The child does not want to chew at 5 years. Why chewing is necessary. Possible problems due to inability to chew solid food

22.05.2019

If at the age of 6-9 months the baby does not show interest in hard liver, slices of bread or apples, dryers, etc., this should be a wake-up call for parents. After all, it is during this period of time that the chewing reflex is formed in the child.

And if it doesn't, you will have to face problems in the future. Let's talk about how to teach a child to chew so that he can eat not only semi-liquid or grated food.

Why does the baby refuse to change his diet, and how can you teach a child to chew?

Practice shows that in most cases, parents notice something is wrong somewhere after 10 months. The baby already has teeth in his mouth, but for some reason he categorically refuses to use them. In 1 year the problem only gets worse. And if you do not take the necessary steps, then it will only get worse.

According to pediatricians, it is very important that the child learns to chew food by a maximum of two years. Even better if it happens sooner, but 2 years is the deadline. Indeed, it is during this period that the absence of a chewing reflex begins to negatively affect the state of the oral cavity of the crumbs, the principle of operation of its jaws, and even digestion. So, before the age of two, a child must be taught to chew solid food without fail.

But first, parents need to understand what could be causing the problem. Note that the child refuses to chew most often for the following reasons:

You are feeding him incorrectly. If the mother does not know how to diversify the baby's diet, or gives him only soft foods, this can cause problems.
The kid is too lazy by nature, and he does not want to chew.
The baby is too active and unable to concentrate on anything (this condition is called hyperactivity).

In each of the cases under consideration, the child can be retrained. And the sooner you do it, the better.

Recommendations of experts regarding the rules of behavior of parents with a baby refusing to chew food

Such well-known experts as Dr. Komarovsky, and other children's doctors advise parents who are faced with the problem under consideration not to panic. Today it is already known how to solve it without causing psychological trauma to the baby and without negatively affecting his digestion.

The most important thing is to keep calm, patience and endurance.

Sooner or later, a parent who approaches the solution of the problem under consideration with all responsibility will definitely teach the baby to chew and swallow hard pieces of food.

Don't know how to get started? In this case, try to explain the chewing technique to the crumbs by your own example. If you fail to interest the child, offer him something tasty. It can be an apple slice, Turkish delight or, for example, natural marmalade, which he has never tried. The baby will definitely want to try a new treat, and parents should clearly explain to him that such food must be chewed.

How to teach a child to chew?

The child is unable to chew solid food. Gagging, nauseating. Our experience

What to do if a child chokes? Doctor Komarovsky | Early Hope

If the baby agrees to chew only something tasty, and takes the usual food only in crushed form, be persistent and give him only solid food. You can explain this by saying that your blender is broken, for example, and until you buy a new one, the baby will have to eat like this. And do not be afraid that the child will remain hungry - soon he will have to give in.

Another piece of advice that can be given to parents who are interested in how to teach a child to chew. Take him to visit more often or treat him to something in public places. Let him watch other children eat and repeat after them. Of course, you will have to spend some time developing the reflex, but soon you will notice that the child's taste preferences are changing. And then the need to instill in him a love for wholesome and healthy food will come to the fore. But this is a completely different topic.

In recent years, experts have noted an increase in the number of children who, at two years of age and older, cannot chew food. For this reason, they refuse to switch to food that is common to the whole family, preferring mashed and liquid dishes. The question of how to teach a child to chew is relevant today for many parents.

Proper development of the chewing reflex

To avoid a whole range of problems at the age of one year and older, it is important to start developing the chewing reflex in the baby in time. He wakes up in the baby at about the 6th month of life. If you watch the baby, you will notice how he diligently pulls into his mouth all the objects that fall into his hands, and diligently chews gums with breaking teeth.

Be sure to give your child “nibbling” toys, as the baby needs them not only to scratch the gums, but also to develop the awakening chewing reflex. It is advisable for a baby to acquire the first chewing skills even before she acquires her first teeth.

At about a year old, a baby already has several teeth with which he is ready to gnaw and chew food. Give him an apple without a peel (whole, not a piece, so as not to choke) or hard drying, let him scrape his teeth and chew under the supervision of adults. If the baby's interest is not stimulated, he will later begin to reject solid food, as he is not used to coping with it.

If you are afraid that a baby about a year old will choke on a piece of drying or an apple, use a nibbler. This device is a mesh nipple, inside which a piece of a suitable product is inserted. It can be an apple or a baby cookie. The baby sucks and chews on the nibbler, tasting the food, which helps him get used to chewing his food.

Nibbler is optimal to start using from 7-9 months. It is important to wash it thoroughly after each use, rinse with boiled water and make sure that the mesh remains intact.

Note! A child in the process of “working” with a nibbler or drying must necessarily breathe through his nose. If the baby has a runny nose, wait until he is well before offering him solid food.

With proper development, at two years old, a child can actively chew and swallow food normally. He may have a little difficulty with new types of solid food, but in general he will cope.

Why the child does not chew

If the chewing reflex is not supported at the age of six months to a year, there is a high risk that at two years the child will become naughty if he is offered solid food. The inability to chew food and swallow small pieces leads to the fact that the baby begins to choke, spit out pieces that are unpleasant for him. When trying to swallow food, he may choke or provoke a gag reflex.

A healthy child does not know how to chew in only one case - he was not taught. Modern manufacturers offer a wide range of tasty and healthy cereals, curds, vegetable and fruit purees, the texture of which is not conducive to chewing. If mothers prepare fruit or vegetable puree with their own hands, they most often use a blender and achieve perfect uniformity of the product, as a result of which the child does not chew.

If the baby is fed only with dishes with a delicate texture and does not stimulate chewing, then after some time you can face serious problems in the development of the child.

Why you need to chew

Chewing skill is very important to develop from an early age. Regular exercise and eating solid foods provide:

Healthy beautiful teeth. Without the constant stimulation that soft, mashed food can't provide, your baby's jaws don't grow well, leaving new teeth cramped. The blood supply to the gums deteriorates and the teeth do not grow strong enough. As a result, an incorrect bite is formed, and other dental problems may arise.
Good digestion. The gastrointestinal tract of a child develops in accordance with his age, and the stomach of a baby over one and a half years old needs food that is well saturated with saliva - it “starts” the process of producing digestive enzymes. If the baby does not chew food, but only swallows soft food, his stomach does not actively produce enzymes, which threatens to turn into a serious digestive disorder at an older age.
Developed speech. Refusal to chew and poor speech in a child two years of age and older are interrelated. If the baby does not chew from the age of six months, his muscles develop poorly, which are involved in the pronunciation of sounds. In this case, it is physically difficult for the child to speak clearly, and he tries to avoid verbal communication.

We solve the problem

How to teach a child to chew if he is already two years old, and the skill has not developed by itself? It is important to act gradually, not to force the baby to abruptly switch to new food - stress only slows down the acquisition of new habits and the development of the reflex.

First of all, you should visit a doctor to rule out causes related to health or developmental features. If everything is in order with the baby and he does not chew from laziness and inability, proceed with the systematic accustoming of the child to solid food. There are a few simple tricks that will help arouse interest in crumbs in such food.

If a baby older than a year does not chew and flatly refuses to taste solid food, do not be discouraged. Skip store-bought purees and make your own. First, reduce the blender's mashing time - let there be a few small pieces left.

Gradually switch to dishes in which the vegetables are simply kneaded a little with a fork - by this time the child will learn to swallow not only homogeneous puree, but also small pieces, having previously mixed them in the mouth.

Then add soft vegetables to his plate that you can take with your hands or with a child's fork - cauliflower, boiled carrots, boiled green peas. Or invite him to catch pieces of vegetables from the soup "like in adults." The baby easily chews vegetables with his teeth. When he has mastered the skill of biting and chewing, add an apple, baby biscuits, and other solid foods to the menu.

Decorate the usual porridge, cottage cheese or mashed potatoes with small pieces of vegetables or fruits, berries. It is important to choose foods that the baby is not allergic to and create a bright, attractive composition. Come up with a game plot, according to which you first need to chew on an appetizing piece with your teeth in order to feel its special taste. Set an example, agree to eat these pieces or berries in turn.

Some children show an interest in "adult" food along with an interest in cutlery. Arm your baby with a baby fork so that he tries to deliver an attractive piece to his mouth and chew on his own. In addition, we advise you to read the article on how to choose the right dishes for your baby, at the link.

Please note: meat for children under three years of age should be given in the form of steamed meatballs or meatballs. Chewing a piece of meat at this age is still difficult.

You can play with the baby in the "bunny", who loves to gnaw cabbage and carrots - during the game, the child chews not for himself, but for the character, which helps him remove the psychological block.

The sooner parents ask themselves how to teach a child to chew, the easier it is for a baby from the age of one to switch to a regular home menu.

The timely formation of the chewing reflex in a child is an important condition for the normal development of the child's body. But it often happens that parents introduce solid food to their child too early or, conversely, too late. In the first case, the attempt will most likely end in failure, and training will have to be postponed for some time. And in the second, adults will have to decide how to teach a child to chew if this was not done on time.

Need for chewing

The formation of the chewing reflex and the use of solid food contribute to:

Dental health. Solid food improves the blood supply to the gums and gives the right load to the teeth. If the baby eats exclusively soft food that does not require chewing, there is a risk of dental problems. Teeth may not grow strong enough, which will lead to the formation of a malocclusion.
Normal activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Food saturated with saliva should enter the stomach of a grown baby, which contributes to the production of gastric juice and necessary digestive enzymes. This is impossible if the child does not chew food, but simply swallows it.
Speech development. The muscles of the tongue develop, which contributes to the formation of the correct pronunciation of speech sounds.

When to introduce your baby to solid foods

The age of formation of the chewing reflex depends, first of all, on the growth of the child's teeth. Around the age of 6 months, the baby begins to drag into his mouth everything that he can reach. He diligently grinds objects with gums, through which the first teeth begin to break through.

Depending on individual characteristics, some children by the year are already able to gnaw on fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears or carrots. For others, the number of teeth does not yet allow them to eat solid food, at this age and even later they continue to eat any food in the form of puree.

The eruption of the first teeth is an indicator that the child is ready to switch to a new diet. But parents need to objectively assess their child's ability to chew food. You should not give your baby solid food (such as bagels or apples) when he has only grown his first two teeth. With their help, the baby is able to bite off, but in order to chew this piece, two teeth are definitely not enough, and the child may choke.

Reasons for not eating solid foods

Some mothers and fathers, instead of encouraging chewing, continue to feed their child pureed soups and purees in the hope that the process will improve by itself. If the child is given food for too long that is no longer suitable for his age, he may refuse to chew hard pieces in the future. And only parents will be to blame.

When eating food exclusively in the form of puree, the gastrointestinal tract of the crumbs does not get the opportunity to learn how to digest solid food. A child who does not know how to chew normally will try to swallow whole pieces. This can cause the baby to choke. In addition, such a diet can provoke vomiting, which will cause an aversion to solid food.

Assistants in the formation of the chewing reflex

For the timely formation of a chewing reflex in a baby, special devices can help parents.

Use of teethers. From three months, parents need to provide the baby with safe teethers. Such devices promote a rush of blood to the gums, which facilitates the passage of the tooth through soft tissues.
Teethers are required for a child not only to massage the gums, but also to form a chewing reflex. With their help, the baby will acquire the initial chewing skills long before the appearance of the first teeth.
Nibbler application. Starting from the moment of the introduction of complementary foods, you can use a nibbler - a mesh container in which pieces of solid food are placed. With it, you can offer your baby vegetables, fruits, bread products. The mesh prevents crumbs from getting into the baby's mouth, and he will not be able to choke. Nibbler chewing is a great gum workout that promotes a healthy dentition.

Creating conditions for fixing the reflex

For the correct development and consolidation of the chewing reflex in a child, it is necessary to create certain conditions.

Choosing the right time. In order to offer the baby food of a new consistency for him, you need to choose the right time. If the baby is hungry and requires a mixture or porridge from a bottle, you do not need to insist on feeding from a spoon. It is better to choose another moment for this, otherwise the process of getting used to solid food will be postponed indefinitely.
You should not try to feed the baby with a spoon and at the end of the meal, when he is full. The best solution would be to offer him porridge from a spoon a few minutes after the baby has satisfied his strong hunger, for example, with milk. Then you can give the child to wash down the meal with the remaining milk.
Using a baby spoon. At the first feedings, an ordinary teaspoon will be too large for the crumbs. It is best to use a special plastic baby spoon. Food should be taken little by little so that the baby can send food into the mouth with habitual sucking movements. Do not try to put a spoon deep into the child's mouth, this can cause him to choke and cough.
Maintaining the correct consistency. When feeding a child with instant cereals, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the dosage set by the manufacturer, since a certain consistency is suitable for each age. You can continue to feed your baby your favorite ready-made porridge for a while, but over time it should become thicker.
Adding Pieces. In order for the child to get used to chewing solid food, you need to gradually add dishes with large pieces to the diet. For example, you can add a crumb of bread to the soup, so the baby can feel the pieces of food on the tongue. Feed the baby should be in small portions, carefully making sure that he does not choke.
Gradual transition to solid foods. It is important to act gradually, without forcing the child to abruptly switch to a new food for him. This can cause stress, and the development of the reflex will slow down.
It is convenient to make up a baby’s diet, focusing on the consistency of food offered by manufacturers of ready-made baby food. Gradually, the homogeneous puree is replaced by puree with small pieces, then homogeneous thick food is offered, the final stage is thick food with hard pieces.

Little tricks for little stubborn people

When a child categorically refuses to eat food, the consistency of which differs from his usual puree, parents can apply little tricks. This will help encourage the baby to master the process of chewing.

When a mother uses a blender to grind food and the child knows it very well, at some point you can say that the device is broken, so today the soup will be with small pieces. If this is not followed by too loud protest and the baby agrees, you can give him a safe plastic fork and offer to independently knead his own food in a plate. It will be easier for the baby to put a piece in his mouth than to try to crush it with a fork.
Children love to imitate, and this can be used to teach a child to chew. You can invite a family with children to your place, or you can take the baby to a children's cafe. Watching how other children actively eat, the baby will probably also want to try “adult” food from a spoon.
At a family lunch or dinner, you can show your child that eating hard pieces with a spoon or fork is very exciting. The whole family sits at the table, but the baby is not called to the table. Adults begin to eat with appetite, admiring aloud very tasty food. This will surely arouse the child's interest in the process of eating. If he comes to the table, do not immediately put him next to him and offer food. On the contrary, we can say that he went to play, since adults have a very important and interesting business. Parents should behave in such a way that the baby understands that he is missing something, which turns out to be very interesting.
You can offer your child baby cookies, which he will surely like. Even if at first he will suck it out of habit, then the baby will probably try to nibble.

The transition from pureed foods to solid foods that need to be chewed is a natural physiological process. The baby's digestive system gradually adapts to such food and learns to digest it. With normal development, a two-year-old child can chew well and swallow solid food normally. With some new dishes, the baby may have minor difficulties, but in general, he should cope with the chewing process perfectly.

If at the right time the child was not taught to chew, continuing to feed him grated soups and mashed potatoes even at 2 years old, then the consequences for his health can be disappointing.

An incorrect bite will form, dental problems will appear.
Digestion will be spoiled. As a child grows, their gastrointestinal tract develops along with it. The lack of solid food in the baby's diet will lead to atrophy of the stomach - upon receipt, the food will no longer be processed with the proper amount of saliva, which, in turn, will cause a lack of enzymes produced and malfunctions of the digestive system.
The lack of chewing skills will invariably lead to problems in the development of speech, since the muscles responsible for the pronunciation of sounds will not receive the necessary load for development.

Moreover, a child who constantly receives grated food will lose the habit of making any effort on his part to chew and will consciously begin to refuse solid food. So, by the age of two or three, children are able to manipulate their parents, demanding their usual food.

For children who are preparing for kindergarten by this time, this will become a real problem, however, as well as for their parents.

At what age does a child develop chewing skills?

By accustoming babies to food crushed with a sieve or blender and using easy-to-prepare infant formulas, many inexperienced mothers are so addicted to the process that they often miss the moment when they need to introduce solid food into their child's diet.

At the same time, many of them are sure that the baby can live in peace and enjoy without solid food for up to 1 year, not suspecting that chewing skills need to be formed not from the moment the first teeth appear, but much earlier.

How not to miss the right moment?

Pay attention to the behavior of the crumbs. As soon as you notice that he began to actively pull everything that comes to hand into his mouth, start acting!

If the baby's gums itch, and this is the first signal that it is time to start instilling chewing skills in him. In some children, this period occurs at 4-5 months, while in others by 7 months or later.

How to lay the right foundation for chewing skill?

How to teach a child to chew at such an early age? Use a simple device - a teether, biting which the baby will begin to train the chewing muscles himself!

A gum ring, a timely transition to age-appropriate ready-made formulas and the introduction of complementary foods will allow the baby to learn to chew on its own as early as 1 year old.

How to teach a baby to chew: effective methods

Introduction to solid foods

To begin with, the transition to solid food should be gradual. If you use ready-made formulas and purees, then choose only those products that are appropriate for the age of the child. The older the baby, the thicker the mixture will be, and fruit, meat and vegetable purees will contain solid pieces of food.

If you are used to feeding your baby with homemade products, then you can start the transition to solid food by gradually reducing the degree of grinding and abandoning the blender. Some food can be crushed with a fork, and some grated on a coarse grater.

But what to do if the right moment is missed, the child is already too accustomed to grated food and categorically refuses to chew and swallow even small pieces?

tongue massage

Start by activating the muscles of the tongue, which is necessary in order to prevent the baby from having a gag reflex when solid food enters the mouth. To do this, gently massage the child's tongue daily with gauze and a wooden spatula, trying to get closer to the root of the tongue every day.

Alternatively, you can also offer the baby to push out a gauze napkin placed behind the cheek with the tongue. It will be great if, along the way, you introduce articulatory gymnastics into the life of a child.

Nibbler use

To help your baby cope with the fear of solid food in his mouth, you can start with fruits wrapped in cheesecloth or using a more modern device - a nibbler - a feeding sieve.

A nibbler is a small, dummy-shaped sieve with a handle into which a piece of fruit or vegetable is placed. The child will be able to train chewing reflexes by simply chewing fruit in a nibbler without the risk of choking on a large piece.

Involving your child in the food preparation process

You can try to play a child after a year old, convincing that the blender is broken, so you have to crush the food with a fork. An excellent effect can be achieved if you involve the baby in the cooking process - let him crush the potatoes with a fork or grate the carrots.

Perhaps in this case he will have more desire to taste the fruits of his labor.

positive example

It is very important to demonstrate to the baby with the whole family that eating pieces of food with a fork is interesting. Start by setting the table, invite all family members to it, deliberately ignoring the child.

At meals, focus on how tasty and convenient it is to eat solid food, thereby awakening the baby's interest in what is happening. Let him sit at the table only after he is very hungry.

Invite guests more often, go with your child to visit yourself and be sure to focus on eating “adult” food. It is important to let your baby know that eating such food is exciting, even if it takes a long time.

How to captivate a baby with solid food without appetite?

A special case is the lack of appetite in a child. Parents are happy to feed such children with grated food, so long as they do not remain hungry. As a result, there is a lack of progress in the formation of chewing skills and the capriciousness of a baby who is used to being indulged.

In this case, the answer to the question: “How to teach a child to chew?” will not consist in developing his chewing skills, but in stimulating interest in food. A healthy appetite for the crumbs will speed up the process of his transition to eating solid foods, and therefore chewing.

So, if your child is one of those who cannot be persuaded to sit down at the table of their own accord, then before moving on to the process of teaching him chewing skills, it is worth trying to work on awakening his appetite:

Dilute the baby's drink instead of sugar with rosehip syrup or give rosehip juice diluted in water.
Replace store-bought juices with homemade compotes with prunes and fennel seeds.
Spend more time outdoors, actively playing with your baby.
Do not let your child snack or drink milk or juice between meals.

Be consistent and persistent in achieving the goal, do not let the child manipulate you and, most importantly, support his interest in food in all available ways, including by creatively decorating dishes.

Do not leave the baby with food unattended and in no case oppress him with strict control, provoking a sense of danger while eating hard food. This will lead to the fact that the child will begin to choke and stop enjoying food.

When transferring a child to a new type of food, some mothers sometimes encounter difficulties. Babies who are accustomed to breast milk, formula milk, and pureed foods try to swallow whole solid foods or refuse them altogether. Chewing food does not always mean grinding it with your teeth. The child must acquire the skill to distinguish solid pieces in semi-liquid food and form a food bolus in the mouth without the desire to spit it out.

Why do kids refuse to eat?

Wrong feeding. One of the reasons why modern children refuse to chew on their own for a long time can be considered a wide variety of ready-made baby food. Such cereals and mashed potatoes are very convenient for parents, as they are always at hand and do not require cooking efforts. When buying such products, it is recommended to pay attention to the instructions for use. As a rule, all products have their own age group, and the difference between the contents lies in the consistency of the finished mixture. For very young children, the first complementary foods have a liquid puree form. For older children, the mixture may be thicker and contain pieces of solid foods.
Laziness. Sometimes children are quite spoiled and lazy at an early age - they just do not want to chew their food. In addition, at the first whim, a caring mother will replace the disliked product with her favorite puree.
Hyperactivity. Hyperactive children often refuse to chew because it takes time to do so. For these babies, it is quite difficult to sit still and focus on food.

Development of chewing skills in a child

6 months. The chewing reflex is formed starting from six months. It is very important not to miss the moment when the first teeth begin to erupt in the child. It is during this period that the chewing instinct of the baby is formed, therefore, instead of a rubber teether, it is better to give the child drying, crackers or baby cookies. Thus, the baby does not just scratch his gums, but learns to make the first chewing movements.
12 months. During this period, children already have 6-8 teeth in their mouths, so they can try to chew solid food. Under the control of the mother, the child should receive thicker food even before the age of one (from 8-10 months) - offer the baby boiled vegetables cut into pieces, slices of fruit, large crackers.
2 years. By the age of two, the baby should be able to actively chew. It is during this period that the use of solid food helps the proper development of the dentition, the normal function of salivation and the formation of the activity of the digestive system. If by this age the child is experiencing difficulties, action should be taken.

How to help your child learn to chew

Some useful tips for parents who are worried about how to teach their child to eat solid food:

Put on a little show for your little one - say that the blender is broken and the store is out of favorite puree. Encourage your child to mash their own food with a fork. Of course, as a result, the food may end up far beyond the plate - take this completely calmly. It is important to interest the baby and draw his attention to changes. Then invite him to try what he prepared himself.
Treat your child to something especially tasty - sweet fruits, marmalade, marshmallows. Invite other kids over. Arrange a separate beautiful table for the children. With the company of other kids who are happy to eat goodies, your child will also want to try a piece.
Stop grinding food - offer your baby only products in their natural form. If the child refuses - do not get annoyed, set aside and repeat the meal in half an hour.
Try eating with your baby in a public place. Explain to him that he is already quite an adult and should not eat only "baby" food. A change of scenery and the presence of other people can help the child.

Of course, it will be quite difficult to overcome the persistent unwillingness of the child. The main thing is to show patience and perseverance. Remember that your first concern is your baby's health. If you do not respond to whims and worry about the fact that the child is hungry, gradually the child will get used to the usual diet.