Author Topic: Food just sits in his mouth  (Read 3104 times)

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Offline katie80

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Food just sits in his mouth
« on: September 02, 2014, 02:53:05 am »
DS2 is 6.5mo, we've only been working on solids for a couple weeks, and he hasn't really taken much of anything yet. When I offer something mashed up on a spoon, it goes in his mouth then just sits on his tongue. He doesn't really close his mouth to push it around and swallow it. He eventually puts his hands in his mouth and ends up swallowing it or just closes his mouth (and sometimes it's still there when he opens it again :-\). Same for finger food, although much of what I offer he just smooshes around the tray and doesn't really put in his mouth (until he puts his hands in to chew on and then sucks off what's on his hands).

I'm not really worried about intake at this point, although he seems to need/want to BF more often so I was thinking he'd like to eat some real food. (He's also showing the classic signs of reaching for our food and watching us closely while we eat. And he's sitting on his own and crawling.) However, I'm wondering how often I should keep trying if nothing is really happening. Do I just keep offering each meal and let him 'practice' until one day he just starts eating and swallowing more? Or do I take a break and try again in a week or so? It seems like sometimes a lot of work (as I'm often getting food ready for or helping the other two) and he eventually gets frustrated in the high chair (I don't want eating to be a negative experience for him). He had his 6mo appt last week and the ped said to just keep trying, she wouldn't have him evaluated for any tongue/motor issues until 9mo. I'm fine with that, but it seems like a lot of effort/heartache could be put in with no real results if he's not physically ready to eat. :-\ Any thoughts or similar experiences?



Offline creations

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2014, 07:14:16 am »
How about if you view it as an 'activity' rather than a 'meal'?  If he is interested in your food and wants to hold a piece or smoosh it around his tray he is still learning about food, the smell, texture, temperature, smoosh-ability (so quite a lot really) he is also learning about the social aspect of coming together as a family for meals, watching you use cutlery, seeing how you make conversation as part of the time spent together etc. He is getting some fine motor activity when he squooshes and smooshes the food, picking up finger food is great fine-motor practice and pincer grasp practice, even drawing/mark-making with his fingers in dip or puree are the very first 'practices' for drawing and writing much later on.
In that sense none of this is a waste of time although I can understand the frustration for you if you are preparing meals for him and feel like lots is going to waste.
If it was me I would probably continue to bring him to the table for meals times, let him down when he shows he's had enough sitting (not expecting him to stay the full meal like you would the other kids), and just offer 1 or 2 little bits of something you are already preparing so it isn't additional work (just throw in an extra bit of veg when you cook). I don't have other children but I imagine it could be handy to have your 6 month old join you all at the table at meal times just to have somewhere to put him for a short while, whilst you get to eat your own dinner.
It's also fine if you want to stop for a week or two though!


Offline koe2moe

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2014, 07:38:13 am »
Do I just keep offering each meal and let him 'practice' until one day he just starts eating and swallowing more?
I would take this approach and no pressure. He is exploring in his own way.  Our body is amazing that it knows how best to learn for that particular body.  The fact that he did swallow at some point is good sign.  Do you BF before solids?  Hunger helps with triggering swallowing.  Perhaps try a different setting, like when he sits in the buggy out for a walk and give him a piece of bread crust to play with.  Does he explore toys by putting them in his mouth? 



Offline katie80

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2014, 04:50:08 am »
Great points... yes, I'll keep putting him in the chair and offering a bit of what we have. And maybe steam up a few things every now and then, especially when what we're having isn't appropriate for him.

Koe - Yes, I BF before offering solids... sometimes it's right before, sometimes is 1-1.5 (or even 2) hours before. Our days are a little messy right now, so just kind of feeding him when we eat. He does put everything else in his mouth!



Offline koe2moe

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2014, 07:26:20 am »
Koe - Yes, I BF before offering solids... sometimes it's right before, sometimes is 1-1.5 (or even 2) hours before. Our days are a little messy right now, so just kind of feeding him when we eat. He does put everything else in his mouth!
I wonder if you want to try solids before BF to see if it makes a difference.  Otherwise, just let him explore and he will soon get it.  x



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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2014, 08:52:03 am »
Sorry Koe, I disagree with offering solids before a milk feed for a 6 month old. Milk is far more important than solids at this point.

Katie I think it's fine to offer when you are, at family meal times.  Yes LO might be more interested in solids if it is an hour or so after the  milk feed but this is not vital. If he was much older and taking lots of milk and little or no solids then I'd say look at the time of milk and solids but in these early days there is really no need to encourage solids too much.


Offline koe2moe

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2014, 09:06:47 am »
No need to be sorry.  It is just an alternative.  If you don't try, you don't know. 



Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2014, 15:19:19 pm »
If you don't try, you don't know. 

While I would normally agree with this statement, in this case with just starting out with solids and bf being the main source of nutrition I would hesitate to recommend something that could affect the milk intake at this point. The recs here are bf/ff as main nutrition until one year and food for fun so to me it is not a big worry if he is not into solids just yet!
Heidi




Offline *Ali*

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2014, 16:25:11 pm »
I agree with creations I would just offer food for him to feed himself when you eat and don't worry if he isn't taking much. 1.5-2hrs should be ample time for BM to go down and him to have room for a nibble of solid food which is all he needs at this age.

Do keep an eye on his poops though as I was sure Colby hardly took any sometimes and then his poops told a completely different story with lots of undigested food pieces.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline katie80

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #9 on: September 03, 2014, 23:46:49 pm »
1.5-2hrs should be ample time for BM to go down and him to have room for a nibble of solid food which is all he needs at this age.
Definitely. Yes, I'm not comfortable offering solids first at this age. If he's still not really eating anything at 10/11mo, then maybe, but I don't mind BFing more if I need to. My DD didn't really eat solids til 8/9mo, and she's a very well-rounded eater now, so I'm not worried really about intake.

I guess I was mostly curious about this being a motor issue and a little selfish too, because finding the time to feed him isn't the easiest. But, I will just keep putting him in the highchair when we eat and letting him experiment. I gave him some waffle pieces tonight and he actually picked them up and got some down, so he can do it. Some of the bigger pieces sat in his mouth quite awhile and he gagged just a little, but he never got upset and eventually swallowed.

He doesn't ever pick up the fruit or veg I put in front of him, though. Do you think that's a texture/dexterity thing?
« Last Edit: September 03, 2014, 23:48:36 pm by katie80 »



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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2014, 06:49:22 am »
I think it's probably too early to suspect motor issues, especially if it's based on whether he eats solids or not. If you were seeing other things which made you concerned then it's always better to mention to a health professional, but I think you already did this.  It's probably still just early days for him with solid food and he's probably just checking it all out.
Do you cut the fruit/veg into large wedges? this could make it easier for him to pick up.

I'm not surprised about finding the time to feed him difficult, I found it difficult too and only have one child!


Offline katie80

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2014, 00:03:19 am »
I think it's probably too early to suspect motor issues, especially if it's based on whether he eats solids or not. If you were seeing other things which made you concerned then it's always better to mention to a health professional, but I think you already did this.  It's probably still just early days for him with solid food and he's probably just checking it all out.
Yes, I agree. It's just a different response than I've seen and he looks like he has no idea what to do with the food. :-\ But, the more I watch him, the more I see he's figuring it out. I wasn't really thinking along the lines of motor issues until the ped brought it up, and then of course I questioned it, but I'm sure it's all within the range of normal.

I think my fruit/veg wedges are appropriate in size... will experiment a bit and keep offering. Thanks, ladies.



Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: Food just sits in his mouth
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2014, 04:09:55 am »
Could just be a texture thing - DD2 loved a lot of fruits but wouldn't eat them if she had to touch them - banana for some reason was the worst.
Heidi