What to Expect the Toddler Years by Heidi Murkoff Read Free Book Online

withhold all food and drink. That being an impossible (if tempting) solution, you’ll have to find ways of minimizing this behavior. Try using the sleight-of-hand measures recommended in the next section for dealing with food blowing, as well as the following techniques:
    Rationing. Many children feel free to squander food when a rich bounty is set before them, so place just a few bites of food in front of your child at a time. Add a few more as those are consumed.
    Distraction. Using a spoon to feed herself may occupy your toddler’s attention so much that she won’t feel compelled to overturn her bowl or throw tidbits to the dog. Or try substituting an acceptable game for the objectionable one: “You take a bite of your cereal and then I’ll take a bite of mine.”
    Fastening. Use a child’s bowl that can be attached to the table or high chair tray with suction cups so that your toddler can’t whisk the bowl over the side.
    Bouquets. Praise your toddler when she’s (relatively) neat and make little fuss over her little messes. When the little messes lead to total mealtime mayhem, end the meal.
    Though you can’t always prevent your toddler from making a mess when she eats, you can reduce some of the work the mess spells for you. Spread some newspaper or a sheet of plastic under her high chair and seat her as far away from walls and nonwashable furniture as possible. To protect her clothing, roll up her sleeves and cover her with an over-the-shoulder large bib. If she balks at the bib, dress her for meals in her most dispensable clothes (or, if the temperature permits, no clothes at all). You may also want to try putting thick terry-like hair bands around her wrists to keep food from trickling down the forearm to clothing (some children will love this novel idea, others reject it out of hand).
    If your stomach turns during your toddler’s mealtime, turn the other way (wash some dishes, peel carrots, fold laundry). But look back frequently to make sure she’s still eating, and that she hasn’t gotten herself into any trouble.
F OOD BLOWING
    “My toddler has developed the habit of blowing his food out as soon as I put it in his mouth. He seems to enjoy the sounds he makes. This habit has left me frustrated (not to mention covered with food). I’ve tried saying ‘no’ to him firmly, but he laughs and then I can’t help laughing too.”
    Nothing brings out the ham in a young performer like an appreciative audience. And, in this case, nothing brings out the oatmeal, junior carrots, and yogurt like one either. At six and seven months of age, babies love to make razzing sounds. Your son’s messy habit probably began around this age, when he happened to notice what an intriguing sound he could make by combining razzing and eating. It’s likely that this behavior continues because of the reaction it elicits from you. Any reaction, whether it’s an angry “No!” or a half-suppressedgiggle, signals the toddler that his old material still works—and, as is the case with any comic, as long as it’s working he’ll keep on using it.
    To keep the show from going on indefinitely, try these measures:
    Change the props. Certain foods lend themselves better to dramatic expulsion than others. Trade in such squishy items as strained fruits and vegetables, baby cereal, and yogurt. Instead, opt for slivers of banana and pieces of well-cooked carrot or sweet potato, healthy teething biscuits, a whole-grain bagel, soft whole-grain bread, and tiny tidbits of sliced cheese. (If you’re abandoning iron-fortified baby cereal, be sure to ask your doctor about giving your toddler a vitamin supplement containing iron.) With the source of that wonderfully resonant sound-and-splatter effect elusive, much of your blower’s motivation may disappear. If your toddler objects because you withdrew a favorite food, explain your reason. Tell him he can have it again if he doesn’t blow it, but if he does you will take it away again.
    Stage