https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:35:34 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927803 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:52:15 +0000 shopaholic 1927803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Distraction, yes. Reward, no. Even if I'm trying to distract without food, I pack a lot of things in my bag: stickers, small toys, her lovey (lately), chapstick, hair ties, anything safe and small. She loves high fives, singing/dancing along, and cheers with cups, so those work sometimes too.<br /> For rewards, lots of praise, clapping, kisses, hugs, high fives. </p> <p>I do have to resort to snacks sometimes as a distraction (but I guess it's like a reward too?) when I need her to sit in her stroller. Like, I will give her something to hold/eat before/while I'm strapping her in, so she doesn't quite realize and protest as much going into the stroller. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927783 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:37:45 +0000 hilsy85 1927783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: this! </p> <p>The only exception is the potty--he gets a bunny graham for using the potty. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927629 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:29:50 +0000 aegie 1927629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DillonLion: If she's hungry and that's why she's screaming, then you're just feeding her. So I don't see that as a reward or bribe. Now, in my stubborn child's case .... there are times when she FLAT OUT refuses to GET INTO the car seat. I've succumbed to bribing her with candy to sit in blasted car seat. good, no. effective, yes. I know it's a bad habit but sometimes ... i JUST need to get her in the car seat. So ... if you're talking about bribing her to do something with candy, crackers ... then yes. I don't think it's recommended. But I do it. But don't be like me. Haha! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927581 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:06:32 +0000 JerricaBenton 1927581@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For sure I distract with food. Not so much reward. If she's upset in the grocery store, I'll offer a snack or water or stickers. She'll often say no to a snack so if she says yes and it calms her down, I see no issue. My point being if something more serious were wrong, or she wasn't hungry at all, I don't think a snack would stop the tantrum. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927564 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:00:21 +0000 looch 1927564@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DillonLion: thanks for clarifying!</p> <p>I know it's not easy to get inside the mind of a toddler, so there's not often an easy way to know why she is screaming in the car, but I'd try to determine the root cause, and address that. Is she screaming because she's tired, is it because she's feeling car sick, boredom, etc and then solve for that. I've never had to deal with a kid screaming in the car, so I don't have any quick wins for you in that department.</p> <p>Some of it could also just be personality, if your kid is anything like mine, once he decides he doesn't like soemething, you can't bribe him! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927558 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:56:59 +0000 DillonLion 1927558@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: like if she starts screaming in the car, we will give her raisins. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927440 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:06:31 +0000 Arden 1927440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reward? No, never. </p> <p>Distract? Yup. I purposely plan car rides for snack times because eating keeps her from yelling. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927437 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:04:00 +0000 looch 1927437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It isn't clear to me what you're using the food for, like if you want her to stop a certain behavior, or you use it as a reward when she does something you ask her to do? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927425 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:55:30 +0000 bunnylove08 1927425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we try not to do a reward system with DD. She is totally happy with claps, cheers, hugs and kisses. We usually distract her by asking her something super random, like today she did not want to put on pants, so I laid the pants out and asked her what color one of the spots is, she said black, then I proceeded to talk to her about animals that had spots and magically the pants were put on her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927393 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:38:02 +0000 blackbird 1927393@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you ask E to bring you her shoes or read a book with her, she LOVES those things. </p> <p>Honestly, any time we've offered her food, she ONLY eats it when she's hungry. So it was an easy habit to avoid. But i do offer cheerios in her stroller when we're out and about. </p> <p>And also sometimes i offer food b/c i can't tell if she's acting out b/c she's hungry or bored...and sometimes I think she's just hungry and I missed it. </p> <p>E loves little magnetic blocks. I mean, loves them. Stickers are good--Melissa and Doug has vinyl stickers she's super into. I bought some gel clings on sale this weekend that she's been sticking to the fridge over and over.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927391 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:34:15 +0000 autumnlove 1927391@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DillonLion: we do this a lot more when we are out of the house. I distract her at home with books, toys, walk, cleaning, etc! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-rewarddistract-your-toddler-with-food#post-1927367 Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:15:55 +0000 DillonLion 1927367@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do this a lot. We dont do really any screen time, so we resort to snacks to distract her.</p> <p>I worry about associating food with bordeom/entertainment, since that is a vice of mine that is unhealthy.</p> <p>What sort of non food items can we present to LO instead? She likes to draw and color, but it doesnt really last very long before she loses interest. </p>