If he’s having a motor issue with properly chewing and swallowing, an occupational therapist, speech therapist, or feeding therapist can demonstrate exercises. Always stay close when your toddler may have food in his mouth. There is a risk of gagging and choking any time a toddler is eating, just because they are still developing the coordination needed to deftly bite, chew, and swallow. If you include crunchy food such as apples in his meals and snacks this can encourage chewing and might help to move the mush along. He may be less ravenous, and therefore less likely to want to hoard food in his cheeks, if you offer one or two snacks between meals. Best to limit time at the table to only as long as your child is interested in eating. By the way, watching television or other electronic devices while eating is a bad habit that can lead to mindless mouth stuffing at any age. Have two-way conversation while you eat together to further slow the pace at which he shovels it in. Serve small amounts of bite size pieces of food at a time so he isn’t tempted to pack in too much at once.
It may help to slow the pace at which your child eats to prevent cheek stuffing. The mass availability of vaccines for all little ones is expected this summer.) Reducing the Cheekload (The Covid-19 vaccine for children under the age of five is still undergoing trials. Sore throat is one of the possible symptoms of Covid-19, so be on the lookout for a fever or other symptoms in him, as well as other members of the household, and proceed with testing and quarantining if warranted. Eventually, the soaked food is swallowed unconsciously.Īlternatively, a sore throat could be caused by a passing cold virus. The scratch may have healed, but the habit continued because it was soothing. It could be that he scratched his throat with something sharp – a piece of pretzel, maybe – so he avoids swallowing until the food has soaked in his saliva long enough to be very mushy. There’s a small chance that swallowing is or was uncomfortable for some reason. A slow and steady infusion of carbohydrates is similarly in effect when adults sip on soft drinks or sugared coffee while working. This is what real chipmunks do, to keep on the move away from predators, or just to transport a large find of food to their den to eat later. As he needs a blood sugar boost, the veritable chipmunk will release tiny amounts of the stored food.
So much the better if what he has stored in his cheeks is apple sauce, oatmeal, noodles, or anything high in carbohydrates which can supply him with physical energy. The difference is that now he also needs the fuel for near constant movement. His drawn-out intake of food, even after he’s toddled away from the table, may remind you of an earlier growth spurt a time when he seemed to need milk around the clock. He appears to have learned to signal that the meal is “over” so he can be on the loose again. Having to stay in one place for meals and snacks can really try his patience. Constant Motion and Energy SupplyĬalories count for a toddler. Either way, playing around with his tongue with the squishy food in his mouth can be soothing, much like a pacifier when he was younger. If the molars are just coming in, some packed mushy food may be soothing. If he has his two-year-old molars, he may be enjoying practicing his grinding skills, a little at a time, while he plays. He uses his mouth to explore the world and at the same time, to satisfy oral stimulation needs. This is nature’s built-in assurance that he will enjoy eating. At birth and through the first three years, a child’s mouth – lips, tongue, and palate – are very sensitive. The Way it FeelsĪ simple explanation for this behavior is that it feels good. It might occur in younger or older children, too, but is generally harmless and temporary. Pocketing food in their cheeks, also known as pouching, is a common behavior in toddlers. This has been getting worse the past couple of days. At bedtime he still has bits of his dinner in his cheeks when it comes time to brush his teeth. Then I notice that his cheeks are plump with food. He’ll say, “All done,” so I get him out of the high chair and start cleaning up. My toddler walks around with food in his mouth.