My 7 year old will chew but not swallow his food

My 7 year old son has always been a slow eater but just recently puts food in his mouth,chews, puts more food and stores food in his cheeks for 30 or more minutes until we discover he's not swallowing. At first we thought this was becasue we made him eat a veggie he didn't want to eat but after the weekend when he didn't swallow food from a McDonald's happy meal (his favorite) I knew somethingw as wrong. My mother keeps telling me to ignore it but it's making us crazy and he's not getting a full meal and okay it's gross! He's getting water and milk to 'wash his food down' and his only excuse is that he's forgetting to swallow. We don't have the TV on when he's eating. The most embarassing is when we're out to dinner and he does this! I literally pulled him from a movie theatre over the weekend when I noticed that he still had lunch in his mouth from an hour before and told him we would not go back in to see the movie with his two buddies until he swallowed.  Frankly I think it's a control issue but we've always allowed him the freedom to make decisions and have valued his opinion - He's generally a very well behaved child  but we are at our wits end!

[margypops]

'we discover hes not eating' why would you want to discover that? is it a race to eat as quickl;y as possible,if its a matter of time, start earlier, the cause of many morning fighhts and frustration is because parenst dont allow enough time for a tired child to wake up and struggle to get ready, Takse a srep back and let him alone and in control of his own eating, why would it amke you crazy, the problem is  child /parent interaction try it chill out he is getting anxious from your over reaction.

[margypops]

my key board is sticking ..apologies

[specialmom]

Does he eventually swallow it?  He just holds it in his cheeks like a squirrel?  I've actually heard of this before believe it or not but with a child that had other "issues".  Since your son is doing well in all other areas----  it's just a 'thing' he's currently doing.  I would try to ignore it at home at dinner.  But when out of the house or leaving the house, I'd talk about how this is rude.  I can get my kids on track after a discussion as to why something is rude and then remind them "manners please" and they usually fall in line.  So if he can do this odd thing once in a while and know he can't do it at other times (resturants, lunch at school, etc.) maybe it will go away.  I wonder why he is doing it----  have you asked him if it is because he thinks it's cool or if it feels good or something . . . Good luck.

[TheTruth0123]

I don't think she's short on time, but more worried why he's not swallowing his food. I have two kids. A son who is 3 and daughter who will soon be 6. My son is a great eater. He will eat a berger and fries then as soon as we get home he wants to eat again. But on the other hand, My 6 year old has all the time in the world to eat. and just sits there with the first bite of food for hours in her mouth.
When I say hours I mean hours(7 or 8 hour). It's usually food she would normally eat(eggs,mcds,pasta,rice,....). She has been doing it since she was 2. I first noticed it with a cherry tomato, my sister gave her one to eat and that was the end of it, so we thought. When she woke up the next morning I noticed she wouldn't say anything. I grew suspicious and asked her to open her mouth,when she opened up I saw what was once a tomato(now sauce) in her mouth. I was shocked, I couldn't believe  a person could possibly do that. Well she can and has till this day.
We don't give her candy or sweets(only on birthdays), mostly healthy foods, never any junk food.
Her pediatrician tell's me just make the food ready and just let her get it when she wants("no child will ever starve them self"). I've tried doing that and went on for 3 days with her telling me she didn't want to eat.
When she finally gave in she still kept the food in her mouth for about 45 min (each bite). The Doc has told me time and time again that shell grow out of it, obviously thats not the case.
I too don't know what to do.
So for you people who like to say we have no time or that we rush them. Thats not true.

[margypops]

from the 'people who say it' I say it is true

[MomOf4Wisco]

My 5 year old step-son has the same exact issue. For us it's not a matter of just trying to rush him either. In fact as we speak, his two older (6 and 11) siblings left for school over an hour ago and he is STILL sitting at the table with 3/4 of his scrambled eggs still on his plate and a cheek-full. This has always been a problem with him and it is getting very frustrating. We first thought maybe he wasn't producing enough saliva?....but then he would be fine with candy or doughnuts (which his mother feeds him daily). Then we thought it could be that at our house we sit at the table and at his mother's house he is allow to stop back at the table, grab a bite and go play again?
We're at a loss and very frustrated. We have been working with him for over a year.

[crazyathome]

I can tell you what the problem is...Its up to you'll if you 'll want to believe it or not but I have noticed this happening with my niece and now I see it happening with another niece of mine.

The reason why they do not swallow their food must be cause you guys started to introduce solid food very late and only kept giving them blended food.

I started of with blended food at 4 months and the 6th month I started giving my baby solid food.

My sister in law had the same issue for her elder daughter and than 1 day she asked her what is it she will like to have and she said yogurt and rice. So they gave her yogurt and rice all the time till she started herself asking for other food which was after a very long time.

Now my issue here is that sometimes my daughter just swallows her food and when she poohs you can see the fruits which she has swallowed and my mother-in-law says to mash it and give it to her she is 17months and I do not have a problem with it but it gets to me whenever my mil tells me to mash the food as she says that the food has only be swallowed and removed out in her pooh and does not affect the body. Which I do not believe. What do you'll think?