What to do when your baby or toddler is dropping food? This post will help you navigate the reasons why your baby is dropping or throwing food, and how to help them stop this new habit.
For those under 12 months of age:
Your baby is likely dropping or even throwing food at this age as their way of exploring cause and effect. This phase will generally last for a while - starting in infancy and can last throughout early toddlerhood - but it doesn’t mean there aren’t strategies to help minimize this. With some explanation, some positive reinforcement, you’ll be able to gently help them back o focusing on their meal or help them realize it might be time to end the meal.
Reaction
Try not to overreact, or make your reaction too big, too loud. Your child may see this big reaction as a fun way to get their parent’s excited, and may want to partake in this activity even more. Try not to react right away, If the food is too far for them to reach, if its on the floor, across the table, or even in the next room, try to just sit with it and watch for your child’s next reaction. When they start to get upset you could say something like, “Oops., your food is gone! It fell on the floor.” Wait another 1-2 seconds then tell them you’ll pick it up for them, and you can replace it on their plate. Do this a few more times if they continue to drop/throw foods. This could also be a way of your child trying to end the meal, so after about 3 times, it might be a good idea to end the meal (more on this later).
Challenging Foods
Sometimes your child may throw food after struggling with a certain food. Whether it’s a new size, shape, or type of food, it may be hard for them to pick it up and grasp in their hand, so they may inadvertently drop it. After this happens a few times, they way purposefully drop or throw it out of frustration. Explore the types of foods you are giving them and see if the shape, or size or even texture could be modified to make it easier for your child to grip the food. For particularly slippery foods, coating it with ground nuts, seeds, or infant cereal can be a great way to add texture for grip (and add some nutrition). Try cutting foods with a crinkle cutter to give the shape a more textured grip. Depending on your child’s age, this may be a time to start making large pieces of foods slightly smaller. Recognizing if the pattern of throwing food happens with more challenging foods, can allow you to intervene and prevent a habit from forming.
Lead by Example
Your child learns so much from you in - including how to eat! Lead by example and show your child how to pick up foods, how to grip foods, and how to take bites and chew their food. When it’s your child’s turn to try, sit beside them to help gently guide their hands or arms, if they tend to shoot their arms/hands outwards. Gently coach their arm back towards their plate and let them know that the food stays on their plate or on the table. Some babies may not react well to having their hands and arms moved back to their plate, so keep this very gently, and talk them through why you are there to help. You can also point to a spot on their plate of where the food goes. After some repeated meals with these reminders, your baby will lean to keep the food closer to their plate (and ideally just their mouth!).
Fullness
When you baby is dropping the food, it could also be their way of getting rid of the food when they aren’t hungry and just want to be done the meal. If you’ve gone threw the other steps and you find your child is still doing this, it might be a good time to take a look at their feeding schedule. Did they recently have a bottle? Have they been at the table for a long time and are maybe just full? Take a closer look at their meal routine and make sure milk feeds and solids aren’t too close together.
For those over 12 months of age:
If you successfully nipped the food throwing in infancy, but you see it appear again in toddlerhood, chances are its for a different reason now. Toddlers are all about testing limits. They have already learned that food isn’t meant to be dropped and that it should stay on the table. They have the skills to pick up foods on their own and are likely fine tuning their skills using utensils to pick up foods. Food throwing at this phase is intentional.
Likeability
They don’t like the food, so throwing it is an effective way to get rid of it. Your toddler may have liked a whole variety of foods on their plate as an infant, but as a toddler it’s a different story. That kiwi that used to be gobbled up is now a slimy, unappetizing piece of food and if it comes near another piece of food they will just lose it, so it has to go - and so it does! This is where I find a No Thank You Bowl to come in handy. Adding an empty bowl to serve as a safe place to put unwanted food allows them to remove that plate and put it somewhere contained.
Reaction
Yes, just like in infancy, your child may be doing this for a reaction, but at this age the reaction is specifically a directed at you! Keep your cool. Toddlers are all about testing limits so they want to see if this new trick of throwing their chicken or tipping over their cup is as funny to you as it is to them. Keep your cool. IF you’re going to react, remind them what we do (not what we don’t do) with our food. Keeping it framed in a positive way can help them understand and learn more quickly. Giving them a safe place to put this unwanted food can also help. After 1-2 times of replacing it, or a 3-strike rule, it might be a good idea to remove that plate. Sometimes removing it from their place, but keeping it on the table is a good way to reset. If they tell you they want it back, place it back, but stick to your rules. If it continues to happen, it’s time to end their meal. This doesn’t give permission to end the whole meal. Just because they are “all done” doesn’t mean you have to be done, and it does not give permission to excuse them from the table. If this happens, your child will very quickly learn that the way to getting back to play time is to disrupt the meal time by throwing food.
Fullness
Again, just like in infancy, fullness could be a reason for throwing the food. They just don’t want it and want to get rid of it. Try to keep meals and snacks spaced apart throughout your toddler’s day and avoid letting them something to eat or drink right before a meal. Toddler’s appetites are small (smaller than in infancy) so it doesn’t take much to take the edge off their appetite.
Children learn and explore their foods by touching, squishing, smashing, pouring and even dropping. Children need guidance from parents on what level of food play is okay, and what is off limits. Try to remain calm, keep your cool, and help your child with what is acceptable at the table, and what gets food taken away. Stay positive, be patience, and be consistent with your messaging.