shouldn't she be chewing by now?

I'm getting a litte concerned about Lorien's eating habits. I have noticed that she is still barely chewing her food. When I give them fruit peices, she seems to practically swallow it whole (I only give her slippery mooshy fruits). With waffles (and pretty much anything) if I don't cut it up into bite size peices, she will chew it for a second and then swallow it practically whole. I can see she is sometimes struggling to swallow the food. It scares me. Arwen chews up her food pretty well. They both have all 4 back teeth and each have 2 of their canine teeth in. Not sure if the back teeth are the 2 year molars or if they are still yet to come but how do I encourage her to chew her food before she swallows. I show her constantly but she's just not getting it. Do you think it is a concern or is it normal at this point and I should just keep cutting her food up small? TIA for your suggestions and advice.

 

One of my daughters (26 months) is in a Feeding clinic (since 22 months) for similiar issues, she did not chew at all....she simply would not eat chewy or large foods, I think she knew they would be hazardous to her eating!!!

She has come a long way- and is now doing much better, though still tends to 'not' chew. But keep in mind she has low oral motor tone (and low tone in her legs and trunk) and often hangs he rtongue otu of her mouth, has her mouth open, can not use a small straw, pucker or kiss properly.

I would ask your Pedi they have good exercises you can do at home to help her chew and swallow. Verbal reminders also help. We do a lot of chewing with great exaggeration around here!!!

Other than the eating, my DD has no other concerns developmentally!!! Ask your Pedi - they can always send you for an eval or jsut give you some tips to prevent her from choking. PM me if you have ?s!

 

One of my DD does this too. Only she also has a very sensitive gag reflex so she swallows things whole then every once in a while it'll make her gag and she throws up. We have an appt scheduled with a nutritionist/GI doc in a few weeks and we're talking to the pedi about it this week. I'll let you know what they say.

 

Both of mine do this and I am getting a little concerned as well.

 

Keira is doing something similar to your dd, but she won't eat very many things at all so it's hard to compare. She will chew grilled cheese, but everything else she just lets slide down so I have to cut up everything tiny. ECI is going to do an evaluation on her hopefully in January so I'll let you know what I find out. I think they call it an oral-motor issue, maybe you can check your local ECI and see what they recommend.

 

DS does the same thing and alos has the gag reflex. He does not know ow to take a bit out of something, the whole things always goes in. This may be TMI, but I often find whole foods in his diaper! Yuck! This is getting me thinking that I may need ot have him evaluated for oral stuff.

 

I give small pieces of food to my twins.It becomes easy for them to chew and swallow. It would be better for you to give them small pieces of food.

 

I do believe she should be chewing by now. I would mention it to your ped. You want to get her to chew her food so you don't have to worry as much about her choking.