7-year-old son won't swallow solid foods

[mvkmako24]

My son stopped eating solid foods a couple of weeks ago. The doctor checked out his throat and nothing appeared to be wrong. He also has not had any traumatic incidents happen that we are aware of that might trigger this reaction. It began a few weeks ago, he would spit out food occasionally at a meal...this would get worse and he would spit out several times. 2 weeks ago he came home from school without any lunch eaten, this is when I decided to take him to the doctor...strep test was negative, and he doesn't complain of throat pain. He did say it felt like phlegm was in his throat, so we tried Zyrtec in case it was allergies (which he has never been diagnosed with), but the Zyrtec didn't help either. The first few days of this, he would eat certain solid foods, like Cheerios or Goldfish...he has since stopped eating these as well :( He managed to pretty normally chew and swallow an Oreo cookie a few days ago. He is now being treated for possible reflux issues with Prilosec and Pepcid, but I have not seen any changes. If he tries solid food, he visibly chews and chews  the food until it is liquid, but then has to still spit it out, can't swallow even though it's liquid!? I know he isn't trying this, and doesn't want to deal with this...he has said, "I feel stupid," and "I hate food." It is heart breaking to see :( He is living off of yogurt pops, Pedisure, and milk...I am SO worried about him!

Please let me know if anyone has experienced this with their child...thank you!

[Sandman2]

   Wonder if the start of school triggered this?  Ask her teacher how she does in class.  Does she volunteer information?  Does homework stress her out at all.  How is she doing on the weekly quizes, etc.

[MomofIrishTwins]

Our 8 year old daughter went through the EXACT same thing as your son. EXACT. It started in May and she stopped eating for close to 6 weeks. We eventually got her into a speech/feeding therapist and it was a miracle. She was eating within days. She was 'cured' within 2 weeks and had a wonderful summer. Then she started 3rd grade and stopped eating. We're on week 3 right now and brought her back to the speech/feeding therapist and now she has a cognitive therapist. We're hoping for a speedier recovery this time around.

I can't tell you how awful this is and it's been devastating for all of us. She doesn't understand why this is happening to her. The first time she did have a positive strep test and the doctors suspected a syndrome called PANDAS. However, this latest bout she did not test positive for strep and in order for there to receive a diagnosis of PANDAS, strep must be positive.

Anyway, we're in the middle of therapy right now and praying that she recovers quickly. The therapists believe anxiety has triggered these episodes, but she functions completely normally and happily in school and with her friends.

I'll come back and update was soon as we see significant progress. But I agree with you mvkmako24 - the first line of action from here on out is therapy first, invasive tests last.

Thank you and keep us posted.

[Sandyshore1]

My son gained 900grams in the last week, we are over the moon.  He has been diagnosed with ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder) this is common in children with anxiety, OCD and autism/ ADHD.
The eating disorder clinic recommend not to go to the speech pathologist as when ever someone examines his throat he regresses.
At our next appointment we will see if he has gained more weight, if not the speech pathologist will be discussed again.
This has been the worst time for all of us and the past week is the first positive in a long time.
Hope everyone else is making good progress

[emmaJM]

So happy to hear that you got this problem resolved, and it might also give some hope to those still suffering!

We are having a similarly difficult time with our 4 year old. Already, he has always been tall and thin. In the last year, he became gradually slower to eat his meals, and most recently he has been holding food in his mouth, chewing until it is liquified but saying he cant swallow! He's eventually getting about half of most meals down but is rapidly losing weight. He can not afford to lose it, as he hates all sweet and processed food to begin with. No way he would drink a shake or yoghurt as he says they are mushy and he likes crunchy food. Im trying so hard not to show how anxious I am in front of him but its driving me insane! hes eating half of what he ate at age two, and its taking him twice as long. we did have some upheavals, some family travel and he knows he is starting school. We've done our best to make these stress free, but you never know how it really affects them. This could be the underlying cause, we feel pretty sure that it is phychological rather than physical. he just says he cant swallow! We have started to limit the time he has to eat his meal, as giving longer has not helped at all. We will contact a speech therapist to see if that will be of any help. Thankyou.

[Adyadeep]

Hi Everyone
HELP!!
My 4 year daughter is also facing similar issue past one year.  She doesn't swallow solids, pureed anything. Nit her favorite food. She chews and chews on her food until is becomes liquified. She gets tired and pockets it in her left cheek.  She is only on pediasure and milk. Plz share the pediasure formula where the child needs to drink less but calories can be met. Every one plz share what helped your child. My daughter has mild development delay.

[anandhos]

Hi
My son also has started to develop the same habit
Let me know in case you got the solution to this problem
Thanks in advance
Anand

[Sandyshore1]

Thanks so much for your reply/update i am so happy for you and your family things have improved. It gives me hope there is light at the end of all this. I cant wait for my family to get past this, it has been horrible for everyone.
a speech therapist has been discussed by the clinic we are going to, this may be the first point of discussion at our next session
thank you again for your openness.