are two reasons why this is a good thing. One, food is expensive and it’s not good to waste it; and two, wasting food means that you’re throwing away perfectly good food that someone else might have eaten.

Here’s 5 Ways to Help your Child to Stop Throwing Food :

1. Give them Less Food and Show them that the Food is Good –

Babies and toddlers love to play with their food and when we serve them a big helping of table foods, it literally gives them that much more ammunition. Sometimes the reason they’re throwing their food is because it’s an overwhelming amount in front of them, but even if that’s not the case, giving them just a few pieces (meaning 1-3 at a time) on their tray will often decrease or eliminate the throwing of food all together. You might say “Mommy loves her chicken,” then place a piece on your fork, eat it and smile and say “Yummy.” See if your child will imitate you. This may take several or more tries, but eventually kids get curious and want to parrot what they parents do.

2. Be Calm, Even if you’re not –

Giving the illusion of calm will help your child learn that you are not fazed by any food they throw. This is particularly powerful if your kiddo has gotten into the annoying habit because of the attention they receive while throwing their food. While you may have to fake your calm-attitude initially, in the long run, it will help you to be more patient. This patience will set a valuable tone for mealtimes that allows your child to feel comfortable exploring new foods and eating until their belly is full!

3. Offer Easy Choices –

Ahead of the meal, you can offer a choice between two foods to make your toddler feel happier about what you’re serving. A choice between two veggies or fruits can go a long way to making a child feel like they have a say in what they get to eat. You can also try teaching younger toddlers the sign for “all done”, which might give them something else more productive to do with their hands—and the independence to communicate more effectively!

4. Distract Your Child’s Attention –

Try letting your child play with a spoon or child-appropriate fork when they are eating a meal. Learning to use cutlery certainly has its own challenges, but a new experience like learning to lift some yogurt or pasta from plate to mouth can temporarily take your little darling’s mind off of throwing the food and shift his attention to doing something different with it—feeding it to himself by means other than fingers. Kids love to model what they see and when they see the rest of the family using silverware, they are interested in giving it a try themselves. If you have older children, let them help your younger child learn the ropes of eating, not throwing.

5. Try not to Take it Personally if they Refuse –

I can almost guarantee you that whether or not your toddler tries the broccoli, it has little to do with your cooking skills. It’s all about whether they feel empowered, comfortable, in charge, and in the mood. It’s not you…it’s them! (And consider: How did you feel the last time you ate something just because someone made it for you, say at a dinner party or a holiday, and not because you actually wanted to eat it? Not so good, right?)
Bonus tip!

Seat them at the Table –

There are lots of booster seats available that you can use on top of a regular chair that are appropriate for an older baby or toddler. When you use one, with them strapped in but without the tray attached, you can push them right up to the table. In this case, you’ll probably want a place mat (we used one like this, the crumb tray is genius) to put their food on. Being tucked into a table makes it harder for a baby or toddler to throw food onto the floor! There are lots of benefits to your child being at the table with you for meals, and not on their own separate island, and while food hitting the floor will likely reduce, it’s still possible some will find its way there.

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