Meal time?
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We work really hard to keep our daughter at the table until she is done eating. If she leaves her chair, we ask if she’s done. If yes, we make sure she knows we won’t be eating again until ___ (afternoon snack, breakfast, etc.). If not done, then she needs to sit back down until she’s done. It might be harder to implement this if you’re starting it new, but for us it hasn’t been too hard, since we started it at the beginning (pretty much straight from when she got out of her high chair). I think consistency is the key to making sure she knows we’re not changing our mind. Good luck!
Same as Whitney, we kept our daughter in her high chair until she was old enough to sit (relatively) still for meal times & not run off. She finds enough things to distract her just sitting never mind running around.
Maybe try to get him to brush after meals? I don’t want to worry you, but I did experience tooth decay from it. But it was also literally hours and usually cherries.
My son holds food in his mouth when he doesn't really like what he's eating. He will either spit it out eventually or swallow it so he can put something else in his mouth. Its funny you mentioned carrots, thats one food my son likes to "hold" in his mouth a lot. Won't hesitate to eat it but doesn't like to swallow it for whatever reason. I don't know if there's a reason why toddlers do that, but I'm in the same boat with you for sure