My 25month old toddler has a nasty habit of eating food, sucking the flavor then spitting it out! He always wants to 'eat' the food but i think only a small percentage is actually swollowed. He does this mostly with meat and fish, no problems with noodles, vegetables and rice. Any advise?
eating and spitting
- Thread starter louisouis
- Start date
joyofliving
Registered User
Warn him once that he should not spit out food and if he does it again take away the food. Don't give it back even if he cries or else if he is really hungry ask him to say sorry and repeat after you "I will not spit out food". Look him in the eye and get down to his level when you say that. Worked with my daughter, she used to spit out fruits and now she thinks twice about it and then swallows. At 25 months chewing/ texture should not be an issue and obviously he likes the taste as he sucks on it. Perhaps just a hesitation to chew and swallow.
happyflipper
Registered User
Refuses to chew meat
My 28mth son is a fussy eater. He hates chewing meat. So unless I chop the meat to tiny bits and mix with his rice - he will spit it out if he can feel there are big bits in his spoonful of rice. How can i stop this? Already tried to "stop spitting and eat your rice talk" but he will then refuse to eat his rice. Has no problem chewing crackers and chips but just refuses to chew meat.. Any ideas anyone? Thanks!
My 28mth son is a fussy eater. He hates chewing meat. So unless I chop the meat to tiny bits and mix with his rice - he will spit it out if he can feel there are big bits in his spoonful of rice. How can i stop this? Already tried to "stop spitting and eat your rice talk" but he will then refuse to eat his rice. Has no problem chewing crackers and chips but just refuses to chew meat.. Any ideas anyone? Thanks!
carang
Registered User
my son(then about 2.5) did it ONCE (spit his food out) at a restaurant. i told him in no uncertain terms that if he did it again, he would be removed immediately from the restaurant. he did it again.
i slid back my chair, picked him up and took him out of the restaurant. once he realised what was happening, he started to cry...i calmly left the restaurant carrying him.
we got about 100' from the entrance and i put him down. i got down to his level and told him how angry i was with his behaviour. that it isn't tolerated. he asked if he could go back to eat, that he wouldn't spit again. i said ok, but he'd have to say sorry to everyone at the table for his behaviour.
we went back into the restaurant, he very sheepishly apologised to everyone and ate his dinner without incident.
that was the first and last time he ever tried it.
you have to make a rule and stick to it. you cannot back down and waffle on it. if you say the behaviour will have consequences, then those consequences MUST follow.
if you tell her/him that if they spit it out again, you will take the food away and there will be nothing until XXX time (snack, dinner, lunch etc)... then YOU must have the backbone to follow through with the threat. NO MATTER how much crying ensues.
(caps for emphasis not denoting screaming at you.)
i slid back my chair, picked him up and took him out of the restaurant. once he realised what was happening, he started to cry...i calmly left the restaurant carrying him.
we got about 100' from the entrance and i put him down. i got down to his level and told him how angry i was with his behaviour. that it isn't tolerated. he asked if he could go back to eat, that he wouldn't spit again. i said ok, but he'd have to say sorry to everyone at the table for his behaviour.
we went back into the restaurant, he very sheepishly apologised to everyone and ate his dinner without incident.
that was the first and last time he ever tried it.
you have to make a rule and stick to it. you cannot back down and waffle on it. if you say the behaviour will have consequences, then those consequences MUST follow.
if you tell her/him that if they spit it out again, you will take the food away and there will be nothing until XXX time (snack, dinner, lunch etc)... then YOU must have the backbone to follow through with the threat. NO MATTER how much crying ensues.
(caps for emphasis not denoting screaming at you.)
southside852
Registered User
my son did that too when he was around the same age. Every time he spat out the food on the floor, we put him into an immediate "time-out" in the corner of the room. We told him why he was there and he was not to spit on the floor. It honestly took about one week to fix the problem. He rarely spits out his food now and if he does, he does it on the plate or grabs my hand to spit it in my hand.
Just like happyflipper, my son will swollow whatever he fancies, and it is not the chewing that bothers him, it is the actual 'swallowing' of meat, sometimes he is ok and sometimes he is not... many thanks for the advise, will try the ultimatum... prepare for battle and tantrums!