He loves food, and wants to eat whatever we are eating. He only has 2 bottom teeth right now, so it all has to be soft. I recently noticed that when I thought he was chewing his food, he was actually just moving it around and then swallowing. The green beans he eats that are as small as my pinky nail, come out in the diaper just like they went in. Same with blueberries which he loves...just moves them a little and swallows. I am at a loss as to what to do to teach him to chew. I worry that he isn't getting any nutrients from the food if they just go straight through. I have 3 older kids and I remember seeing some things like grapes and sometimes corn go straight through, but I never paid attention to whether they were chewing. They ate Mac n cheese and whatever else, but I guess I wasn't so analytical about everything. I am a nervous mom worrying all the time about every little thing he does wanting to be sure its normal and healthy. I wasn't like this with the other 3, so I may have just not noticed that they were not chewing for a while either.
Any advice or is this pretty typical with no teeth back there? He really doesn't like purees, but I can usually get him to take a half jar of stage 2 baby food down him if he's being picky. But at 12 months...he should be eating more table foods according to my dr
Get a food chopper like the one Pampered Chef sells. Then put a serving of food on a cutting board. Then whack the top of the food chopper about 15 times. This will make all the food small enough he can eat it without chewing at all. Do each food separate so he gets the full taste of it. It's not puree or even blended. It's finely chopped.
As he ages he will learn more about the chewing.
Normal! When he's moving it around he's "gumming" the food and saliva is mixing in with it. It's already soft and so doesn't need to be chewed.
Totally normal. My just over 2 year old will still do this with spaghetti noodles... Just continuously swallows the noodle until it's down, no chewing involved. Lol
Completely normal. Some kids chew more than others, and as long as you make sure that what he is eating is not a choking hazard, he will figure out the fully chewing thing once more teeth come in. I have 12 month olds in my infant room with no teeth eating peas, cheese quesadillas, green beans and pears. I think that its great that he loves food and it should be encouraged. By the time most hit 15 months, they often become picky and refuse to eat veggies unless they are mixed in something ;)
No 12 year old is an expert at chewing.
And they are messy when eating.
And I do not agree with your Pediatrician that he should be eating more table foods. Some/many babies, are even still nursing at that age.
And breastmilk/Formula is actually denser in nutrition, than solids.
My kids at that age, were not eating a buffet. Nor chewing it masterfully.
No worries.
Just make sure, he does not choke.
