# Rubbing Food in Hair - need advice



## lmkirche

THis is also posted in the Toddler Forum

My 16 mo has rubbed mushy food in his hair like it is shampoo or gel twice now, both yesterday and today before bedtime. I say stop in a firm voice, take his hands and give him the spoon, and say we eat our food. He looks at me stunned, proceeds to cry, and repeats the behavior. The continues until I say "we're done" and we wash up.

Any advice on how to handle this better?

Thanks.


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## bec

You're expecting too much of your toddler. If you don't want mushy food smeared in his hair, don't give him access to mushy food. Either you control the food, or give him something that he can pick up. He's really early to be mastering the use of the spoon. And way too young to control the impulse to cover himself with something gooey!







This is not one of the battles I would choose to fight.


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## annekevdbroek

I think you are dealing with very normal exploritory/experimental behavior... As PP said he is young to not use his hands to eat, play with his food, etc. Best maybe to not stress over it and just have wash cloths handy. (I used to strip DS1 before meals and then just pop him in the tub for a quick wash.)


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## naturegirl7

mushy food doubles for hairgel here too.









Don't stress over it. It is normal toddler behavior. Mastery of spoons and such will come naturally in time. Just not at the age when they are also discovering all their body parts.









Redirection to the spoon is a fine idea, but not to the point that you or your child are getting upset.

Minimizing clothes worn while eating, having lots of washclothes near the table, and quick dunks in the tub or shower make this phase easier on mom. Many times I have used a washcloth and just scrubbed his hair along with his face and hands and not even bothered with a bath till after dinner.
And on occassions when you may not have time (or energy) to deal with the extra clean up, just don't provide any mushy smear tempting foods.









And have a camera ready - we got lots of funny pics of DS wearing his food.


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## momma4fun

hair can be washed quite quickly and efficiently while holding your child and standing at the kitchen sink -- without having to take clothes off.

I know this because my 16 month old has a love/hate relationship with dairy. She loves sour cream as dip and thick butter on bread. But when she hates them she rubs it in her hair, one fingerful at a time. Once she does the one, I just let her go, because it keeps her occupied and contained in her high chair for a while.


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## kaspirant

hehe. My first response was "only twice!"

Truly though...this is normal expected behavior from a toddler and it will pass. DS comes home with a record of what he ate in his hair...DCP hasn't figured out how to clean him up effectively yet.

I don't sweat it. He's playing and learning and EATING healthy foods. What's a quick shower in the big scheme of things.


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## ShaggyDaddy

we always let DS do whatever he wanted with food... he is 23m now and he can eat a whole yogurt by himself with a spoon, without even spilling much... he can also fling yogurt on the wall... we found if we only give him "problem" food when he is hungry and only give him small amounts at a time he does better... but to us allowing him to make (good) food choices himself, and allowing him to explore is more important than avoiding food in his hair. When he was 16m old food was still pretty much all toy.


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## Ilovelife

I know it's not funny to mama at the time, but really.... There is only one time in life when most of us can experience applesauce all over our heads.









Seriously, though, if it's a time when you don't want to deal with the cleanup, maybe you could settle on feeding the sloppier foods to him with a spoon & letting him self-feed the less messy things. Or just feed less messy things to begin with. I do think the sensory experience is important, though, so maybe then you could have mushy soap or something for him to play with outside or in the tub. Just some thoughts. Hang in there.


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## Logan's Mom

My DS is 15 months and constantly has his hands in his hair while eating. Its odd, like take a bite then stick hands in hair. I don't think he cares much for eating anyway, our Dr is concerned by his lack of weight gain, but hey if he gets some in his mouth we are happy. In all honesty, I haven't even tried giving him a spoon to eat with all on his own -- to play with, yes. He would just take the bowl/yogurt whatever and dump it over. Could use some advice on that, but that is a whole other forum and thread.

I just say go with the flow if you can. I know it sucks to clean up messes, especially if you have to go somewhere. We just use a wash cloth to clean up his hair and yes, sometimes its a bit crusty in certain areas.


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