Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group
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So those of you who remember, I have an incredibly picky nephew whom I watch while his mom works.
Now, this never occured to me before lol so bear with me in my explanation.
Julian was a BIG baby, by three months he was in the 120 percentile for weight and height. We have a photo of NB Marlow beside him and she goes from his shoulders to his knees, and she is stretched out and he is curled up. By a six months he was on baby food with chunks in it, doctor recommended. By a year he was eating things like a 5 year old. Huge meals, and he was in the 130 percentile. My daughter is three month younger, and at this time she came up to his chest, if that.
He started to finally slow down at about a year and a half and Marlow sort of caught up. He is still slightly taller then average, and heavier, but not startlingly so.
Now the battle for eating has mellowed a bit, as I have been able to get him to eat several things. But I've noticed he will only eat things he does not have to chew!
As a baby he would just swallow his baby food without chewing, then, over time, after repetitive encouragment to chew, he learned to fake it. Even now, at 2.5 years, he will not eat anything he has to chew. That means no veggies, no meats that aren't lunch meats or small cut hot dogs. He will eat noodles, and he sucks them in his mouth until he can swallow them. He eats oatmeal, yogurt, apple sauce, peanut butter sandwiches, ichiban. The list goes on, but none of it needs to be chewed.
As you can imagine this wreaks havoc on his stomach, and he is all over the map for bowel movements. I mentioned it to my sister and she said that she has tried to get his teeth looked at to make sure they aren't paining him but no dentist around here will look at him until he is 3.
Has anyone else had this happen? It's like I finally figured out the pickyness!!! And that's a releif, but now I'm worried. What sort of toddler won't chew? And I know he knows how, as I have seen him eat a sucker before(then it poked him I think because now he won't chew them either). And suggestions, advice, or thoughts?
Now, this never occured to me before lol so bear with me in my explanation.
Julian was a BIG baby, by three months he was in the 120 percentile for weight and height. We have a photo of NB Marlow beside him and she goes from his shoulders to his knees, and she is stretched out and he is curled up. By a six months he was on baby food with chunks in it, doctor recommended. By a year he was eating things like a 5 year old. Huge meals, and he was in the 130 percentile. My daughter is three month younger, and at this time she came up to his chest, if that.
He started to finally slow down at about a year and a half and Marlow sort of caught up. He is still slightly taller then average, and heavier, but not startlingly so.
Now the battle for eating has mellowed a bit, as I have been able to get him to eat several things. But I've noticed he will only eat things he does not have to chew!
As a baby he would just swallow his baby food without chewing, then, over time, after repetitive encouragment to chew, he learned to fake it. Even now, at 2.5 years, he will not eat anything he has to chew. That means no veggies, no meats that aren't lunch meats or small cut hot dogs. He will eat noodles, and he sucks them in his mouth until he can swallow them. He eats oatmeal, yogurt, apple sauce, peanut butter sandwiches, ichiban. The list goes on, but none of it needs to be chewed.
As you can imagine this wreaks havoc on his stomach, and he is all over the map for bowel movements. I mentioned it to my sister and she said that she has tried to get his teeth looked at to make sure they aren't paining him but no dentist around here will look at him until he is 3.
Has anyone else had this happen? It's like I finally figured out the pickyness!!! And that's a releif, but now I'm worried. What sort of toddler won't chew? And I know he knows how, as I have seen him eat a sucker before(then it poked him I think because now he won't chew them either). And suggestions, advice, or thoughts?
my son who is 33 months does not like to eat things that he really has to chew. i had him assessed and it turns out that his oral motor skills were not as developed as they should be.
my son is just over 3 feet tall, and very lean without any bay fat on him ans weighs between 27-30 lbs so i can full understand your eating issues
She will throw up if the texture is wrong or it touches the wrong part of her mouth. Treating it is not that hard. Work slowly to introduce trickier textures and allow a child to get used to it. If your child does not like certain foods, then do not force them to eat them. Diets can easily be adjusted to compensate.
There is a link between this and children with allergies. Nasal drainage can make it worse. DD's allergy count to pollen is off the charts, just like daddy. If you've ever had a sinus cold, you may have experienced how funny food can taste or how it feels yucky to swallow with a throat full of phlegm.
I took this a step further and introduced foods that help coat the throat or clear the sinuses. Room temperature campbell's soup with a drop of honey works wonders. It will also help regulate bowel movements.
There are a lot of useful tips floating around the internet if you have the time to do some research.