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I have a 2 yo dcg who struggles at meal time. Our table is very small so we are in close quarters when eating. I want her to sit at the table with us b/c I like to model good eating habits, but she is constantly reaching into someone else's plate. I have to stop her and redirect constantly. She chooses one item to eat and will ask for 5 helpings, but eat nothing else on her plate and won't touch a veggie so I've started cutting her off after a second helping. If she eats her other food then she can have more of her fave item. Well, now she just tries to help herself to fave item off another person's plate.
She is also a little parrot and imitates everything said or done by other kids. We pray together before we eat and probably 3 times this week as soon as the prayer was said she stuffed her mouth full of food and then imitated the prayer while leaning toward the first person who prayed and letting food fall out of her mouth while talking.
She also leans over to see your face when she talks to you so she is constantly talking to me over my plate of food thereby dripping her stuff into my plate. I am a bit germ phobic and although doing daycare requires overcoming that, this is just a bit much for me.
I know that she is young and much of this is just a matter of modeling, but I've been modeling, explaining, redirecting, etc for weeks on end and I'm just so frustrated. Plus, my 16 mo who eats well, sits nicely, and uses silverware appropriately is now starting to mimic the 2 yo's behavior so I am having to redirect both of them. He had never pulled food off another plate until he saw her do it and imitated it smiling yesterday. I've been considering just putting her back in a high chair separate from the table so she can be close to us, but not close enough to touch someone else, but I hate to do that since she really does need to see and be a part of proper eating habits. How would you handle this with someone so young?
She is also a little parrot and imitates everything said or done by other kids. We pray together before we eat and probably 3 times this week as soon as the prayer was said she stuffed her mouth full of food and then imitated the prayer while leaning toward the first person who prayed and letting food fall out of her mouth while talking.
She also leans over to see your face when she talks to you so she is constantly talking to me over my plate of food thereby dripping her stuff into my plate. I am a bit germ phobic and although doing daycare requires overcoming that, this is just a bit much for me.
I know that she is young and much of this is just a matter of modeling, but I've been modeling, explaining, redirecting, etc for weeks on end and I'm just so frustrated. Plus, my 16 mo who eats well, sits nicely, and uses silverware appropriately is now starting to mimic the 2 yo's behavior so I am having to redirect both of them. He had never pulled food off another plate until he saw her do it and imitated it smiling yesterday. I've been considering just putting her back in a high chair separate from the table so she can be close to us, but not close enough to touch someone else, but I hate to do that since she really does need to see and be a part of proper eating habits. How would you handle this with someone so young?
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