Need advice on 11 month old food tantrums

[hhilgen2]

I'm hoping some mamas with some more child development knowledge than myself can give me some advice:

My 11 mo DD has recently become very, very demanding at mealtimes. If she sees that anyone has bread (her fave), she will throw a complete fit until she gets some and refuse anything NOT bread. What would be the most age-appropriate way to handle this? I want her to feel happy and included at mealtimes, but on the other hand, I don't want to reward that kind of behaviour and I'm really not sure what (if any) action is developmentally appropriate for an 11 mo. Thanks!!

[Bhavana]

How long has this been going on for? If its been a couple of weeks, I wouldnt fuss and just give in. Many kids go thro phases of wanting only one thing to eat. Im hoping if you just give in ...say for month, she'll probably outgrow the urge.

However, I would ensure that during snacks/in between, she has her nutritional needs met. If she's eating just plain bread, then butter it up well. Have her experiment by saying "1 piece of tomato, and then 1 piece of bread"

Maybe this is the inspiration you need to start baking your own bread....just make the dough with a lot of goodies.

[UVASahm]

My son eats something bread like at every meal. He just loves it. I just put stuff on it. If you put fruit in the microwave it becomes very jelly like and you can spread it on there. We do that a lot. Snacks are always something else. Pouch with veggies, fruit, cheese, yogurt.

Also if it is becoming a problem at meal times with the entire fam don't make it available. Just out it all away. When we are out to eat I tell them to not bring bread in the beginning because that is all he will eat!

[mibarra]

Originally Posted by Bhavana How long has this been going on for? If its been a couple of weeks, I wouldnt fuss and just give in. Many kids go thro phases of wanting only one thing to eat. Im hoping if you just give in ...say for month, she'll probably outgrow the urge. However, I would ensure that during snacks/in between, she has her nutritional needs met. If she's eating just plain bread, then butter it up well. Have her experiment by saying "1 piece of tomato, and then 1 piece of bread" Maybe this is the inspiration you need to start baking your own bread....just make the dough with a lot of goodies.

This. Most baby led weaning kids prefer carbs for awhile.

[sisu]

I'd either not eat bread around her or I'd let her have some bread - BUT I'd also start working on manners. Both my kids were able to sign "please" when they wanted something at that age, that's much nicer to deal with than tantrums.

[Suzi]

Originally Posted by MarchMama2010 I'd either not eat bread around her or I'd let her have some bread - BUT I'd also start working on manners. Both my kids were able to sign "please" when they wanted something at that age, that's much nicer to deal with than tantrums.

This. If she cant have all she wants then don't have it around her

[hhilgen2]

Yes, we are doing baby led weaning so it's interesting to hear about the preference for carbs (who doesn't love bread?). I actually do bake my own, so I feel slightly better about it, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing the wrong thing by keeping it out of sight or allowing her to have some if she was creating a huge stink. She's been doing this for several weeks, but it's just recently started spiraling to the point where there are full-on tears/screams/tossing EVERYTHING on her tray immediately to the dogs if she isnt allowed some within 0.5 seconds of seeing it. Thanks mamas!!

[mibarra]

I start to getting them to at least say Please, then calm down and say please before handing it over to start teaching manners

[m0mof6]

My 3 yo used to do this with fruit. We just withheld it from the table until he had eaten some of the other foods offered. Once he had eaten some we them brought it to the table and all had some. As long as he didn't see it he had no problems eat other other foods. As he got older we worked on patience and manners- first in other areas and then at the table. When a lo is hungry or tired its always harder to be polite.

[EmilytheStrange]

We did BLW and she doesn't like breads or most carbs very much at all

anyways.. great advice already. It's amazing how much more relaxed you feel when you teach the kiddos to say 'please'. or just remove the temptation until they've eaten whatever you feel is sufficient.