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I have this girl who stuffs all her food in her mouth at meal times. And she leaves it there. Most of the day! I have left her in the highchair for an hour thinking she would get the point and chew and swallow it. Nope.I have given her one peace at a time and given her some time to finish that peace before giving her a new one and even asked her to open her mouth to see if she had food in her cheeks but she clamped her mouth shut or cried. And if should mention she is almost two.
Does she use a spoon/fork or her hands? With my DCG who did this once I stressed using the spoon, not her hands she no longer did this. Also, smaller portion sizes? Or perhaps a dessert reward once she has finished (swallowed) her meal?
Ugh, I can't stand it when children do that. It's a serious choking hazard and we are all at the table eating together so it's easy to watch them for choking then, but when they leave the table it's dangerous. Especially if they have food in their cheeks when they go down for their nap. It's happened to me before too and I was mortified one time when my slowest eater got up from nap one time and was chewing and I checked her mouth and it was something from lunch, ewwwwww! I have another slow eater now so I check his mouth every day before letting him down from his booster chair by getting him to talk to me as I wash his face and hands.
I don't get why kids do that! I had a 1 year old that used to put food in his cheeks and try to keep it there too!
She's pocketing the fiber of the food and sucking out the juice or fat of the food. Very common for kids who either can't manage the fiber OR kids who are on a nuggett/kd diet who are used to high fat, high salt, melt in your mouth... slide easily down foods. I solve this by pureeing the food down to the consistency of clam chowder. I make combo stews of meat, veg, beans, rice, broth, and run them thru the processor and serve. My kids LOVE it. I also slow cook then puree down fruits to the consistency of thick applesauce.
She won't be able to pocket puree.
Once she accepts this then gradually you can increase the consistency by throwing in bits that are chewable or making the puree thicker and less blended. You can also throw in extra new flavors of veg and meat they aren't used to so gradually they become accostomed to the new taste.