I have a little boy about to be 2 and he has this things he does. He doesnt eat his food. For example, if I give him grapes, he will chew them up and then spit them out. He does this with about half of them. Don't get me wrong, he eats and he is growing. I have an appointment with his ped. soon and I will ask her. Anyone one going thru something like this?
Hi J.,
I can think of two things one a sore throat and the secound maybe his two year old molers are coming in. I have three children 15 1/2,9, 4years. I think all my kids did that at one time or another.
My 2 and 1/2 yr old likes to play with his food too! Same thing, chews it up and spits it out, till we tell him he is going to the time out chair if he doesn't eat his food! Do you have a time out chair??? We started time out at 10 months old, and once he learned you don't get toys, blankies , or the tv on when you are in time out, and you don't get up till your timer goes off, we got the idea! As long as he eats something and is growing and gaining weight, don't worry!
My daughter did the same thing with some foods, I think it's pretty common. If he is growing I wouldn't worry. Kids will eat when they are hungry. The best advice our pediatrician ever gave (and I was a very worried first time mom) was this: ask yourself, is she/he peeing? is she/he pooping? then don't worry, she will eat when she is hungry. Hope that gives you comfort. Anyone who is that aware of their child and sees the doc as needed is doing a great job so pat yourself on the back!
M.
My daughter doesn't like tough textures...she ditches the grape and pea skins if she can. But likes the flavor (juice) of the food. This phase appears to be passing. Probably will with your son too.
my sons 2 and a half and does the same thing with grapes, mostly, so as much work as it is i peel them...
Hi J.-
In general, the more attention you pay to his eating and what he eats and how he eats (especially at this age) the more 'problems' will develop. He adores attention, especially yours, and he is getting it around this issue. If the pediatrician says that he is healthy and growing as he should, just continue on, but ignore the behavior- I mean, you and he clean up the mess, as always, but you don't worry. That said, he may need snacks fairly frequently, if he is getting crabby between times.
I know how it feels- hope this helps:-) S.
Hi, J.. My daughter went through something similar. The doctor said as long as she is eating, and she keeps gaining weight, there is no worry. I think it's just something they have to grow out of--my daughter is 3 now and doesn't do it anymore.
Kids eat when they are hungry, unlike us adults, we eat for all sorts of reasons! As long as he's growing, don't worry about it or else your going to pass on your eating habits to your son.
My twenty-three month old does the same thing, but usually it's when he's not very hungry. That's how I know that meal time is over. He thinks he's being funny when he spits it out, so that is when I take the food away and meal time is over! It seems to be more for attention than anything else, so try not to make too much of it and he'll stop. (My other kids did it too!) I tell my son that if he's going to spit it out, he's done. Then if he does it again, it's all over. If he's really not full yet, he knows to quit or the food it gone!
Hi J.. My daughter is 23 months and we have been going through this since she was a year old. It can be incredibly frustrating, however, I have now relaxed a bit because I know she will eat if she is really hungry. She spit out food all the time for a few months. This phased has past and now she will only spit out certain foods if she doesn't like the texture. During the intense spitting food phase, we constantly told her she was "all done" and showed her how to put lift her plate from her high chair tray and put it on the kitchen table. She just recently decided to actually follow this procedure on her own. When she was spitting constantly, my pediatrician recommended that we offer no more than 4 foods per meal (giving her only 1 at a time). She is now old enough that I give her a choice between two items and she gets to pick from the two what she will eat. This has helped reduce the spitting too. Hang in there...based on the number of responses to your request, there are TONS of moms out there dealing with the same thing.
my daughter ate great from 4 to 9 months old and I still have to keep her on bottles until now....she will be 2 in the begining of January. SHe just decided she didn't want to eat anymore. She will eat sometimes, but she chews all of her food and spits it out too. I think with the grapes though, it could be a texture thing and hard to swallow. They are still getting the juices, so it is still god to keep trying with them. Plus I hear that it takes up to 10 times of one food sometimes before they develop a taste for it too.
Good luck and let me know what your ped says.....as long as them are growing and healthy though, I wouldn't worry too much at this point. But if you are bothered, have them prick the baby's finger and run the iron levels. Iron levels will probably be fine if the baby doesn't seem to be tired all of the time. Just keep trying.
I have two boys (2 1/2 and 4). My 4 year is a picky eater in general and only eats a handful of things. My 2 1/2 year old has a better appetite but he does things just like you described, especially with grapes, strawberries well any fruit. I think they want to try it but then the texture feels weird or it tastes bad to them and they spit it out. I am 99% sure it's normal. I too have talked to my ped about eating habits and sure enough my kids are normal and healthy. Kids really only a couple of tablespoons of food a day to survive so don't think he is starving. Obviously we want them to eat more but if they don't it's okay. Make sure he takes vitamins and drinks some milk. Best of luck.
My son is 15 months and has really started to have an issue with textures, some things go in and come right back out. Just work with what you know he likes to make sure he is getting enough healthy food. Some times my son has a PB&J three nights in a row - just try to get natural peanut butter, low sugar jam, and whole grain bread... he also eats a LOT of yogurt because he loves it, we know he'll eat it and we waste less because we are not trying to get him to eat three different meals every night. It can be difficult but I think they all go through the texture phase.
