Not Chewing

My two year old son does the same thing. We found if we cut the food into small chunks and only put two pieces on his tray at a time he can't stuff. It is very time consuming but it prevents him from choking because he is stuffing. Good luck

Hey, M.! If your girls are getting their 2-year molars in, the not chewing may just be a result of that. It hurts to chew when those things come through. As for not liking meat, my daughter isn't very big on it either (she's 15-months). I think that develops a bit more later on for most children. There are some other options for what you can give your children so that they get the iron they need though. Try to add in a daily vitamin (good idea for everyone). You can also add things like canned beans to their diet...they're already soft and small and should be easy for them to eat whether they chew them or not. And they're an excellent source of iron (most have about 15% of an adults daily intake). Try doing some black beans, red beans, and kidney beans and see how they like them. Children have a tendency to eat things that are fresh, like fruit and veggies. Beans fall into that category, even when they're canned. One of my daughters favorite meals is red beans and rice with sausage mixed in (I get Viggo's Red Beans & Rice and mild italian sausage-easy to make and only takes a little over 30 minutes). Just try to be patient with your daughters and they will most likely resume chewing before too long!

I agree with the other Mom that this is probably just a phase. But if it continues and you are still worried, you could call your birth to three program and ask for an evaluation. A speech therapist can see if there are some issues with the muscles in your daughters' mouths. My son had a speech delay so we went to a speech therapist and she noticed that he wasn't chewing food correctly or using his tongue properly. We worked with him on some simple exercises and it helped.

Hi M. - I actually laughed when I read your question because my 3 1/2 year old daughter does exactly the same thing!! She will shove the most amazing amounts of food in her mouth so that her almost 2 year old brother can't get it. It is getting better, but it hasn't stopped. She will gag too when she gets too much shoved in there. It really is gross but kids don't seem to mind that!! I think someone else suggested this but protein shakes are a good source of vitamins and nutrients and a good way to get protein in their bodies when they do not want to consume it. My daughter hardly eats any meat at all (unless she is with my parents for some odd reason) but she loves beans, cheese and yogurt. Stonyfield Farms has an organic yogurt that has 9 grams of protein per serving and doesn't have any corn syrup in it. My kids love the vanilla both plain and with fruit mixed in. If you want some recipes for protein drinks feel free to contact me, my e-mail is ____@____.com Good luck!!

M.,

You could try giving them things that are bite-able that they need to actually bite off and chew, rather than little tiny things to cram in their mouths. Pancakes, bread and cheese sandwiches, soft fruits (banana), etc. My son prefers to actually eat like a "big boy" and will do much better if I give him the whole item rather than tiny bites.

Good luck,
J.

SAHM to Charlie (3), Joey (20 months) and #3 due Nov.

Well, if it's not normal it is for our two kids! It's nice to hear that someone else is dealing with that. My almost three year old did the same thing. I think she was just in a hurry to eat and was afraid someone would take it if she didn't eat it or she was really hungry but she only chokes on things once and a while now so I don't think there is a problem but next time you see your doctor you should ask. Good luck!

I think, if I'm not mistaken, that the reason your doc is suggesting reducing milk intake is that calcium interferes with iron absorption--so if they're eating small amounts of iron but huge amounts of milk, the small amounts of iron aren't really doing any good because of all the milk.

My boys were famous for eating HUGE amounts of food and gagging on it. Have your girls ever actually choked? We got to the point where we had a gagger ever meal. We eventually told him that if he couldn't eat like a big boy, he'd have to go eat in his room, because what he was doing was gross and rude. He eventually outgrew it (we never actually sent him to his room; he even threw up once because he gagged so hard).

At two, you're probably right; baby food's not gonna work. What about smoothies or protein shakes? I have no idea how those taste, or whether they're appropriate for such young kids, but you could ask your doc. I make smoothies with yogurt, frozen fruit and milk...you could add protein powder if your doc says it's ok, perhaps? I was even thinking of the rice cereal flakes that could be used to thicken fairly normal, big girl things, like mashed potatoes.

good luck--I'd say it's fairly normal, but it is disturbing to watch at mealtime!

That's completely normal. My son did that as well for awhile. I would just suggest giving the food to them in smaller pieces. And cooking things longer, so they get softer. Encourage chewing more and just letting it run it's course. They won't do this for very long. It's just a phase. I still have to tell my son to wait before he puts the next bite in his mouth. I mean what can you do. A two year old is a 2 year old. All you can do is try your hardest. They just don't like to listen all the time.

I think it is something they need to figure out. Keep in mind gaging is not the same as choking. Gaging can be a natural reflex to new tastes, textures and too much. They will learn that they can't put so much into their mouths.

Sometimes kids don't realize that people actually chew food. When you eat with them, chew with your mouth open and exadurate the motions. Say "See mommy chewing".

You said they are getting "most of their nutrition from milk." That not such a great thing. Milk isn't a perfect food. It has protein, fat (unless it's skim), and carbs. It also has Vitamin D and Calcium, but that's it. It lacks all other vitamins and minerals including iron. Variety is important to getting the essential nutrients.

My son is about the same age and does this occasionally. I do think it's something you have to remind them about (small bites, chew your food) because they get easily distracted. That being said, I think you can make your life a little easier with your food choices. I would try to have something at each meal that's easier for them to eat, such as rice, pasta, soft veggies, etc. and something they need to chew as well, but make sure it's in reasonable size pieces. With your concern about iron I would suggest doing finely crumbled ground beef. My son is meat-averse, like a lot of toddlers, but will eat meat in a taco or lasagna or something as long as it's not too big a piece. You could also try giving them a Pediasure, which I think has extra iron and such instead of one of their cups of milk a day. Good luck -- feeding toddlers is one of the longest-fought battles in history!

Our daughter is a very picky eater and always has been. She is 3 years old now and about 24 lbs. She's growing consistently but we still worry about here. She had similar eating habits (not chewing much and just swallowing) and she was extremely anemic (probably because she does not like eating meat). We tried speach therapist to help her tongue movement but didn't seem to help much. We put her on an iron supplement called MyKidzIron because the prescription stuff was disgusting and tasted like rusty nails. We supplement her milk with instant carnation breakfast 100% of the time. The thing is that milk suppresses the absorption of iron. We gave her iron before bed and then followed up with apple juice because citric juices help with iron absorption. She is no longer anemic but it took a while to get her levels to normal. Every meal is a struggle for us because she still does not like eating. But on the bright side she is gaining weight...slowly. She also takes nexium for reflux issues. Good luck with everything...hope this helps.

I personally think smoothies and pureeing food and jar food is not teaching them how to eat as they need to learn. Give them only 3-4 bite size pieces at a time and when it's gone, give them more...it'll take them longer to eat, but they'll figure it out...as they do better, increase the amounts. When they start to stuff it in or gag, tell them "No". It's not like they're going to go hungry. Or tell them no treats if you can't eat nice. You have to be in charge and call the shots...

It sounds like they are eating competitively without knowing it. You could feed them separately for a while and teach each to chew thoroughly by example. Perhaps one on one they will be able to concentrate on what they are doing instead of on what the other is doing.

Alternatively, have a contest with them to see who can chew the most with each bite (mom and dad do this too) OR who can eat the slowest... Open your mouth wide with each chew so they can see the food is still in there. They will also open wide - making you think they will never chew with their mouths closed again - but you can make that point later.

It sounds like the girls have tactile defensiveness; perhaps immature mouth reflexes. Reflex integration therapy can help with this.
C.