How to Stop a 14 Month Old from Throwing Food on the Floor

Hi J.,

I have a 13 month old boy and whenever he throws food or his sippy on the floor from his highchair, i take it away until the next time he eats. he seems to understand this and I do not have this problem as much anymore. Hope this helps.

J.

It's considered normal for a child to try this. Don't pick the food up while she is in the high chair. Don't respond. Do dishes, drink coffee, or what ever it takes to ignore her and her actions. When she finds she is getting no response at all she will quit. The more attention you give her the more she will continue to do it. If ignoring her doesn't work try keeping the food out of her reach and feeding her and if that doesn't work remove her from the chair and tell her meal time is over. After a couple of times she will get the message. Also she is old enough for you to make her help pick the food up off the floor. It won't be so much fun throwing it if she is the one that has to clean it up. This is the advise my Mom gave me and she raised eight of us. Believe me it works.

This is normal for that age. She is learning cause and effect and that she has control over her body and things around her. I really don't think she's doing it because of any reaction you are having to it. Both of my boys did this - it's all part of the learning process. The novelty will wear off eventually, but in the meantime, you could put a "spill mat" under her high chair to make cleaning up easier. I remember doing a lot of mopping when my boys were that age. I think I mopped up my tile nearly every night. Good luck!

Are you sure her name isn't "DYLAN" LOL - sounds just like my 15 month old grandson!! He loves to throw his food, especially if it is something he does not like or if he is full. We did find that if we took the plate from him for a few minutes or so and told him NO he was not going to throw his food, wait the few minutes and then ask him if he wanted more he would then eat and not throw his food. We have slapped his hand also as a method to get him to stop the throwing it. Part of this is them seeing what they can get away with... I know they are young but they are testing their boundaries. Good Luck.

I have the same problem and no dog! I had a dog with my older daughter and it is crazy to have so much food ALL over my tiny house. It is a real problem so I am looking forward to seeing what people say. I think it is a phase and will end in 6-12 months (unfortunately!)

It really is a phase that all kids go through. You could try giving her smaller portions, if she only has 6 cheerios she is less likely to throw as much on the floor. It really is something most kids go through. Be patient this to will pass.

Your little one is learning Object Permanence. She is learning that when something isn't there it is still there. She drops it on the floor and she doesn't see it, but if she leans over to look it is still there. This is VERY COOL to a little one.

My 21 month old did the same thing. As she grew we noticed she only threw the food to the side when she was finished eating. So we have been teaching her to say "all done" which she doesn't say but she holds her hands out to the side. When she says she is done we get her out the the high chair right away. This has helped. She has started putting her silverware and cup on her plate and holding it up for us to take when she is done. But if we don't react when she says she is done she will just throw EVERYTHING on the floor.
Take care!

Well I am astounded by the postings on this one; I would be interested in the ages of the other children. There is a BIG difference between the behavior of a 2 yr old and the behavior of a 14 month old. A 14 month old is learning cause/effect. Gravity is sooo cool to them. They manipulate their world in order to learn about it. While I agree, this behavior is annoying and should not be encouraged, I disagree that it should be punished. You would in effect be punishing a child for learning. Not to mention that 14 months is a tad young to engage in capital punishment...
A 2 year old, on the other hand, has a concept of rules. Not a strong concept, but they do understand when they are doing something they should not be. A 2 year old should understand the speech about the effects of their actions...a 14 month old would just look at you clueless.
That said, this behavior is normal, it will lead to higher thinking later in life, I would advise against stiffling it with punishment. Ignore it, if the child has eaten a fair amount take the plate away and let them down. Make up a sign for all done or finished and show it to her, say all done, and then let her down...she will learn how to do it. My 14 month old is doing the same thing. My 2 year old is finally past it. It will not last forever. :)

P.

This is the way that kids develop and learn about cause/effect and physical/tactile sensations with food etc. The only reason parents don't like this area of their learning is because it results in more cleanup and work for us! It is really best to let them play and learn while they are still young and little. Don't worry, you won't have an 18 yr old that throws her food!

You can always try the suggestions of giving less food, removing the food when she seems disinterested or done, participating in the feeding and fun so she isn't seeking negative attention, completely ignoring the throwing EVERY time and NEVER giving even negative attention for it, teach the sign for 'all done' and implement it for lots of things (not just meals).

If you change your way of thinking and treat this stage of growing/learning the same as we treat the fact that babies use diapers....it's messy and takes some work, but it's all just a stage that will pass, you (and she) will eliminate so much frustration regarding meal time and enjoy each other and the dinner table more :-)

Best wishes!

I had the exact same problem with my daughter. I would tell her no, and that same smile came on her face as she did it anyway! The next time she ate, I gave her the amount of food she would eat at a meal and said, "This is all you get for this meal, if you throw any on the floor it will be that much less you will eat. AND if you throw any food on the floor, you will get no snack either" When she would smile and start to throw it, "I said go ahead, but that is your lunch you are throwing on the floor, I will give you no more, and remember no snack either" The biggest secret to this is to absolutely give her NO more food, and No snacks either. It only took once maybe twice and she was cured. Word of the wise, give her more food after you told her she won't get any, and you will loose from that moment on.

I would limit the food to very small amounts of food on her tray at any given time.

I would keep in mind that there is not one 14 month old out there that does not do the EXACT same thing (it's a typical characteristic of the age and a sign that she is right on track developmentally).

I would calmly, remove her from her high chair when the food flinging begins and let her know that she is showing me that she has had enough food if she's putting it on the floor instead of her mouth. Try again later when she's a bit more hungry.

If the dirty floor is bugging you---you could purchase a cheap plastic shower curtain to be placed under the high chair for easier clean up.
D.

Well, in cases like this "they" say take the food away when she starts throwing it. This is easy to do if she's already eaten some of it, but if she starts throwing it immediately, not so much.

Since she thinks of it as a game, maybe give her a different game to play. Put three different colored cups or bowls on her tray and let her "sort" the food into the cups rather than throwing it. If she continues to throw, take the food away and "spoon" feed her yourself.

Most kids will eat voraciously when they are hungry, then start to play as they get full. It could also be that she's stopped growing so quickly and is satiated on milk or snacks and not so hungry at mealtime. You can experiment with that. Nutritionists say that when they hear a complaint about toddlers not eating well, the first thing they look at is how much milk they are getting. I'd limit milk to only 2 servings at most, unless of course you are breastfeeding.

Hope that helps!

I couldn't agree more with Heather B's advice. Your daughter is not being naughty - she's being a normal 14 month old. My 18 month old does the same thing, usually when he has had enough to eat, but often right away when I put the food down. I don't encourage it, but I certainly don't respond negatively. If I find myself getting annoyed, I just get up and do something so he doesn't realise I'm annoyed, cos my response is about me, and not his behaviour. So I need to get on my hands and knees and clean the floor after each meal. Worse things have happened! Remember that she is 14 months old, not 14 years! She's not trying to annoy you. Good luck!

I have the exact same issue (dogs,food droppind, innocently deceptive smiles and all!) I can't say I have the perfect answer since our attempts don't always work either, but my husband and I tag team with our efforts to get her to "behave" at the dinner table. If I am the one feeding her and she starts the playing I remove her plate off of her tray onto the table where only i can access the food and feed her myself, if she continues to play (spitting out the food, grabbing the utensil, etc) then my husband takes over (sometimes she justs wants to see what she can get away with with either one of us!)and if it continues from there she probably isn't really hungry and we just take the food away......almost everything i've read says not to make it a battle of the wills, making mealtime frustrating for everyone....she eats pretty well throughout the day and even pretty well most evenings, but I guess they just don't need as much food in the evening(heck, neither do we really!)and I keep it small and light for her steamed veggies, sometines rice or pasta, and a little bit of protein-chicken/fish....everything that she can self-feed and that is based on what I am fixing for dinner for the family(she wants to eat what we're eating) Good Luck to you-its a fun age!!

Well, I was hoping for a brilliant solution since my twelve-month-old is doing this too, but I have to agree with the other posters. What I remember from my daughter is that it does go away. And smaller amounts on the tray do help. Good luck!

I hope you get some good advice because I am facing the same issue with my 13 month old twins!