2 Year Old Not Swallowing Food

Does she cough during or after swallowing food? Difficulty swallowing food is a medical condition called Dyspagia. It should at least be contemplated.

A simple magnesium deficiency can cause dyspagia.
see: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/symptoms-of-low-magnesium....
There is a product called babycalm or kidcalm that you could try. It is a magnesium supplement dosed for small children ( I am not a distributor, you'd have to look online for it). Magnesium is safe to self dose unless your kidneys are compromised.

Esophegial webs can cause dysphagia. They have been associated with iron deficiency and/or celiacs disease(inability to eat gluten). I personally think Iron deficiency is more difficult to get in a standard american diet (our processed foods are fortified with it) but it does occur in some people, especially people with bleeding disorders. Do not give iron supplements without a clear test of iron deficiency.(always see your pedi first) Over-iron supplementing in kids is very dangerous and even fatal.

Regards,
Gail

Hi J.,
wow, this is interesting: he's not getting attention by refusing to eat at all, but putting the food in his mouth and holding on to it. He's really showing you he's trying to be the one in control - lol !

I wish I could make a better suggestion, but the best way to deal with a behavior, to me, is not feed (pardon the pun) into it.

First, avoid the messiest foods, and if you can, leave him alone when he eats. (do dishes, mop the kitchen floor, brush the dog, etc. so you're *there* but not watching him eat). When you can, find other times of the day to give him the one-on-one attention he needs.

If he's holding food, and you've got to leave the house or something, calmly tell him to spit in the trash, and don't say another word about it (in front of him, or in earshot).

Good luck (whew!)
t

My son, at 3 and a half, still does this. Part of it is from putting too much food in his mouth and part is because he doesn't like it (especially meats). It has become a struggle for us as my husband does not have the patience to deal with it and to me it is truly annoying. That being said, it is probably best to just ignore him (which doesn't always work since they can leave it in their mouths for 30 minutes or more) or make him spit it out right away if you know he is not going to swallow it. Also, make sure he has small bites to begin with.

Remember (and I'm reminding myself as well) that they wont let themselves starve. When they get hungry enough they will eat it. Save it in the fridge and try again later. Good luck and let me know if you find anything that works!

Honestly the bigger deal you make of this the more he is going to do it. Just be sure to set aside some time for him as much as possible, a new baby is hard to deal with and he wants to feel the love too. To avoid messes, just put him at the table for eating anything and he won't get it all over the house. Messes clean up so try to let it go, he will stop, I promise.

Good luck!

our daughter who just turned 2 does this alot! we just deal with it as we go, but i wouldnt try to make him swollow it by pintching his nose

My daughter was a crammer, she would stuff her mouth so full she would choke, what helped for me is only giving her a bite size of something and refusing to give her more until she swallowed it down.

Since you said that he seems to do it with things he likes you might have to do something similar, giving him only small bites of it and telling him he won't get more until he swallows. He should be old enough for you to be able to talk to him when you see him holding things in his mouth. "No, do not do that, swallow it down, come on, I've got lots more for you, see?"

Good luck.

When I was a child growing up, I did this because I hated what they were feeding me and was forced to eat it. I also have a son who does that on occasion. I have another son who just spits it out because he is either full, teething or don't like it. Just ignore him if you think he is trying to get your attention, but I think your son is taking this for fun. I think if you turn your back, let him be and don't stress it, when he gets hungry enough, he will eat/swallow. If he likes liquid food so much, make all his food into a shake, lol (brocolli shake, spinach shake, just kidding) I would try not to make a big deal out of it for him to see you stress, cause I really think your son thinks it's cool!