4 year old pocketing food- behavioral

[tammy9101]

My 4 year old has been pocketing food on and off since 18 months.  Mostly it is meat, but lately its unpredictable.  She has been diagnosed with Failure To Thrive as well.  This makes it difficult and frustrating because she needs all the extra calories she can get.  She will not spit it out and will keep it in her mouth for hours on end.  She kept meat in her mouth the other day even during her gymnastics class (we didnt know it was in there).
We have tried ignoring it, punishing her and encouraging her.  When she does go through times when she basicly stops the behavior, we do not know what stopped it.  
Im at my wits end.  I hate meals!!  And i know she knows this.  I think this is crazy.  Is my next step to see a child behavior specialist?

[allmymarbles]

Shy are you posting on the ADD forum?

[allmymarbles]

When you say "failure to thrive," I assume she is underweight and perhaps a bit sickly. Has she been check for food allergies or intolerances? Does she have a digestive problem. I would like into physical causes before going the other route, out of fear that a physical problem may be overlooked. And that could be very serious. If she checks out physically then look to other solutions.

There was a big fuss over me when I was a young child. I would refuse to drink milk. I could not leave the table until I drank it. So I sat there until it turned sour. I never drank it. Some people, particularly Latins, cannot tolerate milk. Is there something similar going on with your child? You might try eliminating food groups, one group at a time.