15 m/o learned to spit today ...

[HappyMommy2]

He sticks his tongue out and sprays everywhere! He did it a couple times in the highchair with a bite of food, and I took it to mean he was done and got him out. But then he did it in the car all the way home from shopping. He got the whole front of his coat wet! He won't stop when we tell him no. What to do? Ignoring it and telling him no aren't working. thanks!

[AbbieB]

Yuck! My now 3 year old went through this phase, I can't remember when.

I told her she could spit all she wanted to in the tub. When she was in the mood we just took a bath. After she had a few weeks of this she moved on.

Hope that helps.

[Fairy4tmama]

yep spitting isint it glorious: I tell my kids where they can spit sink, toilet, hadn't thought of the tub, the garbage and of course out side. We also talk about germs and being careful not to spit on others or things others might want to use.

[xochimama]

Hi happymommy2,
I think at this age they have to experiment with the "cool" things they are discovering! Yea, it's not so cool for us, but for him...well, the first time he did it, maybe he got a great reaction from you "oh, mommy made all kinds of faces and noise! Let's try that again!!"

He will probably get over it pretty soon, especially if further attention is not drawn to it. Personally, I try to avoid "no" too much (I try to save it for when dd could get hurt) because too many no's kind of dilute the meaning, kwim?

My suggestion is to bib-up and carry sanitizing wipes in public if that concerns you.

Good luck!

[behr]

I have heard from a speech therapist that spitting is actually a very important part of developing a good speech pattern. Apparently most kids go through the phase at some point and it should not be suppressed in order to get the benefit of improved "mouth muscle awareness". She said that the habit will most likely stop after a short while.

[mowilli3]

Keep a tissue close by and ignore it. My DD did that for a while then stopped. Actually, I had forgotten about it until reading your post. It doesn't mean that he's done eating. He might flip his plate over when he's done.