I need some advice from the awesome moms out there!
Does anyone have a kid who spits out every single bite of food at every single meal, every single day? I DO! Lucky me.
Stephen's spitting performances have become quite a debacle in our home. It is one of my main sources of frustration with him. If I never had to spoon feed him again, it would be too soon!!
He has 2 different types of spits that he likes to show off. One is pursing his lips together to blow raspberries and spattering the food everywhere. And I'm talking EVERYwhere. Blah. The second spit type is when he just pushes the whole spoonful of food out of his mouth with his tongue. All down his chin and the front of himself. If he sees that I'm not annoyed enough by the spitting, then he starts putting his hands in his mouth and smearing the food everywhere. If he sees that doesn't bother me, he takes his glasses off and puts those in his mouth. Why?
He is a year old now and the kid is not starving, but only because I fight with him until he finishes his meals. I feel like I've tried everything and can't figure out how to make him stop. Maybe I can't make him stop! If that's the case, I need to know. And I will just have to suck it up. I really don't want him to develop bad eating habits and while most days, I (barely) tolerate it, some days I just can't. I can't stand it!! Today was one of the days where I got so angry, I had to put him in another room so I could cool off. That didn't necessarily help either.
*I've tried just saying "No no!" in every tone possible from sweet to sour. But he hates hearing it so much, it makes matters worse. He starts crying and spitting more. Except now, there's snot involved. Ugh.
*I have tried taking him out of his seat every time he spits and saying "All done!" But it honestly just delays the inevitable and drags out the process too long. I end up feeding him many, many, many times just to get through one jar of baby food. Ugh.
*I have tried distracting him with toys. He puts them in his mouth and food ends up everywhere anyway. Ugh.
*I have tried entertaining him with Elmo videos. This tactic works the best, and he only spits out like once every 3-5 bites. It still is annoying though. I turn off the video once he spits and he has to earn it back by taking "big boy bites". Then he's good for a minute before it starts all over again. Ugh.
*Praising every single good bite. Somewhat effective, but highly annoying. Ugh.
*I've even waited until I think he's practically starving, but after 2 excited bites, he is back to his old tricks. Ugh.
I wish this was something he did just when he was tired or in a bad mood. But like I said, it's every single day and every single meal. I have not had a break from it in MONTHS. And I'm just frazzled. If he was playing with his food and feeding himself, I have no problem with him making a mess. But I'm almost convinced he does it just to piss me off! I read a post on another blog where someone said "He's a year old! How can you be mad at him?!?"
Well I'm here to tell you, it ain't that hard!
Please don't be shy. Help. Me.
