How can I discipline my twenty-three month old when she throws her bowl of cereal with milk all over the floor? It is extremely frustrating to me that she continues to throw food. I never know when she will throw food because other times she is good and hands me her plate. I immediately take her away from the table when she does this. Any advice?
Make her help you clean it up. Tell her to pick all the cereal up then you help her with the rest this may help if she knows that when she throws the food she will have to pick it up.
If she throws her food, take it away and say "Do not throw your food". Mealtime is over- don't try to give a lengthy explanation. Keep it simple and direct. Then in 15-20 minutes, put her back in the booster and remind her that "We eat our food". If she trows it again- take the food away and a 2 minute time-out.
My son made us crazy during this phase and truthfully, this is the only thing that worked. We had to be consistent... each time he did it, same "procedure". It lasted for a couple of months (and usually not more than a couple times a week), but it's a non-issue now.
Take the food away. If she throws food on the floor, mealtime is over. You can also turn her chair to face the wall for 2 minutes as a form of time out. I would do it immediately and without explanation.
I do what Mindy T. said with my 13-month-old. If she were really hungry then she would eat the food rather than throw it. Whenever she does it, my husband and I firmly tell her "Do not throw food." We instantly take her high chair tray off, wipe her off and mealtime is over. If she truly hasn't eaten anything and it has been a while I just wait a few minutes or typically she will go back over to her high chair and reach up to signify that she wants back in. I put her back in and I warn her that if she throws food she will get right back down. I realize that she might not always understand, but by repeating the same things this is how they learn so I tell her until the day she understands. At 23-months she should definitely understand.
It's a normal (although disgusting and extremely frustrating) part of their exploring the world. It is apparently fascinating to all toddlers to see what happens when they throw food on the floor (yes, it is clear to us what will happen, but it is an experiment that for them needs to be repeated over and over and over). We just gave small amounts of food, reiterated that food was for eating and not for throwing and ended the meal when food started to be thrown (we were lucky, DS ate first and didn't start throwing until he was pretty much done eating, oddly enough he never threw food at restaurants even though we eat out a lot). Punishing does not work. You can try giving her things she can throw/spill (in the bathroom for easy clean up or outside when the weather is better). She will outgrow it.
We have the same problem, but it's getting better. I agree with one poster that it's a sign that they are restless or ready to get up... even if they haven't finished eating. Our daughter did that tonight and we just gave her a Post-it and a marker and let her draw while I finished feeding her. I first told her that was not okay and that it made Mommy very sad to see her make this mess. She ate some more while drawing and then helped us clean it up. I read that it's better to sometimes ask them... what do we do with this mess? And teach her that the answer is to clean it up. It's true that it's part of their discovery time, so it's actually sort of good for them to do it even if we are teaching them that it needs to be cleaned up. Good luck!
I Wonder if you could get one of those toddler bowls that has the suction cup on the bottom...that would at least slow her down a little bit!!!
You could also look for signs from her that she is finished with the meal and is starting to "play". That is your signal to go sit by her and if she is done...take her plate before she can launch it to the floor!!
This reminds me SO much of a 2 year old that I took care of at a Church run daycare, years and years ago...such a sweet precious little girl, who would take her dish of food when she was done and upend it onto her head like a hat!!! lol I still have visions of her sitting there with this big grin as spaghetti dripped down her head...lol.
The best thing to keep telling yourself is that "this too shall pass"...they move from one fascination to another that by this time next week she may be on to a whole new way of making life interesting!!
Agree with Mindy, but would add that I read having the child help you clean after time-out helps to curb the problem. (I think I saw this on Super Nanny.)
Good luck!
