14 Mo. Old Stuffs Mouth - Need Self Feeding Tips

Dear B.,
Both my boys did it too. I would say "Chew, chew." and then demonstrate by vigorously smiling and chomping my teeth. Hilarious! I'd also offer them water. Sounds like you're doing all the right things.
Enjoy every moment,
C. :)
www.MomsPower.com/drinkthepower

I had the same problem, my youngest daughter would eat like that also! What worked for me is I would sit down and eat with her and show her how to eat slowly. Kids sometimes learn better by imitating what they see.

James did the same thing. Until one day when he just figured it out! He had to much food in his month and started to gag a little bit. When he gaged some of the food fell out of his mounth. He looked at me suprised and then finsihed chewing what was in his mounth and then picked up the half chewed food and fished that off. Now when he puts to much food in he just pulls some out and then chews.

It sounds like you are doing everytihng that can do get her to chew and swallow better. It just takes time. One thing i did was to spread the food out all over the tray of the high chair. He had to pick up one piece at a time and it took him longer to get too much food in his mounth. I also pulled the tray farther away form him. More food ended up in the bib but he had to work harded to get it in the first place. When he got all the food off the tray i would just pull what fell out and put it back on the tray. Maybe 2 times.

Good luck
A.

I just want to let you know, you are not alone! My 15 month old has been doing the same thing for quite a while now and he starts gagging with so much food that he'll end up throwing up! I'm sure this is all a phase though, and they will learn to chew properly, hopefully sooner rather than later! Good luck with your little one and I'll be looking at your responses for some advice...

I think it's important to sit facing the child when they are learning to eat. I like to have my own food there, so the child is able to learn from observing me (of course it's important to check yourself for bad eating habits before doing this!) Most children do at least some 'stuffing' of food. I think it's because they just haven't had the experience, and maybe some of them feel they have to stuff it in or it will be taken from them. Be sure to make mealtime a relaxed time and don't rush the child in eating. My rule of thumb is to think in terms of at least half an hour for the child to eat. If they finish earlier, that's fine, but by setting aside the half hour, you won't be feeling rushed or rush the child. When the child starts stuffing food in too fast, just keep on reminding "small bites", and if necessary take hold of the food and hold it to help them take small bites. If they begin choking on the food, help them calmly and say, "that's why we take small bites". You may think a child this age won't understand those words, but they'll soon catch on to the idea. Do be sure to cut up items that are known choking hazards, and any other foods you notice your child having particular problems eating. For each child it may be a different food that gives a problem.
I know cutting up a child's food and giving a few pieces at a time is time consuming, but this stage only lasts a few months at most. It's well worth the time to teach them well. BTW... you noticed I mentioned facing the child while you are eating. I think some people make the mistake of always feeding the child at a seperate time from the rest of the family. It's less messy for the parents to not have the baby at the table while they are eating, but you miss out on so much teaching opportunity by not including them in the family meal.
Incidentally... though it isn't quite the same, taking your small child along to the grocery store comes under the same category. If you never take the child along because you think it's too much trouble, you have missed out on some prime teaching time. My daughter remarked to me once that she learned the importance of math just from me taking her to the store with me, and having an ongoing conversation about what I was buying, and why I chose certain things. I didn't realize I had been teaching all that time until she told me after she was an adult.

I haven't read the other responses, but I have a 27-mth old who I'm convinced is just a "stuffer" & he may or may not grow out of it. I get really really tired of bugging him about it &, since I'm with him all day long, I typically just let him go at his pace during breakfast & lunch. And usually, it's not nearly as bad when I'm not "paying attention" to how he's eating.

But when dad gets home & we're at the dinner table, that's when it really becomes an issue. Honestly, I think my hubbs
gets too concerned about it, reminding him to chew, reminding him to take a bite, etc. & then my son just does it even more! I just call him Kobiyashi & be done with it (that's the guy that wins the hot-dog eating contest every 4th of July in Long Island. :>)

Since your daughter is still quite young, I do think it's a good idea to only give her small portions of one type of food at a time. Yes, she'll still stuff, but that will help her learn that ideally, all the food will be chewed up & swallowed by the time she reaches for another item on the tray. But, I wouldn't necessarily assume she'll "grow out of it" either. It's always good to reinforce good habits, proper manners, etc., but give her grace too. :)

My son (now 2 1/2) used to put so much food in his mouth that he would have to hold his hand in front of his lips to keep it from spilling out while he chewed! he understood that that was not the way the rest of us were eating, he just didn't care :-) I also got tired of handing him his food bit by bit, and like yours, he was just stuffing his mouth with the pieces.

Ultimately, i ended up having to verbally stop him before each bite and say, "I think you have more in there." he would chew, swallow and show me his empty mouth.

My advice is to find a way to control what SHE is doing with the food, not he food itself. Ask her to stop, chew and swallow. Then tell her she may have another bite.

My fourteen month old girl does the same thing!! :)

My son gagged himself constantly - and still does once in a while. You have to give her one bit at a time until she gets older - it's a good opportunity to teach her the word "more".
If it's a favorite food, if he's very hungry he will still gag himself once in a while. at 14 months it's just easier to grab the whole pile of food than to single out one bite.
Try lining up the bits of food far enough apart she can't scoop it all up at once - like cookie dough on a cookie sheet.

There is comfort in numbers. My 3 year old used to do this, and grew out of it about a year ago when he started using his fork and spook properly. My 13 month old is definitely a stuffer now. You have to admit, although it can worry you, I am sure you giggle and think "what a cutie!" The reality is the way you are doing it, by offering small bites a little bit at a time is really the best way. Even if she was to bite into a banana, most likely she will find a way to stuff the last 2 inches of it. Take pictures because it is a great Kodak moment :)

My 16 mo old is finally getting better at this. I have taught her the term "little bites" and shown her what I want her to do. Now, when she is about to stuff I say "oops, time to use your little bites, little bites" She very proudly shows me how she can take a bite and then I praise her for it. Good luck, I'm sure it's just a stage. Kids always take too much at first!

I think it's a normal thing for the most part. My son did it and I've seen other kids we've been around his same age at the time he was doing it (and still does sometimes at almost 3). I did the same thing you did which was cut things up in small pieces since he didn't seem to chew very well and wouldn't take small bites but he would just cram a bunch in his mouth...and as he got older and wanted to go play he would and still does sometimes cram a bunch of food in his mouth just to get it all in and get back to his playing. After that we told him just because he is finished doesn't mean he is excused from the table (of course he was older than 14 mos when we told him this) He did discover while doing this that he can choke and it scared him as well as us. This isn't to say it stopped him necessarily. He learned to put his fingers down his throat while he was choking and retrieve the food and either chew some more or spit it out. We have worked with him tirelessly on this. He is doing better. Especially after we gave him a drumstick because he "wanted to be like his dad" and he ate a whole big bite of meat and swallowed it whole and ended up throwing up not too long into the night. I guess his stomach rejected it because it was too big to be digested. anyway...now we remind him of that when he gets carried away as well as the choking. I think it's just a learning process like so many other things. The best thing to do is to make sure you are around and paying attention to them when they are eating. Good luck! This too shall pass:-)

Your post makes me smile remembering how my daughter (now 19 mos) did the same thing for a little while. I just let her be, while eating with her so she could see me demonstrate, and telling her to be careful and chew, and eventually it passed.

She's normal! My son is 19 months and still does this. It is all part of learning to eat. Keep rationing her portions and offer her bites of soft food - such as bananas right off the whole banana. Just pull the banana back to ensure she doesn't get a huge bite.

My daughter is now 22 months & she went through the exact same thing when she started feeding herself. I was always worried she would choke because her cheecks were stuffed full. My daughter did grown out of it & now she is slowing down & eating one or two pieces at a time. Try to be patient and watch her carefully while she eats.

A.

Your question made me smile, as I have so many pictures of my older son from that age, learning to feed himself, with food all over his face, hair, and any other non-covered up part of himself.

IME, this is a normal part of learning to eat. You've lit on a way to control it (handing her just one or two cut up pieces at a time), and I think that you're going to have to just take the time to do it even if it's time consuming. She is still young enough that her food should be cut up, to some degree, anyway.

Good luck and have fun - such a great age!

I don't have any answers for you, just wanted to let you know that 5 of my 7 grandchildren were the same way! then I had one that was so neat when he ate, it was comical! It is scarey, though, because they will stuff their mouths so full they can't close it to chew!

I don't really have advice but my 14 month old son does the same thing, I try to hold the banana so he takes a bite and I do cut things up in smaller pieces, unfortunatly he still stuffs all the small pieces in his mouth, luckily he never chokes and I stay close to watch that he does not- I think he will grow out of it- hopefully
feel for you

My take on this might be a little different. I don't necessarily agree that it is normal. I believe many children do it, but if something seems off it probably is. My son has done this too. Because he is adopted and was identified as "at risk for thriving" when we received him we have had many services available to us. Speech therapy has been one of the services. It started at 16 mos. He was stuffing his mouth a lot and swallowing hard. The speech therapist told us it was a couple of things. He had low facial muscle tone and it was also a way of comforting himself through oral motor activities. We did and are doing all the things mentioned about making the child aware of what he/she is doing, but we also do oral motor exercises to help wake up and tone those muscles. Now, at 34 mos. he almost never stuffs his mouth.

HI, B.,
It must be normal. I experienced the same thing. It just takes repeating OVER AND OVER AND OVER again, SLOW DOWN, don't put too much food in your mouth, etc., Realize that they have no idea how to eat properly. So we have to show and teach them. Learning takes repetition, so just keep telling her and showing her. Eventually, she will get it. My son did it for like a year or more!

Hi B.,

I too had a stuffer. I think it's normal to some extent, but it's also a sensory issue for a lot of kids. Does she do it with certain foods or all foods? I found that with my son, it was a sensory issue and he would mostly do it with soft foods. He also did not like to bite into anything, and he eats really fast. As it turned out, we found that our son has a lot of sensory issues that we've been working on through occupational therapy. Chances are this is not the case with your daughter, but it's good to be aware of incase any other concerns pop up. Also, you may search on the internet about sensory issues with food just to get some tips on how to overcome it, because stuffing is a very common problem. Even if this is not an issue for your daughter, you may find some helpful information.

Our son is now 4 and doing great! I still have to remind him sometimes to take small bites though. I know it's exciting to have our little ones feed themselves, but for the time being you may just have to really monitor and guide her.

Good Luck,
A.

Hi B.,

My 15 month old has always been a stuffer too. It was 1/2 cute & funny and 1/2 scary. He managed to figure out on his own when he has too much food in his mouth and pulls out the excess. Your little one will come around I'm sure...in the meantime I think you'll just have to continue to watch her like a hawk while she's eating in case she gets in trouble.

Good luck!