Toddler constantly up/down from table at meals

Winnie1 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-09-2008, 09:51 PM

I don;t expect a magic answer, but thought it would be entertaining to ask

DS is constantly up down up down during meal times. How the heck do you get them to stay and eat their meals?

Its pretty much since the arrival of DD, but seriosuly he gets PLENTY of attention

tamarab30 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-09-2008, 09:57 PM

Not sure I can give any advice, only sympathize. It drives me mental lol!

Marmee · #3 (**permalink**) 01-09-2008, 09:58 PM

Have you thought about why he needs to sit and eat? Is he *not* eating unless he sits at the table? Is it a mess thing? Some other reason?

We are pretty laid back here - but our children *do* tend to sit with us at the table and eat - cause they want to be near us. Heck - they want to toilet with us here!!! But once they are finished eating, they are down and playing at our feet, or drawing at the table sort of thing.

Ok - so I'm no help. Just wondering what it is about your little one not sitting at the table that bothers you ...

Winnie1 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-09-2008, 10:06 PM

Ahhh it bothers me that he is not eating.
He whines like no one has fed him for a year, lol, then he just wants to get down and play.

Was talking to my sister about this and her youngest is ok with sitting at the table (maybe like yours marmee) as he has learnt from watching the older sblings. But my DS has no "example" to follow

starbuckozzie · #5 (**permalink**) 02-09-2008, 06:15 AM

Ours just don't do the up and down thing and I'm not really sure why. There are a few possible factors.

DS is relatively sedentary (long and lazy!) and DD copies him.
They both love eating.
They enjoy sitting with us (we don't sit together every meal as DH travels a lot).
Our high chair (which is really a "high" chair set at the table with us rather than a separate entity) is hard to get out of and neither child is a big climber (I've probably let them fall down too much!).
We generally enforce the "if you get down you are finished" rule.
We make getting up and down such a procedure (to sit at the table you have to have clean hands and a bib on if you drop a lot of food, and a strap for the one in the high chair and before getting down you have to have clean hands and face, bib off, strap undone and then take your plate to the sink) that maybe they can't be bothered with it all every time!

Also I've never let them wander around eating at other times and most of my friends let their kids do this. They comment on how well my children sit but I figure if they are eating then sitting is the safest. I can't bear the whole have one bite, drop crumbs everywhere routine. I think I have enough cleaning to do under the dining table!

Oh, and we never make them sit any longer than they want nor do we make them finish anything they don't want. Of course sometimes we encourage them to finish their peas if they want custard but there is never any standing over them about it. I really don't care how much they eat at each meal as they generally make up for it later.

It might just be personality of course. My kids will fight me on other things but not this....so far.

GreenGully · #6 (**permalink**) 02-09-2008, 09:14 AM

Its pretty much the nature of children! My four year old is up and down - I trust that if I provide him with healthy food then he will eat what he needs, when he needs it. Sometimes he just needs to know it is there for him to graze from at leisure.

Jakaluma · #7 (**permalink**) 02-09-2008, 09:37 AM

I found that my children's preference is to eat sitting at the table, especially if just family. If they have friends over and are playing, food platters seem to work better - normally outside, or on the dining table. Then they appear, eat something, go off again to play, repeat until food gone or they're full. I do still encourage them to eat sitting or at least standing still though because of choking (especially when there are things like nuts on offer).

**Susan** · #8 (**permalink**) 02-09-2008, 11:03 AM

I think it is just part of being a small child. My youngest does this and it does drive me crazy at times. I just feel like I am constantly cooking... A grazing plate works for us throughout the day. And at night, we settle for modelling the sort of dinner time routine we desire! I must say, I am heartened that my now seven year old gets it!

Krishna · #9 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 10:54 PM

Oh yeah....even Abhi does that!! I can't just make him sit at one place and make him eat. We run all over the house!!

lcorteen · #10 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 11:10 PM

Here here what's been said already. I have 2 daughters - 5 and 3.5 - DD1 will sit at the table and talk to adults for an hour, and has pretty much always been that way, while DD2 *cannot* sit still. Up and down like a yoyo. They are both fantastically healthy, bright eyed, calm, happy, beautiful, wonderful kids. I don't really care that much if DD2 is up and down - to me she is clearly not that hungry, as she tends to sit and eat when really hungry.

My kids will also whine for more food if they think/know there might be something better on offer and they have a chance of getting it. I generally offer them more salad and they are off playing within a few minutes.

I admit I used to try and get her to sit and eat, but she didn't, so once I let go of the notion that she 'needed' to, it was much less of a stress for all involved. Actually now that I think about it, she is sometimes happy to *sit* if she is sitting on one of our laps, especially if tired or sick. This horrifies the outlaws, but we don't mind a bit - the extra cuddles are lovely!