2 yo has brand new bad habit of not swallowing her food

[amberskyfire]

I know this sounds odd!

I swore that food would never be an issue in our house and yet here it is - a BIG issue. Starting this week, my 2 yo has started a bad new habit of holding food in her mouth and not swallowing it. She has no tooth pain. She isn't sick. There isn't anything going on in our lives right now.

Last week, my husband made pork chops and they were a bit on the dry side. She ate a piece and then continued to chew the same piece for the next three hours. This isn't strange for a child. I know because I did it with dry meat when I was little, but now she's started doing it with almost everything, even things she never had a problem with before. It is becoming a huge battle with meals.

If the food is something that dissolves quickly such as grapes, yogurt or bread, she swallows it. If it's something meaty like fish, tofu, chicken, meatloaf, veggies, or beans, she will hold it in her mouth and chew and chew for hours not swallowing.

Normally I wouldn't freak out about it that much, but it's an issue when I'm trying to get her to bed. She won't swallow or spit it out to brush her teeth. Not only that, but I can't get a meal in her. She will chew something forever and not swallow. No amount of cajoling will do it. Not only can I not get her to bed because I can't brush her teeth, but she gets upset because it's the only bite of food she had for dinner and can't go to bed hungry. Everybody loses.

What on earth do I do?! This is starting to happen at every meal. I really don't want to put her on a liquid diet. It seems too ridiculous. Why won't she stop chewing? How can I convince her to just swallow the food without having to resort to "sit there and don't move until you swallow that?"

[Dingletwitz]

That is an odd one! I'm thinking creatively here.....Gotta say, if DD went that direction I'd probably serve her up some mush first, then bring in the chewy stuff. My kid doesn't eat much meaty stuff. Likes her veg on the soft side or super-crunchy. I'm guessing at 2 she barely ate anything "adult", but canned green beans were a hit, super mushy pasta, hot dogs, that kind of thing were always good bets. I'd offer up some of what I had but she'd ultimately want some avocado, milk and applesauce or something like that for dinner. Mashed cauliflower or potato was always a hit too. Oatmeal, cheese, she'd eat deli slices of meat, silken tofu made like pudding....Once in a while she'll want a taste of steak or something and gobbles it but this is a rare event at our house.

Gotta admit--until I was well into my teens I HATED anything meat cooked in the house and would sit at the dinner table for a hour after everyone left just patiently waiting my poor mother out. She finally gave up.

I'm kind of laughing about the hours of masticating. Must be some kind of cooking there!! I'm trying to think of something that doesn't break down in three hours and I'm coming up empty! Are you guys super charring things or steaming or doing raw veg? Might need to let er boil a while for the wee tot perhaps. I see soup in your future.

[RoViMama]

I don't think you need to make her "sit there and don't move until you swallow that?" but you could say nicely that food needs to stay at the table. She is more than welcome to chew the meat, but she needs to stay at the table. You could be cleaning up and moving on with your night and she can chew away.
Or can you start with the meat and then move to less chewy foods. Offer a snack to people with empty mouths.
This too shall pass!!!

[amberskyfire]

Originally Posted by Dingletwitz

I'm kind of laughing about the hours of masticating. Must be some kind of cooking there!! I'm trying to think of something that doesn't break down in three hours and I'm coming up empty! Are you guys super charring things or steaming or doing raw veg? Might need to let er boil a while for the wee tot perhaps. I see soup in your future.

LOL! No, that's the problem. The things I am feeding her are nice and soft and moist. I hate dry meat. I'll only eat the melt-in-your-mouth kinds, so I don't think that's the issue, plus she used to eat all of this stuff until this week. She's been eating it all year with no issues. Today I even gave her the softest, moistest, nummiest meatloaf with lots of egg in it. I ended up bribing her to finish each bite. She loves it and even ASKED for more. It's just odd.

I guess you're right and I'll just have to start feeding her different things for a while. We'll go back to the things I was feeding her at 12m I guess.

[amberskyfire]

Originally Posted by RoViMama

I don't think you need to make her "sit there and don't move until you swallow that?" but you could say nicely that food needs to stay at the table. She is more than welcome to chew the meat, but she needs to stay at the table. You could be cleaning up and moving on with your night and she can chew away.
Or can you start with the meat and then move to less chewy foods. Offer a snack to people with empty mouths.
This too shall pass!!!

We don't have a table at our house (if you saw the house, you'd understand) but I do have her old high chair. I guess I'll have to break it out again. That would work. It even has straps so she can't scoot away when I'm not looking. I hate making her sit there, but I think I hate this new habit more. Plus, I'll try feeding her her old 12 month old foods again and see how she takes it. Maybe she will forget about it if I wait long enough and won't do it again. Thanks!

[Smokering]

DD did that for a while (also 2). It eventually stopped on its own, but I think part of the problem was we were giving her too much at a mouthful. We had to make an effort to give her a tiny forkful of food (or stop her shovelling food in before she was finished), or her mouth would get too full and she'd kind of ... forget to chew. It was odd. Glad it's over. Good luck!

[HappyMomma2008]

My daughter (now 2.5) has done the same thing many times! In fact, I once took her out for an afternoon at our Children's Museum and she had a mouth full of peas the entire time! I just tried not to make a big deal out of it, despite being disgusted and annoyed by the whole thing. When I really needed to get the food out (bedtime, etc.), I used a medicine syringe and shot a little water into her mouth. She immediately spit everything out and always seemed relieved that I had done so.

All that being said, we were finally able to determine that she does this when she is constipated. I now follow her lead and don't push food, but just encourage her to drink fluids.

Good luck!

[amberskyfire]

Originally Posted by HappyMomma2008

All that being said, we were finally able to determine that she does this when she is constipated. I now follow her lead and don't push food, but just encourage her to drink fluids.

Good luck!

Oh, wow! That is something interesting that I never would have thought of! I'll see if I can push fluids more and maybe it will help. Thanks!