Choking on Food

Hi W.,

As funny as this sounds, my little boy is in food therapy b/c he wasn't chewing his food and kept choking. A few of the exercises that we do to remind him to chew are as follows: 1. We use an electric tooth brush to tickel his gums(along the sides, front, and back) and the roof of his mouth. The first few time I did this he screamed and spit up but its really good input the muscles and reminds them to chew. 2. We also walk the tooth brush along his tongue to strenghthen his gag reflex. We put the brush on the tip of the tongue, the middle, and then then back. 3. Another exercise that we do is we massage all of his face muscles and lips while we sing silly songs a few times a day. Again, this reminds ALL of his face muscles that its time to work. Lastly, if this is really bothering you, Children's Health Care of Atlanta has a food thereapy program. You may want to get your little girl checked out and eliviate the stress that this has been causing you. Especially since you know your child best!

Take care and have a great day!
M.

PS Feel free to email me if you have any questions

Both my kids had this around that same age and they just grew out of it. The pediatrician treated me that same way and acted like I was a paranoid mother. I just had to be really careful what I fed them and I'd constantly say, "chew with your teeth," and make the chewing motion with my own mouth. This seemed to help remind the kids to slow down when they're eating. My daughter is 3 now and I still watch her eat and sometimes I'll catch her just shoveling food in her mouth and barely chewing. It's like she's starving, but I promise I feed her! :) If I had known there was such a thing as food therapy, I may have opted to do this back when they were younger, too. If it's becoming a big problem, you might want to get her evaluated just to ease your mind if nothing else.

W. - never let a doctor intimate you. You know your child and it seems she may have an issue to check into. I would try a gastro-intestinal doctor and/or a neurologist. The neurologist could check her mouth/throat muscles. There are diseases that affect muscles where children can not chew and swallow food.

Good luck.

You may need to get her evaluated by a Speech and Language Pathologist for her eating issues. At least then you can find out if there is anything that can help her. There is a program called Babies Can't Wait that offers in home evaluation and therapies until a child is age 3. IF you would like to find out more about the program or schedule an appt. to get her evaluated call 1-888-736-5329 to the Rome District office to make a referral and a Intake Service Coordinator will call you back to talk more about the program and what is going on with your little girl.

Hi W.

Babies Can't Wait offers every child birth thru 3 years a free evaluation to determine if your daughter may be eligible for services ie: ot evaluation, etc. A specialist may be able to help figure out if your daughter may require further intervention. I work with a family now that has a little boy with a similar problem and mom has gone as far as to have a swallow study done (recommended by pediatrician). These are some of your options.
Hope it helps!

Hi W.,

I have Acid Reflux, which makes it very hard to swallow depending on how severe it is. My daughter is 2 and also has acid reflux and she has trouble swallowing sometimes. I would go to a Gastrologist and let them check her out to see if that may be the problem. Does she vomit often after she eats?

Check with her doctors again, could it possibly be a problem with her tonsils obstructing the path of her food?

I'm a pediatric GI nurse. If you have serious concerns, call us at ###-###-#### (get referral from PCP of course). Could be behavioral or organic (medical). Good luck!

L.
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