Teaching Child to Take Bites

I cut my kids food into bite size pieces until they were a little older. You might also try putting just a few bite size pieces on her plate and add more as she finishes. That way she can't stuff her mouth with the smaller pieces either. Keep reminding her to chew each bite and swallow before taking another piece. She will still have her independence but you will have control over the amount so she has a lesser chance of choking. It's all part of the learning process and to this day I have to remind myself that my kids don't just know things, I have to teach them and be patient while they learn. (My kids are 7 & 11 and I'm definitely not a perfect mom.) Good luck.

Try giving her a 'bite' from your portion of sandwich or whatever. Put your thumb or finger to the pt where you think her bite should be. Good luck

I would just keep cutting all these foods into small pieces for her. Since she's not even two yet, it might not be a bit too early to expect her to take bites. i was still cutting most of my children's food until around three. Stick with soft foods to teacher her to take bites rather than apples, chicken nuggets and sandwiches. A half a piece of bread with butter would work because it's too big to stuff in her mouth. Modeling is good, but most two year olds aren't paying attention to what mom is doing, they are worried about their fooed.

Hope that helps.

too young. She won't learn to take bites for awhile yet. She's still at the stage of mastering the fork or spoon and finger foods. She won't learn to be ware of HOT or take bites yet. Just keep cutting up her food in bite size pieces for another 6 months or so. Mine took bites closer to 2 1/2 or 3 years old.

My daughter is three and I second the advice already given to you to help her through it and keep hounding her. My daughter has had a real problem with cramming too much into her mouth and then not being able to swallow it. It didn't matter if I cut it up small or gave it to her big so she had to take bites, she would just keep putting stuff in her mouth until she was near choking. It drove me insane because she has weight issues and I wanted her to swallow it, so having her spit it out and start over just killed me! What finally worked was me putting her back on baby food and spoon feeding her myself again for two meals out of each day for a week straight. I never gave her another bite until she swallowed the prior bite. Basically I went back and re-established the proper rhythm of bite-chew-swallow-bite-chew-swallow. At first, she thought is was fun, but by the second day she wanted her independence back. I just kept telling her that mommy needed her to learn to eat correctly. If she ate well at the third meal of the day, then I gave her some independence with feeding herself the following day. The baby food made it so everything was super easy to swallow, no cramming or holding food in her mouth. Feading a three-year old baby food for a week was a pain, but her "cramming" proplem has virtually disappeared! If I catch her cramming, I just remind her to swallow before she takes another bite, also suggesting that I might feed her like a baby if she can't do that. Of course, she doesn't want that, so she slows down.

Hello! My son who will be 2 next week is the same way! Sometimes he just looks like a little chipmunk because he just stuffs some food in his mouth. one thing we do is have him take bites of something we're eating, like our sandwich or cereal bar. i don't think it's too much to worry about, they'll learn soon enough! Until then keep doing the great job you're doing! thanks for showing me my child isn't the only one doing some interesting things :)

Hello AnnMarie! My 2 year old does this all the time as well. We just keep reinforcing the fork and spoon. She is starting to take interest in using utensils...just takes persistence and practice!

Because of our fear of choking, we have modelled for our two year old the idea of "chomping like a dinosaur". It started with broccoli: pretend you're a dinosaur and the broccoli is a tree, and bite the top right off that tree, grrrr! Our daughter likes doing that. So now when I hand her something that needs to be bitten off or crushed up before swallowing, I remind her to "break it up with your teeth, like a dinosaur." Works very well.

Work on *any* bites now, teach "nice bites" later!

My daughter is the same way. She's 19 months old and shoves everything in her mouth at once. I watch her friends hold whole pizza's and take bites like little adults. Relatives give her food as if she can bite it and she nearly chokes on it because she won't bite threw it. I can't wait to here other's advice from your post (I was actually getting ready to post the same question.)

Man, I wish I could remember, because my one year old has STOPPPED taking bites and now just stuffs as much as he can into his mouth! Sigh. But mostly I think the kids just figured it out themselves. With a two year old, she should have enough understanding to listen to your words ... I've done things like only give them a little food (like, a three bite piece) and then pay intensive attention and talk them through it and help their hand only put PART of the food into their mouth, helping them with my hand until they start doing it on their own (if you let go early of course they just stuff ;) ) ...

Ah, the joys of becoming "civilized" ;).

Dear AnnMarie,

I am an Early Childhood Education Major and am also taking Infant/Toddler Health, Safety and Nutrition. Please don't worry, this is completely normal for this age. She is testing the dimensions of her mouth:) Do cut the food into smaller pieces until she moves on from this. It will be sooner than you think. I encourage you to release your fear of her choking by taking an Infant CPR class through the Red Cross or health center nearest you.

For the most part, it is age. She is probably also an active child and doesn't care to linger in her highchair socializing when she could be on the floor playing.
For things that you can, cut them in tiny bite size pieces. I know she will shove one after another into her mouth, but if they are small enough, she will end up swollowing before her mouth gets too full. Also, eat together, so she can see you modeling proper eating habits. If you don't already, try starting family meals for every meal possible. Lastly, try playing a game while she eats. Tell her what animal to be, and ask her to eat like that animal. Focus on ones that take small bites like a bird and a mouse. She will grow out of it, but it'll probably take a while.

Hello AnnMarie,

My baby learned to take bites early by allowing her to take a bite of my sandwiches or a slice of pizza - kinda hard to stuff that in her little mouth completely, especially when I am holding on to it.
Other than that I would not worry, mine will also stuff everything in her mouth whole that fits, so just as you, I cut things up for her if she feeds herself, even though I know she CAN take bites - she is just too impatient!

I am pretty sure they will outgrow this and then probably become picky eaters or something else... there is always something.