Children eat a mess, don't need to panic, face them with these 5 surefire tricks

Mealtime is often a moment of intense battle between mother and child. Whenever your little one feels full and starts to get bored, the child will usually play with his food until it falls scattered. If you pay attention, your little one actually looks happy to do it, even though you are actually annoyed and starting to get dizzy. You also wonder, is there a way to deal with a child eating a mess without the need to pull a tendon? Relax, take a peek at the following tricks.

Why do children like to eat messy?

It is only natural for you to feel irritated when you see children's food scattered all over the place. How not, the food that you have made painstakingly is even wasted.

This is normal for children who are not yet two years old. In this phase, the child is still unable to control his / her own hand movements to pick up, scoop, or keep food in the bowl. As a result, your little one can do whatever he likes, including throwing food.

Even though in the end your child eats a mess, you don't really need to worry first. Remember that every mother will experience this phase, not just you.

In fact, the more often children eat messy, the children's motor development is actually more trained, you know. Over time, your child will learn to control his own hands and try to eat in an orderly manner.

Tips for dealing with messy eating children

Don't rush to pull your nerves or get angry with your baby, yes. Remember, this is one of the important stages in which children are learning to eat on their own.

A chief pediatrician at the children's hospital and an assistant lecturer in pediatrics at the University of Toronto, Dr. Jeremy Friedman, MB. ChB, FRCP (C), FAAP have special tricks you can do to deal with messy eating children. Here's how.

1. Be calm

Even though it's not easy, stay calm in front of your child who is eating. Again, remember that even though you look playful and eat a mess, your little one is actually practicing their motor development by learning to eat on their own.

Let your little one learn to recognize the texture of food by holding, squeezing, chewing, or even throwing it on the floor. Provide several types of food with different textures. For example, carrot soup with a liquid texture, patties with a mushy texture, to fruit pieces with a tougher texture.

2. Provide smaller portions of food

Sometimes, children leave their food behind because they feel full. Now, instead of finishing the food, he was interested in playing it until it was scattered everywhere.

If so, try to reduce the child's food portion to be smaller. When your little one starts tossing his food, don't rush to clean it. Let the child explore first until they are satisfied, then clean the child's body and the dirty floor afterward.

3. Limit the time to eat

Make a specific schedule about when the child should eat and how long. Not only is it useful for disciplining children when eating, it can also help prevent children from eating messy.

Prepare food for your little one when he is really hungry. After that, sit your baby in the dining chair (high chair) and accompany him to eat until it's finished.

Even if you limit the amount of time you eat, this doesn't mean you can force your child to chew his food quickly. Calculate the right time so that the child can eat without rushing, but also not too long.

4. Use special cutlery

The eating utensils used by your little one can also affect the child's eating habits. Usually, food that is on a fairly flat spoon or bowl will fall off more easily and increase the likelihood that your child will eat a mess.

It's a good idea to use a spoon or bowl with a deep enough curve so that the food is not easily scattered. In addition, make sure the child is wearing a special apron with a pocket under it.

When the child eats alone, the food that falls off will be accommodated in the apron bag used by the little one. So, you don't have to worry anymore that the floor will get dirty after the child has finished eating.

5. Recognize signs that the child is full

After feeling full and leaving food on the plate, children will usually feel bored and start looking for other things that attract attention. They will play whatever is in front of them, including the rest of the food.

For this reason, you need to pay attention to signs that your child is full. Usually, the child will begin to slow down the speed at which they chew food or close their lips tightly when they feel full.

If so, immediately take the child's leftovers, then clean the little one's body. If the child starts to be interested in throwing food, immediately distract your little one with their favorite toy. That way, you don't have to worry anymore about facing a messy eating child starting today.