My Son Doesn't Chew

Sounds like he may have an oral motor planning issue. Ask your pediatrician give you a referral to a speech therapist and occupational therapist to have him evaluated. You can also contact your State's early intervention service department and request and evaluation. They will come out to your home to do the evaluation and provide services to your son at home, free of cost. Sometimes the early intervention service department are overloaded and underfunded so, if you can get a private ST eval and treatment, I would definitely get on that as soon as possible while waiting for the state's services to begin.

If giving him things like crackers and other large items has not worked, talk to your pediatrician. There may be other things to look at. After reading the previous posts, Please get the check on them soon. Those services were not available in the early '70.

is he talking too? make sure he doesn't have a problem with his motor skills..if he has problems talking too.. then get him checked out... try soft foods.. like cheerios.. they kind of melt... or pieces of watermelon... small pieces... little pieces of a brownie... chunky applesauce.... he has to get used to chewing and soon.. they usually pick up chewing by 7 months old.. or around that time...

not sure if my reply went throug. You definitely need to bring this to your physician's attention. Could be indicitaive of other motor or sensory issues.

Yes he needs to be evaluated, call Early Intervention in your State asap because they only offer services till age 3, at least you'll get him evaluated by EI and hopefully get a Medical Diagnostic with a Developmental Pediatrician before he turns 3 (should be free), then you'll know what you're up against and figure out what you need to do to help him with his issues. I called them for my son when he was 21 months, mainly because he wouldn't eat anything chunky, I had to grind everything to the consitency of stage 3 baby food. He has oral motor skill issues, therefore a speech delay and problem with chewing, also Sensory Processing Disorder, therefore a problem with food textures. A Speech Pathologist has been working with him on the eating and the speech. His eating has improved, however I'm still dicing and mashing, his speech is also much better but he still needs speech therapy at pre-school (he just turned 3). Don't wait, find out what the problem is. If he's talking than maybe it's just a sensory issue but he'll still need help. Good luck, Bernie

Magic: get him evaluated by a speech therapist and a OT ASAP.

M.

I second the other two posters answers.

My nephew had the same problem. He had to go to occupational therapy to overcome it, but is now a very normal healthy 7 year old. It is probably a sensory issue for him. You definitely need to get professional help for your son because at this point he probably needs to "learn" how to eat. Good luck!

I also urge you to get him evaluated for motor and sensitivity issues. My grandson was not yet talking at that age. I had noticed that he stuffed his mouth and didn't chew much before swallowing the large amount of food.
Turned out the way he used his mouth for eating was one of several indicators that he has developmental issues. He's 7 now and still stuffs his mouth full unless one of us reminds him to "slow down." He sometimes responds by spitting out some of the food or by chewing but he still often swallows it whole when it's soft and squishable.

If your son is talking in an an understandable way and close to milestones he may have a simple issue with which to deal. Best to find out early so that he can get treatment if he needs it. Best to find out early if he doesn't need treatment so that you can stop being concerned and move on to the "magic tricks."