Chewing and Spitting out Apples

I thought I had won a victory! I tried giving my kiddos cut-up apple chunks. They have plenty of teeth and chew all sorts of things, so I didn't think these would be a problem.

My DD, who is my mostly good fruit and veggie eater didn't hesitate...she started crunching away... I was so happy. Then my DS, who does not want anything to do with fruits and veggies, tried a piece and really seemed to like the crunch the apples made. I made a big deal out of it and praised them on their crunching. They were so pleased.

Then...just like it was scripted. They both looked at me and spit it all out! I tried again this morning and no luck...spitting out. DD will eat pears and other fruits cut up - she is so good. I didn't expect DS to go for apples, but I was hopeful.

Do any of your kids chew and then spit food out? Is this just a phase? Mine seem to do it at the end of the meal and once they start spitting it out, I consider them all done. How do I stop the spitting out and get them to swallow?

I had to tell myself that by crunching and chewing perhaps they were getting something down their throats!

Oh the trails we moms go through.....

Thanks for listening,
Jess

 

Mandi did that for a LOOOOONG time. If she couldn't obliterate a food (and apples are pretty hard to obliterate without chewing them for an hour), she's spit it out. Especially apple peels.

 

Try smaller bits of apples.

My kids still randomly spit stuff out. Either they decide they don't like the taste, or they'd taken too big of a bite or whatever. Frankly, I'd rather them spit it out than have 'em choke on it!

My advice is be careful what your reaction is. Kids know early on how to push our buttons. If you laughed or got angry or whatever, they might like that reaction, so they'll do it again and again, just to find that lovely control we are all searching for in our lives.

 

I went to a talk by a pediatric nutritionist a few months ago and she said that type of behavior is normal. If the texture or flavor is something different, they are experimenting with eating it so they may spit it out. She said not to make a big deal about spitting out the food -- just teach them manners such as not to spit it on the floor. We tell our girls they need to put it back on their plate or in a napkin. The nutritionist said to keep offering the food even 10-20 times and they will eventually start to swallow the food instead of spitting it out.

 

I had one that did the same thing, only w/ apples. Now, I just take the peel off of his and it usually works. He loves applesauce so that was another option. Yours probably aren't old enough but I also put a little peanut butter on our apple slices and that works too. I always thought it was a texture thing but he loves pears and has never spit them out. I would think pears would be more a texture issue than apples for their grittiness.

Hope this phase doesn't last long.

Alicia

 

Mine did that specifically with apples too, it's the peels. I just kept feeding it to them, hoping they'd stop. Which they did, but now they eat around the peel, so they never eat the peel (sigh).

 

mine still do this occasionally and are a year older than yours. They are fine if they take small bites at a time.
Lanie

 

I was giving them peeled apples in small pieces...but no luck. I am going to keep trying because I have heard the 10-20 try thing. I hate wasting food, so it drives me crazy to have to throw out food they won't eat, but oh well...it's part of the game.

I have to watch my reaction because I know they play off that. When my DD does it she makes the funniest motions with her tongue and it makes me laugh. With my DS, I get so frustrated...for some reason I can take their refusal of food personal. I know I shouldn't but I get so frustrated at the mess, the constant refusal, and the worry about whether they have eaten or not. My DH is so much more relaxed and tells me that they won't starve. I know they won't, but the thought that Parker just has a bananna for dinner can get to me. I try so hard to feed them good balanced meals and then it ends up all over the floor. We are trying not to give in and give him what he wants (applesauce) all the time because we want him to eat other things. So...my DH will say "he's all done" and take him out of the high chair. I will, of course, worry and try to think of nutritious things I can give him that he will eat. I suppose this is why it is helpful to have two parents - to balance each other out.

Thanks for listening and for your support!

Jessica