5 year old girl chews but doesn't swallow

[UC1991]

My daughter seems to have developed a new "eating disorder".  She has always been an excellent eater - adventurous, healthful, and disciplined (i.e. she self-regulates her intake).

In the past week, we've noticed that she will chew and chew and chew her food before swallowing.  She might chew a single bite of chicken for several minutes.  Even with food with soft consistency, like pasta, she might chew for a long time.  We ask her why she won't swallow, and she says that she still needs to chew.  Sometimes, she'll spit out what's left in her mouth.

We have asked her if her mouth feels dry.  She had been taking Zyrtec for allergies, and I thought this might have dried her our.  But this behavior has persisted despite stopping this medication.  She says that it doesn't hurt to eat, and she doesn't seem to have any breathing problems while eating.  The mucosa of her mouth is moist.

This isn't a consistent problem - tonight, she ate strawberries without difficulty.  I was told that she had no trouble with pizza yesterday.  Mini cheese cracker sandwiches also went down without a problem.  Foods like pudding and applesauce get devoured very quickly.

I've seen other stories on this site about similar behavior.  In several cases, the children have been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder.  My daughter has not been diagnosed with this or any other developmental disorder.  She is a very emotionally sensitive person, though, but I don't think it's out of the ordinary.  She has been exhibiting unexpected separation issues in Kindergarten, however, even though she went to preschool for two years without any real problems.

In addition to the chewing issues that we have observed, we've also noticed that she comes home from school with barely anything eaten from the lunches that we pack.  We involve her in the choice of food that she brings, so it's not as if she's being given food that she dislikes.  We ask her why she doesn't eat more, and she just says that she eats until she's full.  But she hungry the moment she comes home 1.5 hours later, so that's not entirely true.

Part of me worries that there is something physically wrong with her, but deep down I suspect that it's behavioral.  I'm at a loss to figure out what could be causing it - some emotional stress perhaps?  Could this be part of the adjustment issues she's having with Kindergarten?

We've gone back and forth with her about this - sometimes we try to ignore the issue, hoping that by not putting pressure on her to eat, it will correct itself.  This doesn't seem to be working.  Drawing attention to the problem - telling her "just swallow your food, sweetie" doesn't work either, and I know this is wrong thing to do.  But I'm worried, and I don't know how to deal with this.  I'm waiting for a call back from her pediatrician.

I hope someone can help.  I'm worried sick about this.  Sorry for being long-winded.  Thanks.

[Sandman2]

   Boy, I would also like to know what happened there. But this is a pretty old post.   You might try a personal message via her profile.
   By the way, if you think that something like SIDS could be a possible cause, here is a great link - http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/index.html.  
   If any of those symptoms sound possible, we have a great medhelp site for it here - http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Sensory-Integration-Disorder-SID/show/1396
  

[MzSarg]

I have a client experiencing the same thing and sounds a lot like your daughter.  This too is a concern for her and myself.  Please let me know if you hear anything.