How do you handle.....

Some how I think a lot of this will have to run its course. We will usually not let Kelcee eat for a few hours prior to taking her out, walk after we place the order and then most of the time she is ready to eat when the food comes to the table. One of us might only get to eat for 10-15 minutes before she is done but it usually helps. Good luck.

We kept DD busy with Veggie Puffs. They didn't fill her up quickly, she loved them, and she never threw them because we didn't give her many at a time and she never got to see how many we had. But when she was done we were done. Babies are not very good at lingering over coffee. :-) But seriously, the Veggie Puffs helped.

We did sort of the same thing as JPDAKOTA. However, there was a period of a few months where you just really could not expect H to sit quietly. It was worse right after he learned to walk. We just ordered in more.

As to throwing the food... DD started this lovely trick after watching her cousin get away with it. So, we'd take the food away from her. After a short wait if she still seemed hungry we'd just give her a bite at a time. She quickly realized that by throwing her food she wasn't going to have control of it so she stopped.You might also want to see if you can find out why your little one is throwing the food. In my nephew's case, his mom wasn't paying attention to him when he was done and just kept giving him food. He didn't want it, so he'd throw it.

My little one is 16.5 months so we are right there. Here is my strategy:-Practice, practice, practice! We eat supper as a family every night so DS learns and practices proper table manners. We put him as close to the table as his chair will allow to be a part of the meal. Be consitent in the behaviors you expect of her and allow her to do. At this age I find if you let them get away with something once, its like 20 steps backward.-Only place a small amount of food on her tray, like 2 or 3 bites. If she is doing well, allow her to have a few more pieces and selection. If she starts throwing, take it all away and just give one at a time to her mouth. I find at this age they want independance and this has seemed to work with DS.-Then, like JPD said - veggies puffs! We have a "treat" (veggie puffs for us now, was puffed wheat, ritz bit, but whatever is her favorite that month) and we don't give them at home. They are only for when we are out. Ds gets so excited just seeing the can, he behaves very well as he sits and devours them!DS will now sit in his chair, eating and interacting with us for and entire family meal including coffee and dessert, whether it is at home or out.Now if only he will physically get in it with out the fight and struggle! This is our latest (phase I hope), he is great once he is in, but the act of putting him in and buckling him up is quite a display. But asain, we are just being consistent and hopefully it will get better.Good Luck to you!

With our daughter, she does better with food if there is not so much on her tray. A little at a time. She is also into utensils now, so she stays entertained when she has a fork and tries to pierce food chunks on her plate. Also, if she does better if she is hungry at the meal (sometimes I have had to feed her before a meal, if she just got too hungry).A friend's son would sometimes drop food on the floor--she would warn him, then take the food away and feed him herself (like databits).