Mealtime Temper Tantrums help - first time mom!

wifey

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:22 pm

I feel like an idiot for being clueless but here goes...

My baby b"h is wonderful by nature. Sweet, easygoing, the true love of my life. He is going to be 11 months old next week and this past week has been quite difficult. Obviously with the chagim his schedule got messed up a bit and I think his routine does need some tweaking in terms of time of naptime which I am working on. I know feeding/sleeping are all related and that its at least part of whats going on.

DS has been wanting to eat by himself for a while now. If its not a crazy messy food I cut up pieces, put it on his tray and let him go at it. But recently he has been playing with it and then throwing it on the floor. I tried keeping the food with me and putting a piece on a fork and giving him the fork which he can do. Except now he is only throwing the fork on the floor. Mealtime has become impossible and just a huge fight and I never wanted to fight with my kids about eating. B"H he is a very good eater - eats a ton for a baby of the food he likes but thats whats so hard - I know hes hungry and just strong willed (maybe a bit like his mommy...). I just don't know what to do. Usually when he has "tantrums" when I say no I distract him and thats that but not so with mealtime. I tried taking him out of the highchair, playing for a bit and trying again but the same pattern repeats itself. I don't want to feed him in front of the TV as I want him to develop healthy eating habits and I really don't like that idea.

newmommy1

Thu, Oct 27 2011, 10:41 pm

I don't know if this is the best idea because it doesn't solve the problem but it's only another form of distraction. I put the bowl of food on the tray for my son with two forks (one for me, one for him) and I'll usually give him the lid to the bowl (it's a baby bowl that comes with its own lid) and he'll play around with that trying to open/close it. Or I'll give him another small tupperware with the lid for him to play around with. He's really into trying to figure out how to open things so this makes him happy. Also he likes to transfer his bits of food into the tupperware and smush them around. You could also try giving him other interesting things from around the kitchen, ie, empty sippy cup that's open, those mesh bags that you put fruit in etc.

Good luck! I think it's part of a child's nature to want to throw and break things....I hope that helps!

chatouli

Fri, Oct 28 2011, 2:19 pm

shanie5 wrote:

I keep a garbage pail right next to dd's high chair. She likes to aim for it when tossing her food. She also prefers standing up in the chair or sitting on the tray. As she is not my first, we just laugh at her antics. And take pictures.

I love this attitude Smile

I think I'll adopt it even though I've only got one (who loves to toss food, stand up, you name a naughty mealtime behavior and he's all over it!).

mummiedearest

Fri, Oct 28 2011, 2:47 pm

this is quite normal, and much as it bothers you, you should probably just ignore it. since you're working on schedule, plan bathtime after one of the meals if possible. anything dry can be given as finger food. if he refuses being spoon-fed, put a couple of spoonfuls of messy food (applesauce or some such) in a bowl or directly on the tray in front of him. let him eat it with his fingers. babies still learn through touch at this stage, and they LOVE sticking their fingers in messy food. anything like chicken soup can be given in a sippy cup to avoid chicken soup hair Smile

make sure you have a good smock. make sure he has a bib, or if it's right before bathtime, strip him down to his diaper. might as well save the trouble of doing extra laundry. and yes, take pictures. you'll enjoy them later on. you can also put a plastic tablecloth or a splat mat under his high chair to make clean up easier.