Toddler doesn't chew her food.

[Betheney]

My little one has always been a bit of a piggy and she chews sometimes but only when she really has to.

DH gave her a couple of gummy bears the other day (behind my back) and he told me she just swallowed them whole. Then last night i gave her penne pasta and the second one peice entered her mouth she would swallow it whole!!! it was only ever there for max 1 second. I'm not sure if this is cause for concern or not..... i know in animals they have to chew their food otherwise they don't get all the nutrients and goodness out of them because they end up just coming out whole out the other end. I haven't noticed anything like that in her poops but to be honest i don't really investigate them. I just gave her toast and she chewed it, but that's about the only food she does chew.

Is anyone elses toddler like this? Should i be worried?

Love

 

[HellBunny]

Jayden seems to wolf things down too, he had a jacket potato for his dinner and each piece just went straight down! xx

 

[LPF]

Evan does this - we often see grape or carrot chunks come out the other end. Its gross but no idea what to do - he knows how to chew but sometimes doesn't!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby used to do this sometimes at that age, with pasta and tinned mandarin segments in particular! I don't know why she started doing it but she stopped pretty soon!

 

[babyjiva]

i would be less worried about the nutrients and more worried about her choking. as she ever choked? yikes!!! personally I would cut her food up until she starts chewing it. but i'm a nut about my LO chocking.

 

[Betheney]

yes i am also horrified about her choking, i haven't cut it up that much because i figured the small it is the easier it is to swallow whole and that would do the opposite of encouraging her to chew....

She was screaming in the back of the car tonight and nothing i could do could calm her down and i had some ice in a cup so i popped a bit of ice in her mouth, i thought she'd suck on it or spit it out because it's cold i really did it just to distract her and she swallowed it in a second

 

[babyjiva]

yeah, i can see that she'd swallow smaller stuff even more so. what a dilemma, i'm not sure what to advise, but there's gotta be some trick to encourage her to chew. My LO is always trying to steal an icecube from my cup and it scares me to death when she actually gets one because i'd imagine they are too hard to chew for babies but i also figure it would melt before she choked but still scary.

 

[LilDreamy]

Alexa does this too. like noodles, just swallows whole. With meat she'll chew like 3 small bites then swallows. she has never choked... So idk. Hopefully it will all change with age. Not too worried about the nutrients... She's a big girl and seems to be absorbing the nutrients. Lol