Hording food in mouth

• By shrutimalikramaswamy
• Posted December 7, 2007 at 1:20 pm
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One of my friends' daughter used to do it very frequently.She was 4-5 years old and received therapy for this and number of other isssues.

Also I do not mean to scare you but they had asked me this history when they were screening Nikita and Tanya for issues during their speech evaluation.It remained with me as I had seen it happeining with my friends' daughter.

I would suggest you speak to your doctor if it happens even once again.

Shruti

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• By blubis969
• Posted December 7, 2007 at 7:19 pm
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Hi Kim,
I work with children from birth to three years of age for developmental delays. I see several children for feeding issues with various causes. I would recommend your first step is to talk with the doctor to make sure it isn't a swallowing issue. When she does eat, does she put a lot of food in mouth at once or overstuff? Does she put things other than food in her mouth? How is her speech develpment? I ask these things because sometimes you will see this happen when there are weak oral motor muscles, or decreased awareness of the mouth. If you see other things, you could call your county early intervention program. They provide services for children birth to three years of age. They could give you suggestions and ideas to help.

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• By tabby33809
• Posted December 8, 2007 at 7:30 am
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My son had done this and actually still does from time to time (he's 7yrs old now). When he was younger his speech therapist narrowed it down to getting tired of chewing. It took alot to get him to eat. We had to tap on his cheek with the food in it to remind him to chew and swallow. A couple weeks ago in school he had celery in his mouth for over an hour past lunch. At dinner he'll sometimes horde it and take forever to chew and swallow it. Most of the time he gets distracted, he'll forget it's in his mouth, and the other thing he'll say is he's resting because he's tired. The therapist said you use alot of muscles to eat and they do tire so the kids come to a stand still with the food in their mouth. We still deal with it, just not as often. I to bribe him with his computer time or playtime. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. If anyone has a solution that would be great. Does your daughter go to speech therapy? If so what do they say?

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• By MT22Mommy
• Posted December 8, 2007 at 9:04 pm
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My one year old is going through the same issue. Speech development and low muscle tone are two factors with my son. Some kids just enjoy the pressure of holding food in their mouth. If you Google the term "mouth stuffing" in regards to Speech Language Pathology, you can find a wealth of info. What can help sometimes is teaching them to "wake up" their mouth can help. This means getting them to understand the whole area of their mouth. Luke's obviously a little younger, but with him I use club soda and apple sauce mixed together. The bubbles help to keep him alert. (I must warn you though this sometimes backfires.) But seeing speech language pathology would bevery helpful. Luke's on a year long wait list so hey, if you have any other ideas to post, I'd greatly appreciate it too!

All the best...

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• By Bellasmom1
• Posted December 9, 2007 at 12:45 am
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Hello,
Thanks for the comments.
We moved last week so maybe it could be that? She was upset for a few days and kept bringing our shoes to us and crying to go back to our old house?
She has never had this issue before and has always been a good eater. She did do this twice today but only for about 10 to 15 minutes. She seems to be doing it at the end of the meal when her belly is full or when she doesn't like a pacticular food to much. She does not do it with her fish crackers, cheese, mac and cheese or cookies and she is taking her milk and juice just fine so I don't think it's a swallowing thing. She doesn't take speech therapy yet becasue her doctor said he wasn't concerned yet about her speech as of the last time he saw her and just the last few weeks she has really taken off with talking and her vocabulary has trippled and she has been saying two and three word sentences. So I just don't know the reason for it but I am definetly gonna be callng her doctor Monday morning and see what they have to say. Thank you for all your tips and I'll let you know if I figuire anything out or can help in any way. Oh and yes she does put everything in her mouth like all her toys or what ever else she can find.

Take care,
Kim

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• By jodi2
• Posted December 10, 2007 at 12:03 pm
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Hey Stranger-

Mitchell has been doing this too. I think our kids are destined to drive us bonkers. He will be eating fine and then start shoving everything in. And then when he tries to swallow there is too much and he gags. And of course everything he did eat comes up. It is becoming such a frequent thing lately, he is throwing up everyday.

We've started his zantac on a regular basis, but I don't think it's his reflux. It's just too much at one time. We had school today and I asked his therapist about it, because he was doing it at snack time. She said she will talk to the Speech Therapist to see what she says. She said it may be an oral thing, but why would it just be starting now?

I have started to put smaller amounts of food on his plate, and he does not get more until he is done chewing what he has. When he starts pocketing it, I take his food away. I try not to make a big deal out of it, because then he knows he is doing something he shouldn't and then does it more.

Let me know what your doctor says!
Jodi

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• By Bellasmom1
• Posted December 11, 2007 at 5:34 pm
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Hello,
Just wanted to update on my daughter. She has continued to do this now and then and I beleive it's a control issue with her. I don't think it's reflux or swallowing issue. Also her speech is improving leaps and bounds so I don't think it has to do with anything orally. I did some research and many reasons can cause kids to do this. With my daughters history and the resent big change she had (moving) I do beleive it's behavioral. I just finished the 21 month chapter today in my "what to expect the toddler years" and the whole chapter was filled with how change can be very upsetting at this age. Even the smallest change like a different cup than normal. After talking to other parents about this I decided to make her sit in her highchair until she finishes her food in her mouth. I sat with her and have talked her through it. Telling her to chew and swallow before she can go play. She has been doing alot better after I took her control away. She is still hoarding on occasion but swallowing within 5-10 minutes. Today she has not hoarded her food at all. So I hope she continues to go good, thanks for all the advise, Kim

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