My 16 month old son is a picky eater and won't stop throwing food on the floor. Any advice?

Answer 1

smack him. its called conditioning. every time he throws something on the floor, give him a nice five-across-the-eyes. repeat this process until he learns "hey if i throw my food on the floor, im gonna get bitchslapped, so i shouldnt do it!"

Answer 2

If you have the time, feed him an hour or two later. This way he'll be really hungry. Put just a piece or two of food on his tray at a time. When he eats one, give him another. When he starts throwing-take all finger food away and switch to something with a spoon. Feed him pudding, yougart, cottage cheese, etc.... If he won't let you feed him with a spoon end the feeding session. Wait until the next mealtime and repeat the same stuff. My daughter did the same thing a couple of months ago and after doing that, she's doing better

Answer 3

Actually spike is right just dont go that far. You have to give positive punishment for when he throws it on the floor, this will only help with him throwing food on the floor and not with being a picky eater. Since he is young you might want to try positive reinforcment also, which would help with being a picky eater. I'm a psychology student, this is pretty normal stuff and you could easily get more information on the internet. Use search words such as positive punishment, positive reinforcment, and clasical conditioning. Professional psychologist have used this method to teach young children to actually have a phobia of white rats, which is similar to teach your child to hate throwing food on the floor. They have also done the reverse and have taught kids who hate snakes, to actually hold the snakes in there hand. This could take quiet a bit of research on your part but it will help your child out for when he is older. If you wanna do it yourself you can either research the internet, or give me an email and I can scan my psychology books so that you can get a free crash course in this. Otherwise you can take him to a psychologist and pay for them to do the same thing. email-->[e-mail]

Answer 4

If he just throws his food on the floor and does not eat and you get him what he wants, you are giving into the child. You are the parent, change his feeding time, make sure he is hungry when you sit him down. do not give into him, he will learn that he needs to eat what you want him to.

I have a son, 8 years old. The sitter gives him what he wants, when he wants it. When our dinner time comes and he says, 'I don't like this' it is fine leave the table. I will not get him something else. It has taken 2 years (this started when he was 6) for him to decide that he was not going to get his way. Now he will either go hungry (this child does not starve, he will come back in and eat what we had for dinner in his own time) or he eats with us. If he decides not to eat, then the rule is that he will wait until the next meal.

Like I stated it took 2 years of this and me sticking to the rules that were laid down within our house for him to come around. He is and was not hurt by this, but if we prepare something new, he will try it now instead of turning up his nose at it.

Answer 5

It's so frustrating when they do that, isn't it?

I was having this problem with my 18-month-old so I talked to my pediatrician about it. She had a common-sense perspective that made sense to me. First, she said to remember the "law of abundance." Sometimes if kids have a lot of food in front of them they are more likely to throw it. So try putting only one or two pieces in front of him at a time. If he's throwing food because he's being offered something he doesn't like, don't force it. Just try it a different day.

She also said to not make mealtime a battle. Parents are in charge of what is put in front of the child, the child is responsible for what goes in his mouth.

The third thing she said is what really helped me. She explained that the caloric needs of toddlers change drastically after they turn 1 and that since the rate of growth in the second year is much slower than the first year they tend to eat a bit less. I was used to giving my son a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack but she suggested eliminating these snacks so that he'd be more hungry at mealtime. Sure enough, he was more apt to eat a good meal (including veggies!) when he was more hungry.

Anyway, I hope this helps. I wish you lots of luck!!

Answer 6

My son was picky and did the same thing. This is what I've done to solve the "problem":

I took him out of the highchair and he eats on the floor.

If there is ONE item only that he likes, make it a bit fancier. For instance, does he like noodles? Add shredded veggies and lots of cheese or whatever sauces he likes. Does he like apples? Cook some diced carrots and mix them with the apples. Just be creative... I know it can be frustrating at times, but remember that everything is just a phase... He'll grow out of it.

BTW, my son still likes to eat on the floor! LOL - and I don't mind. He's a healthy eater.

Good luck!

Answer 7

My 14 mo old does the same thing -- she thinks it's fun to share with the dog.

I've learned that if I pull her up close to me and watch her carefully, she tends to actually eat her food as opposed to decorating the floor with it. My daughter does it for attention -- if she gets attention while eating, then she won't throw the food around, which is her other surefire way to get attention during mealtime.

Sometimes I'll try to spoon the food in, but she's past the point of wanting to be fed, though every once in a while she'll let me feed her. That works, too.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Is he really a picky eater, or does he just like throwing food on the floor? Does he think that your reaction is funny? My daughter is 17 months old, and she has never persistently thrown her food away, I think because it has never caused us make a big fuss about it.
I think that maybe you should think about not leaving the food infront of him, time to go back to spoon feeding him again, and put a big splat mat down for any spillages.

Answer 9

Oh yes the picky eater. I went through this with my son. Let him help in the kitchen. For example let him help you mix something up. Also you can let him add food coloring to what you are fixing. For example we would have blue eggs and purple biscuits. It is fun and gets them involved.

Answer 10

My son does that and I slap his hand gently. He needs to eat healthy food. Do you feed him alot of snacks before meals so maybe he doesnt want to eat dinner? Tell him no dessert until he eats his food. My kids are 4 and 2 and they know what that means. I even pull out the ice cream or pudding whatever I decide and say do you wnat this? Then eat your dinner and it does the trick. Sometimes though I just have to feed my 2 year old till he eats it.

Answer 11

If he is sixteen and still throwing food on the floor he has more problems than being a picky eater. Start feeding him in the garage