My Son Swallows His Food Whole!

Hi Mary,

Your email made me smile. When my oldest brother and I go get donuts I can look over and ALWAYS see him shove the whole donut in his mouth...he is a guy. I saw my boss walking towards me the other day and he shoved the whole cooke in his mouth. I asked him if he wanted to taste it, and he said why? He then said doesn't your son shove everything in his mouth. I have boy/girl twins and the minute he said that I realized a cute difference between them. He SHOVES it in and sometimes swallows the whole thing. If he is excited about it and likes it there is less chance chewing will occur. :)
Yes, it is scary...I was so afraid of choking, that I hated to feed them both when I was alone. So, at about 10 months I started asking "are you chewing" and it was a fun thing to ask as most things when you are eating with the little ones - now, both of them open and close their mouths when I ask and bob their head up and down to show me they are chewing. He still doesn't sometimes, but then again my brother and boss still don't! PLEASE do not go back to pureed food, that will be so much worse in the long run. Just make small pieces of everything so you know he is going to be able to swallow.

hopes this helps lighten up the moment...little boys are so so so fun!!!

My daughter was that type of girl who was really impatient about eating and wanted eveything now once she learned she could have what everyone else was having! So basically what i had to do is cut the food into really small bites so that even if she did swallow it whole she wount choke on it! I also had to start giving her smaller portions at a time, like only a few pieces of what i was feeding her until she ate what was on her plate then i gave her more because she would put all of it in her mouth at once! So i would try those things! HE seems to be doing great with Big boy food so dont go back to baby food jsut give it to him in smaller amounts at a time! I always had an extra plate for her food so that i could keep her food seperate and then giverhe more when she wanted it! I hope that Works for ya! Good luck

Well My daughter had the same problem. What worked for her was when we were eating with her we would make it a game. She really likes to play games and when she saw we were doing something that was fun she wanted to do it to. We would say something like "chew it all up then swallow it all down" in a fun voice or face and she loved it. After about 3 wks of doing this she started doing it by her self. I hope this works for you!
Nikki

He may simply be trying to cram too much into his mouth at one time.

First, I would make sure you cut the food into the smallest pieces possible, then put them in a bowl or on a plate and YOU keep it by you. Then, put a plate or bowl in front of him, and only put 1 or 2 pieces of food on it at one time. Keep a close watch on him, and only after he has swallowed the first bite should you put another on his plate.

He may not like it the first few times, since he has become used to having it all at once, but I really can't think of many other ways to make sure he takes it one at a time...without having to go back to the blender.

Good luck!

Make sure you cut things up into very small pieces. Grapes and hot dogs should be cut into at least fourths. You can also mash the food a little before you give it to him. That way, it isn't pureed but he doesn't have to chew too much. Try to give him things that dissolve quickly in the mouth. Good luck!

i think you need to "teach" him to chew, while hes eating show him what he should be doing, also watch him closely while hes eating, my son is almost 2 and hes always choking on some piece of food, we're just lucky that he has a good gag reflex and will easily cough up whatever it is (and then usually eat it again, eww)