Hellobee Boards

I take any thrown food items away and say all done. It hasn't stopped, but she really considers before she throws now!

For us, this has just been better over time (not overly helpful). Our problem is blowing raspberries/spiting while eating. I finally asked her teacher for help. The teacher's suggestion was to ignore her while she's doing it. Any reaction from us is attention (which seems to be the issue). My husband I both turn from her and engage in a conversation excluding her until she stops. This has been effective.

It was hard advice to follow, but so far works. I've tried this in other situations and the lack of attention really does bother our daughter. She is a little older (22 months), but we have been doing this for over a month now with various behaviors.

I also sign to him "done" and he'll usually say the word "done."

I don't remember how old your LO is but to an extent it was a phase for us. I'd say no every time and sometimes take the food away for a bit but neither seemed to have much impact on how much joy she got from seeing food on the floor. But she did stop it for the most part. Now that she's older if she throws something on the floor I usually help her down so she can pick it up. That did seem to help her understand a little better, that if she throws something she has to pick it up/clean it up but I think that only works once they're over a year and a half or so.

@artbee: Yes!!! She will always eat if it's from a utensil. She's been on a meat strike lately but if I give her a fork to eat it with she devours. Needless to say we need to get a more toddler sized utensil, stat.

@skibobrown: Thankfully her chair/our table are on hardwood floor (makes for easier cleaning). And her spit generally doesn't travel to far

Not a great suggestion, but if you are willing to try ignoring her, maybe get a really cheap table cloth (from a party place) to spread out and see if ignoring her helps to remedy the situation. It will be cheaper and lessen the cleanup while breaking the behavior.