9 Month Old Spits Food for Fun

Personally, I think 9 months is too young to understand "no." I found with my kids that if they were really hungry, they didn't spit it out. If they spit, they weren't hungry anymore.

He is 9 months old! He will grow out of it. Have fun with your baby. Relax and enjoy. He certainly wont starve. You will have enough to stress about later in his life. Don't sweat the small stuff, and this is microscopic. Enjoy the little guy.

It's a phase, it WILL pass. It's called blowing "raspberries." He's developing and exploring and experimenting. He's to young to understand "no".... they do not have any impulse control at this age... complete impulse control does not develop until toddlerhood or about 2-3 years old. Some say older.

Here's a link on it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&a...

Take photos of these fun moments, for it will pass all too soon.
Enjoy, they grow up so quickly. :)
Happy Mother's Day,
~Susan

L.:

Well, my advice certainly wont be to "pop him in the mouth". I know it sucks right now, wearing the food, but this will pass. Your baby is just having fun with new tastes and textures in his mouth. I wouldn't laugh or encourage him, but if it's really bothering you, try keeping the spoon in his mouth for a few seconds with each bite. One of my daughters spit her food so much that I tried this. And it works. By having the spoon in her mouth for just a few seconds, it prevented her from spitting the food at me. And it really didn't take that long for her to catch on. Your son will get over this; it's part of learning to eat. Remember when he was spitting up all over you? Or when you'd take a hit when you changed his diaper as a newborn? This is simply a phase. Just wait until he starts throwing the food at you! That's when I got more stern, but they're kids. Spit happens :) I'm getting ready to start solids with my twins (my 4th and 5th children) and I can't wait. Messes are just a part of training them to eat. He'll grow out of it as long as you don't make him think it's the funniest thing in the world. And even if you do, he'll still grow out of it. Good luck and enjoy these times. They grow up so fast.

OMG, PLEASE don't "pop him in the mouth"! He's a little baby.... I have no magic answers or suggestions, but was so horrified by that post, I had to respond! (WHO does that toa baby??) I tried putting a plastic mat on the ground under the high chair for awhile, but it felt like more work than just wiping up the food spots with a damp towel. Sometimes I actually had to mop, but it's just a short time, and then they stop. It's all still new to them. Watch how you react though---too much attention one way or another and he'll continue. Try a CALM "NO, honey, that makes a big mess mommy has to clean" when he does it, and eventually he'll get the message (without the "popping"!). Good luck to you!

I learned a trick from a book I bought off parenting website www.loveandlogic.com I am appalled at the people who are resonding that your baby is too young to understand NO. At this age he's smarter than a german shepard!! Most people expect more of their pets than they do their kids which is really sad!!!!

Your baby is ready to start learning consequences. When he spits, you can say Uh Oh all done! in a sing song voice as you are gently taking him out of his chair and putting him on the floor. Without a doubt he's going to start crying because he is not getting what he wants. Don't give in and put him back in his chair right away or it won't work wait 20 or 30 minutes. You can hug him, but don't make a big deal out of it, just go on with your life, he'll be ok and he won't starve to death.

The next time you feed him if he starts to spit you do the exact same thing and put him down. Most kids are smart enough to figure out after 2 times they don't want to spit anymore and it's easy for you. The same thing works with any behavior you don't like, however, if you give in once you will be starting over consistency is the key.

It's worked with my last 3 kids, dinner time is fun not a battle. I didn't have the book for my first two.

Good luck and happy parenting,

A.

As much as we love our babies and hate to be the pin that brusts their bubbles. The only way you are going to stop this behavior is to pop him in the mouth and say NO.
You don't have to pop him hard just hard enough that he gets the message that you DO NOT approve of this behavior.
It might take a few tries but you will see results in a short period of time.
Then reinforce the good behavior. Believe me they understand simple commands like NO and Yes.
N.

Both of my boys did this - I've heard it's pretty common. The advice I got was to put your finger over his mouth (like you would put your finger to your mouth to motion "shhh") and say "no" in your stern voice so he knows you mean business. If you can stop him with your finger over his mouth mid-spit it is even more effective. It takes a little time for them to get the picture, but my boys eventually got it, my second boy took a little longer than the first (we're talking days, maybe a week, with occassional relapses). He also liked blowing bubbles as his happy sound so I think that's why it took a little longer to get him to stop that during mealtime. But babies are brilliant and they figure it out. He will have plenty of time for blowing bubbles when he's away from the table. I never felt that feeding time was time to make messes - we save that for playtime - so I taught them table manners from the beginning. It's an effort, but it's worth it to me.

When I started feeding my twins I took them outside. If you could do that I would give him the food and let him eat it. I can't help but smile when I think of it, but I am sure it is not funny for you. I did the pop on the mouth thing with older boys, now wish I had not. But that is up to you. Try not reacting positive to his raspberries at any time, they want to please.

Hi L.,

My daughter started the same at about 10 months. I would simply hold the spoon in her mouth, but at the edge of her lips as she began to spit I would hold the spoon and say "that is not how we act" or " no spitting our food". It lasted about 2 weeks but soon she got over it because you can not spit when a spoon is between your lips.

..... Only hold the spoon as you say "no spitting" and then remove it. You want to stop the ability to spit without him really knowing how you are doing it!!!

Good luck,
H.

Hi L., Did you laugh the first couple times your 9th month old did this? at 9 nmonths it;s playing, but if it is getting out of hand just put 2 fingers on his month, and say no spiting, it wull take several times before he understands what spiting is, be consistant, when that does not work, take his food and take him down from the high chair, wait a while and try it again, but you must be firm and consistant. J.

Make sure you are not saying no with a smile on your face - many new mothers say "no" but they have a smile on there face which confuses the baby and they think you are playing with them. Say "NO" very sternly and louder then normal with a scowl emotion on your face. When he is not spitting have a big smile when you talk to him. I like the idea of putting your finger to his mouth at the same time-but if you chuckle or smile, he thinks its funny. It is normal so don't worry.