Won't swallow food

[jennyn]

Hi son lately developed a bad habit which is to keep foods in his mouth for a long time without swallowing and also he would not take the spoon feeding.  He is never good with the spoon feeding and most of the times I haveto  trick him so he can open his mouth during the feeding.  I generally cook his food by grinding different veggies, meat into small pieces and cook them with rice or noodles.  This way I know he will have enough nutrients he needs.  He does not need to chew it because the foods were already ground up.  When I spoon feed him, I would also give him some finger foods so he can feed himself.  He used to be pretty good at feeding himself and can handle the foods like noodles, break, bagel, pizza rolls, cheese, etc, anything that is soft.  But I still think his chewing ability is not compared to other kids his age.  Now I stopped giving him any finger foods bcz he won't swallow it.  While he would swallow the foods fed with the spoon.  it is very hard to get his mouth to open.

It has been very frutrating and it is a battle between me and him at every single meal time.  Please help.

[Renee Radenberg]

He may need to learn how to chew and swallow food. That would not be a reflection on your parenting. Some children just do not know how to do it and need to be taught. They need to learn how to chew and swallow food properly; it is not really an instinct behavior like sucking. Has he been evaluated on how to chew food? If not, then suggest getting him evaluated, by going to your MD, and start therapy so he can start to eat regular food. Hoped this helped you.

[jennyn]

sorry, a typo, my son's weight is 26.5 lbs.