Teaching Your Child to Chew Solid Food

Parents of children under one year old and after are faced with many difficult situations. One of the frequently asked questions for pediatricians is: "How do you teach a child to chew solid foods?" Our article contains the most useful tips on this topic. They will definitely help in solving a difficult task.

From this article you will learn

Why doesn't the child want to chew

Unwillingness or inability to chew food, eat second courses in solid form have several reasons. Let's divide them into two groups: external and internal.

The external ones, emanating from the peculiarities of upbringing and the atmosphere in the house, include:

Parents' fears. Fear of giving the child solid food: "He can choke!" This is how overly caring mothers reason and continue to feed the one-year-old baby with purees, soups, wiped through a blender. And they deprive the baby of the desire to chew.
Fussiness and laziness of parents. Dad or mom wants to feed the baby faster. There is no time to chew. And a bottle of porridge is given, soft food is sent into the mouth with a spoon at an accelerated pace. No need to chew, time is saved.
Delaying with the introduction of complementary foods up to 1–1.5 years. The myth that it is better to breastfeed until the age of three and at the same time the child no longer needs anything is alive in the minds of grandmothers, young inexperienced parents to this day. Refusal of complementary foods, the late introduction of solid food leads to the formation of a habit of eating porridge from a bottle, sucking mother's breast. In this case, you do not need to chew at all.
Lack of chewing training during teething. If the baby was not given crackers, teethers for scratching itchy gums at 6-10 months, the chewing apparatus was not used to active movements.

Internal reasons include:

Laziness of the baby. The baby is too lazy to chew, but mom does not insist. Quickly replaces the second dish with the first, forgets to give carrots for an afternoon snack in general. The kid is happy, the parents are not tired of the whims. Everyone is fine, but the child has not learned to chew.
Fear of eating. This often affects little ones. Caring grandmothers, mothers get tired of waiting for appetite to appear and force-feed the baby. It is easier to stuff liquid food into your mouth, and they start with it. The solid remains aside for a long time, and then it is simply swallowed by the child without chewing. The only thing he wants during lunch is to swallow faster and get away from the hated plate. As a result, chokes, is afraid to swallow, refuses to eat in pieces.
Restless character. The kid is spinning, running, not concentrating on one thing. With such a temperament, children chew, but they do it so quickly that they constantly choke. In this case, mom should show more patience and perseverance.
Development pathologies. In rare cases, we are talking about neurological or mental illness. Children with autism, children with cerebral palsy, with muscle hypotonia (weakness) cannot thoroughly chew solid food, they are afraid of the introduction of new products.

In order to understand how to teach a child to chew and swallow, you will have to analyze the situation individually. If the problem is with the parent's behavior, start with yourself.

Why is it important to teach

It is imperative to transfer children to solid food. Delaying training leads to problems. Parents of one-year-old children should understand that chewing is a vital necessity. Consider this process from a negative and a positive side.

Positives of chewing

Facilitation of the digestive tract. Chewed food is much easier for the stomach to digest.

Jaw and teeth training. The chewing apparatus breaks down faster without load. The teeth with the constant use of liquid food weaken, fall out, the maxillofacial muscles atrophy.

Formation of the skill of swallowing tough food. The final stage is important: swallowing. The child understands that the better he chews, the easier a small piece will pass through the throat, it will be easy to swallow. Analyze how much you need to bite off so that the food fits in your mouth. That is, chewing is a physical and intellectual process at the same time.

Development of speech. In the process of chewing and swallowing, the same muscles are involved that are responsible for articulation. By practicing biting and chewing, the baby learns to pronounce sounds, words, breathe correctly.

Possible problems due to not being able to chew solid foods

Difficulties with adaptation in the kindergarten. The diet of preschool children includes solid foods. If the child does not eat porridge, meat, second course, he will remain hungry.
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Much more enzymes and juices are required to process pieces of solid food that have entered the stomach. They are released during the chewing process. If food is swallowed in large pieces, then the stomach takes them dry and cannot fully digest. The consequence of this process is gastritis, heartburn, nausea, and more.
Formation of habit of eating monotonous food. A child who is accustomed to eating the same products crushed in mashed potatoes does not receive enough fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
A toddler at the age of 2-3 years, who switched to solid food, hurts to chew. The gums and teeth are not used to the load. Chew products should be introduced earlier.
Difficulty pronouncing sounds. The relationship between clear articulation and the ability to eat tough food is understandable from a physiological point of view. The muscles of the jaw are responsible for chewing; tongue, cheeks, throat - for the process of swallowing. They also act when speaking. The passivity of the masticatory organs leads to late speech development or poor diction.

When can solid food be given to a child

Solid food should be introduced at the age of 5-6 months. The starting point for initiating a skill is a noticeable salivation. From this point on, the gums prepare for teething. The kid pulls into his mouth everything that comes to hand. Including your cams. Replace them with useful devices, the baby will train with benefit. For chewing, suggest:

Drying, croutons. Change them constantly so that the child does not choke on a piece of a gnawed treat.

Teethers. The version with water inside is the most effective and convenient. The child will chew and chew thoroughly on the chilled toy with great pleasure.

A modern version of gauze with a carrot or apple inside. This device is a pouch. A solid yummy is put into it. The baby gnaws the nibbler, chops the fruit, sucks the juices out of it. Eats and scratches the gums at the same time.

When organizing a workout for the chewing apparatus, it is important to maintain regularity. Encourage your young child to chew on something every day. If he refuses, insist, but in moderation. In case of tantrums and complete rejection of teethers, nibbler, pause for 2-3 days, then try again.

When the baby has mastered chewing hard objects, start feeding pieces of soft cookies, fruit for an afternoon snack or lunch. First, give a little, then offer to bite and chew on your own. But never set aside a toothless baby with a large cookie alone, he may choke on a huge bite and swallow.

Thus, by starting accustoming to a positive perception of solid food at 6 months, mothers will get good chewing babies in about a year. If you start later, the process will drag on.

Important! Wash all gum trainers (rodents, nibbler, gauze with apples) after each use, and preferably boil. Children's mouth is very susceptible to bacteria.

At what age does your child learn to chew?

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How to teach to chew and swallow

You can teach your baby to chew using simple methods. Follow the advice without psychological pressure, regularly, and everything will work out:

Introduce solid foods gradually. Start complementary foods at 6-8 months. First try adding pieces of fruit to the porridge, then grind the soup with a fork, without a blender, so that you get a heterogeneous mass.
At one year old, mix liquid food with solid food in the same bowl. The ideal option is broth with vegetables, potato pieces. It will be easier for the child to swallow the chewed mass with liquid. As you learn, add broth less and less until the child chews and swallows only vegetables, meat, pasta.
At 12-16 months, serve whole solid vegetables for an afternoon snack: carrots, apples. If your child has a hard time chewing on a hard skin, peel it off.

Important! Check with your doctor when to give your child a new hard segment product. Errors in the introduction of complementary foods serve as provocateurs of problems with food intake, difficulties in developing chewing skills.

And here is what Dr. Komarovsky advises:

A few more tricks

Start teaching chewing on your favorite toddler products. Choose any, if only the process gets better. But be careful: bread, cookies, croutons, sweet desserts in large quantities every day are harmful to the baby's stomach.
Set an example for table behavior and good chewing. Be sure to combine your lunch with a crumb meal. Demonstratively chew, swallow, let him understand how the process takes place visually. Forbid yourself to eat on the go without chewing. Children are very observant.
Start eating tough foods with small portions. For the first or third time, it is enough to add 1 teaspoon of fruit to the gruel.
Build faces with the baby near the mirror, grimace. Fun with mom will replace articulatory gymnastics, a warm-up for the muscles of the face.
If the child talks even a little, ask him why he is not chewing the food on the plate. Perhaps the kid himself will reveal the secret, the problem will be solved faster.

You can find many more useful tips in this short video:

What to do if the right moment is missed

The child is already 2-3 years old, and he is afraid to eat solid food, when he tries to offer the second course he responds with vomiting and cries. Such situations are often encountered if the parents delayed complementary foods or followed the wishes of the crumbs. In this case, the advice of a speech therapist, a neurologist will help:

Start the process from the beginning. That is, a one and a half year old baby can be offered a nibbler, small pieces of fruit in porridge, poorly softened puree. Semi-solid food is fine for your first training meals.
Do articulatory exercises. Pull your lips into a tube, smile broadly, imitate chewing near the mirror. Exercise with your child. Spend at least twenty minutes a day doing your work. Breaking the sets into three to five minutes.
Use tongue massage to prevent gag reflex. The purpose of the session: to activate the muscles of the tongue. After a course of massage, the tongue will get used to the ingress of solid food into the throat, it will not push it out. The kid will stop suffocating, afraid to swallow pieces, choke.

How to do it: use the services of a professional or learn first on yourself, then carry out the procedure for the child. Take a spatula or throat stick, place it on your tongue and press down slowly towards the root of the tongue. If the child feels fear, starts crying, stop. Continue the next day. Go deeper slowly, even if it takes two to three weeks.

Help chew with your hands. Touch your face, move your cheeks, if the baby does not mind. At this moment, chew for fun yourself, comment on all the actions.
Provoke the urge to chew. Give a treat like marmalade, banana (small bite) to taste. Then offer a larger piece. The child must want to bite him.
Follow the example of other people. Go to lunch or dinner, invite married couples with children to your place. Studying the behavior of peers, the baby will learn to chew faster.

To master the skill of chewing, especially at an older age (1.5-2 years), the psychological environment and a few simple tricks are important:

Come up with a fairy tale about the benefits of chewing. Tell a compelling story often. Do not forget to frighten the beginning a little, where the hero did not want to eat bread, meat, but coped with laziness and learned everything.
Tell us about the benefits of proper nutrition. Stories about the work of internal organs are popular with children after 2 years. Persuade the baby to help the stomach to cope with the load, to provide the body with nutrients in solid form.
Arrange a competition. Who chews the meat better, who has sharper and faster teeth, etc.
Take your time and effort. It will take longer to study after a year.
Do not scare the child, even if he choked, do not be afraid yourself. As a last resort, help your baby cope with a cough. If the little one sees how tense the mother is, he will be excited and scared himself.
Get your little one involved in cooking. Let it rub the vegetables, salt the porridge, etc. And then he will eat the results of his labor. Praise for any expression of interest, attempts to chew is a must.
Set the table with forks for the main course. Stringing the pieces and putting them in your mouth with a fork is much more fun.
Shouts, swearing are prohibited. Let the child spit out the prepared dish, frown, protest. For bad behavior, he can only be slightly chided and look upset. Shouting, threatening cannot be categorically.
Don't forget to praise your accomplishments. Praising children is the best engine for progress.

Important! Forcing to eat by force is tantamount to mockery of the little one. According to Dr. Komarovsky, the little ones should be left alone for a couple of days. They themselves will come running to the kitchen asking for food. And the insistence of parents on the issue of feedings: their frequency, the volume of the portion eaten - provokes moods and infantilism.

How to stimulate appetite

Children with poor appetite often suffer from a lack of desire to eat solid food and generally eat well. Induce hunger in the following ways:

Don't force-feed.
Avoid snacking on sweets, rolls, packet juices.
Walk a lot.
Lead an active lifestyle.
Drink sour compotes. Prepare a decoction of prunes and add fennel seeds to it.
Watch for regularity of your bowel movements.
Include boiled and raw vegetables on the menu.
Let's drink more water.
Replace teas with rosehip and chamomile decoction.
Take a course of vitamins as prescribed by your doctor.
Feed properly. Give complementary foods first, followed by formula or breast milk.

Teaching a child to chew if he doesn't want to, chokes or chokes is not easy. But who said raising children is easy. Show restraint, be patient, follow the advice of doctors, psychologists, experienced parents, and everything will work out.

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