1 year old throwing food?

Very normal. But at this age they can also start learning not to do this.

We just gave our son a warning if he did it once, and ended the meal if he did it again. Not in a big fight kind of way, actually very matter of factly. Cause and effect: if you throw your food on the floor, the meal is over.

It's not like he became some angel who never ever did it again, that is too much to expect, but he caught on quickly and the behaviour rapidly decreased. There was a short period of time when he threw food on the floor to signal he was done with the meal, but through positive reinforcement (praise) he learned to give food back to mommy and daddy when full, instead of throwing it away.

By the way, the FIRST line of defense is of course to not just give a small tot like this a full plate of food. 1-3 bite size pieces at a time is plenty, you keep control of their plate. They easily get overwhelmed if you just pile it on in front of them, and will throw most of it away just to simplify matters.

It also helps to put the food directly on the tray of their high chair. I have never encountered a 12 month old who could resist the temptation to hurl a plate of food just to see what happens.

See, here's the thing with dining out: for a one year old, its boring as hell. Its noisy. Its weird. They're hungry but they are not being feed. They can't go for a run around. There's nothing to do. They're tired. They're cranky. They want to go... and so the food ends up on the floor. Or the walls. Or the ceiling. Or you.

I don't suggest you never go out for a meal, but you need to consider it from your child's point of view. Take something for them to eat so they aren't waiting, take something for them to do, be prepared for you/you partner to have to take them out for a walk or a play, find family friendly places to eat that have a small playground or outdoor area you can use. And don't ever take them out at nap time or late at night and expect a pleasant meal: noise + strangers + boredom + tired = cranky as anything.

As Suzy mentioned though, throwing food is pretty normal at this age. Actually, throwing anything at this age is pretty normal. Personally, I never cared much at home - toddlers are quite good at figuring out different rules for different places. Throwing things around etc is just their way of playing, and they learn through play. I don't really understand the notion that we should force our children to ignore their natural instincts just to prevent a bit of mess - don't want mess, don't have kids.

Note that tired children don't usually eat very well, and often throw their food around a lot. Avoid feeding your child when they are tired, and they will probably eat more than throw. I never had the patience for drip-feeding them their meals a few items a time, and you could always tell when they were tired by the amount of food on the floor afterwards.

its normal! My daughter who is almost 2 will take food out of her mouth if shes full. Shes done this since 9 months