Throwing Food

End the meal and move on. When baby is throwing food instead of eating it means he is done eating.

@Anna He was still actively eating when this happened. I had to start only giving him 1 bite at a time about a month ago bc he was either throwing an entire tray of food or putting it all in his mouth at once and choking. It's gotten so out of hand. I don't usually lose it like I did just now but I'm at my wits end with it now.

You don't, he needs to experiment. With food, with gravity, with everything. (If i do this again, does it still fall? How far can it fly? Is it the same when i throw yogurt and blueberries? Wow, mama goes crazy for spaghetti for some reason!) You could move him to a booster seat at the table. Or move the high chair to a safer location (mid-kitchen) for messy meals. Also, if you're going to have (understandable) heartburn over the couch, think about getting a couch cover. There is a whole lot of toddler mess headed your way... 😬

Unfortunately this type of phase has to be grown out of, but it's still important to stay consistent with boundaries in my opinion. For example when my daughter isn't even taking a single bite and is just throwing, I first take the plate away and just leave a few bites in front of her so it isn't as enticing to throw. If that doesn't help we end the meal and move on with the day. But if she's just throwing here and there I firmly say no we don't throw food. I understand she's just going to do that to both experiment with the world around her and to get a reaction/attention from me. My best advice is just to hold mealtimes where you can get a little messy without getting emotional over something you want to keep clean like your couch. I also want to add it's understandable to get frustrated and upset, you're not a bad mom for having a bad reaction and some emotions.

Girl, a white couch with a toddler? That is bold. Yeah, as others said, it’s kinda par for the course. I follow what Taylor does. Take the plate away if its just a throwing distraction and offering a few bites instead- not take away the whole meal. Meals are still messy at this age, and thats to be expected. Having a neutral reaction rather when stating your boundaries rather than exploding is best. The more output they get from us (positive or negative) from the action of making a mess the more exciting it is for them to do it. Also playing physical games/throwing before mealtimes can help get out at energy/exploration.

I found my son got overwhelmed with too many food options. He did best with a small bowl with one type of thing in it at a time and it reduced the throwing drastically. Others find one plate with everything works better. A no thank you bowl didn't work either because he would just move food from bowl to bowl, but still worth trying.