One of the most frustrating things as a parent is to see your lovingly prepared meal end up all over the floor – my daughter was a huge food thrower & it infuriated me!

Please know it is actually developmental normally to throw food, especially between 6-8 months when they are just working out what to do and sometimes lack the skill to properly grasp the food, however after 8 months it can become more of a (not fun) game to get a reaction from us!

So, how can we gently teach them to eat the food rather than throw the food?

1. First and foremost, try and eat together as a family whenever possible.. yes that might mean a 5pm dinner but to be honest, one day you will have to succumb to 5pm dinner anyway so might as well start now this is important so they can watch you eat, how you eat, how to act appropriately at the table etc!
2. Try and give them no reaction when they do throw the food, don’t laugh or get frustrated, try and just completely ignore the behaviour – pretending you didn’t notice and don’t pick it up until there’s no food left on their tray – then pick it all up at once! That’s when a splat mat comes in handy – we have a beautiful one from @abilenethelabel we love!
3. Only re offer the thrown food the one time.
4. Try and just offer one piece of food on their tray at a time – sometimes they throw food when they are overwhelmed with choice!
5. If number 4 doesn’t work, try offering NOTHING and just plan to offer them some reserved food from your plate when they most likely ask for what you’re eating!
6. Try a ‘I don’t want it plate’ if they are still throwing closer to 12 months. This worked very well for my daughter! If I could see she was about to throw food, I would quickly put a second plate under her hand and say ‘If you don’t want it, put it here not on the floor’ – it took about 3 days for her to get it & for me to be able to just leave the ‘I don’t want it’ plate next to her tray without me intervening! She would then usually tend to eat that plate of food anyway!
7. If foods are slippery try coating them in something like almond meal, desiccated coconut, hemp seeds, flaxseed meal etc to provide grip!
8. Introduce some baby cutlery (depending on their age) this can give them something else to hold in their hands and take the focus off the throwing!

Hope these tips work for you!

Luka