OT: 14 month old DD can't swallow solid food!

[Mommy2Abby]

I'm hoping someone out there has some advice for me on this topic. My DD is going to be 14 months old next week and she is still exclusively eating the stage 2 baby food. Any time I try to give her anything "solid" or that has any kind of texture to it, like some of the stage 3 baby foods or things like mashed potatoes or mashed bananas, she gags until she throws up.

I started giving her different foods with different kinds of textures at about 7 months, and she has always done this. I've talked to my pediatrician several times about it and he says to just keep trying, that it takes longer for some kids to outgrow the natural gag reflex that babies are born with.

Does this seem normal to you? I know my older DD was eating table food almost exclusively by this age.

Younger DD has always had some food "issues". I had a terrible time getting her to take a bottle when she was younger. I nursed her and she did just fine but wanted NOTHING to do with a bottle. She would often gag when we put the nipple in her mouth and it took me forever (and a ton of $) to finally find a bottle that she would reluctantly take when I weaned her at 8 months.

When I started her on cereal and baby food, she would often gag towards the end of a feeding, and then refuse to go back for any more. She has outgrown that now and doesn't gag any more on the baby food. She eats very little, and is on the very low end of the growth curves for both height and weight for her age.

I don't believe in making food a big issue at our house, so I never "force" her to eat more, even when she only eats a few bites at each meal. She doesn't seem to be hungry between meals, and she is growing, so I'm not so worried about the quantity she eats. I am, however, worried about the fact that she can't seem to get the hang of solid foods. She will put small solids in her mouth, like Cheerios or those little rice puff things, but she never ever swallows them...just swishes them around and pushes them back out with her tongue.

Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this, and do you have any advice on how I can get her to be more comfortable with eating sold food? Since this is a Disney forum, we do have a trip planned for the end of September and I REALLY don't want to drag baby food all over the place with us. I thought we'd be finished with all that by then!

Thanks!

Mommy2Abby

 

[dawnmommy]

does she by chance have acid reflux too?

I would get her evaluated for feeding therapy. There is a good chance it will be done through Early Intervention in your state, or you can start with private. The initial eval is often done through speech therapists, actually.

I would push your pediatrician to do more, otherwise start calling around on your own.

If you have other questions I am happy to try and help (my son had severe eating issues, starting with the bottle just as your dd did)

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

My son had lots of issues with foods when a baby.
We had to fight to get him to take a bottle or eat anything & he had health issues about eating when a baby. Had to stay in the hospital 2 times because of this & was even tube fed for awhile.
I found he hated textures too. He hated stuff my 3 daughters liked...stuff like baby cerals, cream of wheat, textures like whip cream he hated!
Some of the first things he liked was crazy stuff...Spanish rice at restaurants was a big fav of his. He liked large curd cottage cheese, banana pieces..not mashed.
Another big thing was scrambled eggs. I'd scamble an egg & then add a hefty scoop of drained spinach from a can & he'd eat it like crazy! Sounds totally awful but he loved the stuff & he ate it often.
As for the chunky type baby food he would never eat those. We had to go straight to table foods.
Maybe I'll think of more later but as he is now 19 & way over 6 feet tall it has been awhile.

 

[stacy6552]

My younger son is a bad eater. At 5 I walked him out of AK because he'd throw up corn at lunch, on purpose.

First, what does the ped say?

Barring that there are no medical causes, I say, starting today you feed her whatever you are serving. If she doesn't eat it fine, but when she's hungry enough, she'll eat whatever you serve.

 

[MomtoAlexnWilliam]

I think 14 months is rather old to not be eating solid food. Obviously you are thinking that way too or you wouldn't have posted this question. I would ask my ped for a work up to find out what the problem is. That work up could potentially include a referral to a speech pathologist. They work with kids with swallow issues and can help you find out what the problem is!

If you can't get a referral from your ped, consider getting a second opinion from another doctor.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I certainly think it is time for some intervention. Perhaps an ENT would be a good place to start. Rule out the physical stuff first and then they can head you in the direction for any therapy that might benifit her.

prayers for your little one.

 

[Denine]

I know DD had issues with textures and would gag on stuff. She didn't do well at all with the stage that had some solid, so pureed. I don't remember what stage that was. I just gave that up and started regular finger foods.

Make sure she has no medical problem though.

DD is almost 8 now and is fine.

 

[thebeesknees]

I'd see if your pediatrician could possibly refer you for feeding therapy. My friend's son was the same way, and feeding therapy helped him make huge strides in very little time. It was something about textures that really bothered him, and they were able to get him past that and onto regular food. I have another friend who had 2 of her kids in feeding therapy and it worked wonders for them, too.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I'm hoping someone out there has some advice for me on this topic. My DD is going to be 14 months old next week and she is still exclusively eating the stage 2 baby food. Any time I try to give her anything "solid" or that has any kind of texture to it, like some of the stage 3 baby foods or things like mashed potatoes or mashed bananas, she gags until she throws up.

I started giving her different foods with different kinds of textures at about 7 months, and she has always done this. I've talked to my pediatrician several times about it and he says to just keep trying, that it takes longer for some kids to outgrow the natural gag reflex that babies are born with.

Does this seem normal to you? I know my older DD was eating table food almost exclusively by this age.

Younger DD has always had some food "issues". I had a terrible time getting her to take a bottle when she was younger. I nursed her and she did just fine but wanted NOTHING to do with a bottle. She would often gag when we put the nipple in her mouth and it took me forever (and a ton of $) to finally find a bottle that she would reluctantly take when I weaned her at 8 months.

When I started her on cereal and baby food, she would often gag towards the end of a feeding, and then refuse to go back for any more. She has outgrown that now and doesn't gag any more on the baby food. She eats very little, and is on the very low end of the growth curves for both height and weight for her age.

I don't believe in making food a big issue at our house, so I never "force" her to eat more, even when she only eats a few bites at each meal. She doesn't seem to be hungry between meals, and she is growing, so I'm not so worried about the quantity she eats. I am, however, worried about the fact that she can't seem to get the hang of solid foods. She will put small solids in her mouth, like Cheerios or those little rice puff things, but she never ever swallows them...just swishes them around and pushes them back out with her tongue.

Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this, and do you have any advice on how I can get her to be more comfortable with eating sold food? Since this is a Disney forum, we do have a trip planned for the end of September and I REALLY don't want to drag baby food all over the place with us. I thought we'd be finished with all that by then!

Thanks!

Mommy2Abby

This was exactly the problem my son had when he was a baby. As an infant, he would NEVER put anything in his mouth, at age 1 he was gagging on 1/2 a cheerio, and at nearly age 2 he was still eating almost exclusively pureed food. Because he was gaining weight, otherwise healthy and had no other issues, the doctor just kept giving it time. But it was eventually diagnosed as Sensory Integration Dysfunction / Oral Defensiveness or Oral Hypersensitivity.

Here are some of the symptoms *courtesy of sensory-processing-disorder dot com.

Hypersensitivity To Oral Input (Oral Defensiveness):

__ picky eater, often with extreme food preferences; i.e., limited repertoire of foods, picky about brands, resistive to trying new foods or restaurants, and may not eat at other people's houses)

__ may only eat "soft" or pureed foods past 24 months of age

__ may gag with textured foods

__ has difficulty with sucking, chewing, and swallowing; may choke or have a fear of choking

__ resists/refuses/extremely fearful of going to the dentist or having dental work done

__ may only eat hot or cold foods

__ refuses to lick envelopes, stamps, or stickers because of their taste

__ dislikes or complains about toothpaste and mouthwash

__ avoids seasoned, spicy, sweet, sour or salty foods; prefers bland foods


We are fortunate to live in a city that has lots of free early intervention services, so it took some therapy (speech and OT) LOTS and LOTS of patience, and LOTS of trial and error to finally get him to eat solids.

The good news is that now that he's 7, he's still kind of picky, but has just about outgrown it. He still HATES the dentist, and each wiggly tooth was traumatic. And he has a very sensitive gag reflex. I'm not going to lie though - it was a long frustrating road.

 

[EKW]

My older son would never eat stage 2 or 3 babyfood. I finally had to give up and move to solids. At first, he ate a fair range of items, but began rejecting item after item until he was down to chicken nuggets, any form of bread, peanut butter, and yogurt!

I begged the pediatrician to let me take him to an OT for help. He didn't just refuse food...if I asked him to try one bite he would throw his entire dinner up all over the place.

The doc asked me if he used catsup with the nuggets, and, when I said yes, said, "Well, that's a vegetable, so he's not going to starve to death. He'll eat when he wants to."

He will be 15 next month. He still eats...breaded chicken, peanutbutter, and breads. I've gotten him to eat fruit...he's got one type of apple he likes, and he'll eat pineapple, mango, grapes and papaya without complaining. He'll eat other fruit, but grouses about it. As far as veggies, he'll eat a bite to make me happy, but doesn't eat more than that.

Nobody believes me when I tell them that this kid won't even eat pizza or mashed potatoes. They assume he snacks and eats sweets...nope. He doesn't even drink soda regularly!

My advice: keep at your doctor NOW. Demand to be allowed to take your daughter to a qualified therapist who can evaluate her and offer help.

My one big regret is that I followed my doc's advice on this issue. I had (have) food issues, too...can't swallow things that are mushy or slippery...so I figured my son would branch out to crunch, crispy, savory items eventually. Nope. I buy baked chicken nuggets, but he won't even eat fried chicken because it doesn't have bread on both sides and the texture of the meat grosses him out. I really wish I'd taken my doc on while my son was young enough to really benefit from therapy!

BTW...ignore anyone who tries to say your child is this way because you're:
a. A nervous mother.
b. A controlling mother.
c. A push-over who spoils her child. Etc!

Research shows that there are kids who have sensory issues and experience food texture and taste more intensely than the general population. From what I've read, therapy can help!

 

[SmallWorld71]

This was exactly the problem my son had when he was a baby. As an infant, he would NEVER put anything in his mouth, at age 1 he was gagging on 1/2 a cheerio, and at nearly age 2 he was still eating almost exclusively pureed food. Because he was gaining weight, otherwise healthy and had no other issues, the doctor just kept giving it time. But it was eventually diagnosed as Sensory Integration Dysfunction / Oral Defensiveness or Oral Hypersensitivity.

Here are some of the symptoms *courtesy of sensory-processing-disorder dot com.

Hypersensitivity To Oral Input (Oral Defensiveness):

__ picky eater, often with extreme food preferences; i.e., limited repertoire of foods, picky about brands, resistive to trying new foods or restaurants, and may not eat at other people's houses)

__ may only eat "soft" or pureed foods past 24 months of age

__ may gag with textured foods

__ has difficulty with sucking, chewing, and swallowing; may choke or have a fear of choking

__ resists/refuses/extremely fearful of going to the dentist or having dental work done

__ may only eat hot or cold foods

__ refuses to lick envelopes, stamps, or stickers because of their taste

__ dislikes or complains about toothpaste and mouthwash

__ avoids seasoned, spicy, sweet, sour or salty foods; prefers bland foods


We are fortunate to live in a city that has lots of free early intervention services, so it took some therapy (speech and OT) LOTS and LOTS of patience, and LOTS of trial and error to finally get him to eat solids.

The good news is that now that he's 7, he's still kind of picky, but has just about outgrown it. He still HATES the dentist, and each wiggly tooth was traumatic. And he has a very sensitive gag reflex. I'm not going to lie though - it was a long frustrating road.

This was my nephew too! He and DS11 are the same age and in all honesty, DS was able to eat things like popcorn and grapes before DNephew could eat any type of solids. He also would never take a bottle. Anyway, he was diagnosed with SID around age 3 and starting receiving OT services. While he is able to eat solid foods, his diet is very limited. He basically eats brownish, mushy foods like peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, pizza and oatmeal (maple/ brown sugar only). He won't eat anything with spice, crunch or unusual texture. He also had some other early signs of SID: screamed at the church organ, liked to be burped with a pretty hard whack, LOVED the swings at the playground so much he could swing for ages... He was also very hard to toilet train and didn't accomplish it until age 5. He liked the feeling of wet diapers.

OP- Perhaps early intervention could take a look at her? Maybe they would have some advice? Is she progressing well in all other areas?

 

[pixidustmom]

I would want them to at least make sure there is no GI problem. Before my friends child was diagnosed with the sensory issue they made sure no other issues were visible. Perhaps the esophagus is not open all the way? I had scar tissue in mine and when eating breads or other starches and also meats my food would get stuck and I would then have to bring it back up and let my esophagus relax a bit and try again. I since have had surgery to fix it but it's coming back.
My DGS just has no big appetite. We just has him evaluated and he is going to be starting some meds to improve it. Hopefully it helps. He seriously most of the time will maybe eat one chicken nugget and a couple fries. Or say one cracker and a 1/4 of a banana. Through the whole day. We had to put him on pediasure to get more calories in him and nutrients.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

my daughter is 2 and we have a very simular problem. She also does not speak more then a few words. The speach ther. diagnosed her with appraxia. They also said it has a direct connection with the food issues. She now has occupational therapy and speach ther. every week through early intervention and has come leaps and bounds in both areas. Please insist that the doc. look into her sitution more or contact the local board of health to have her eval. It makes a big difference. best wishes

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

This was exactly the problem my son had when he was a baby. As an infant, he would NEVER put anything in his mouth, at age 1 he was gagging on 1/2 a cheerio, and at nearly age 2 he was still eating almost exclusively pureed food. Because he was gaining weight, otherwise healthy and had no other issues, the doctor just kept giving it time. But it was eventually diagnosed as Sensory Integration Dysfunction / Oral Defensiveness or Oral Hypersensitivity.

Here are some of the symptoms *courtesy of sensory-processing-disorder dot com.

Hypersensitivity To Oral Input (Oral Defensiveness):

__ picky eater, often with extreme food preferences; i.e., limited repertoire of foods, picky about brands, resistive to trying new foods or restaurants, and may not eat at other people's houses)

__ may only eat "soft" or pureed foods past 24 months of age

__ may gag with textured foods

__ has difficulty with sucking, chewing, and swallowing; may choke or have a fear of choking

__ resists/refuses/extremely fearful of going to the dentist or having dental work done

__ may only eat hot or cold foods

__ refuses to lick envelopes, stamps, or stickers because of their taste

__ dislikes or complains about toothpaste and mouthwash

__ avoids seasoned, spicy, sweet, sour or salty foods; prefers bland foods


We are fortunate to live in a city that has lots of free early intervention services, so it took some therapy (speech and OT) LOTS and LOTS of patience, and LOTS of trial and error to finally get him to eat solids.

The good news is that now that he's 7, he's still kind of picky, but has just about outgrown it. He still HATES the dentist, and each wiggly tooth was traumatic. And he has a very sensitive gag reflex. I'm not going to lie though - it was a long frustrating road.

well said

 

[leebee]

My DD was always very sensitive to texture. When she was little, there's no way she'd eat any of the "usual" kids foods; no mashed potato (or any potato), no scrambled eggs (no eggs, still), no meat of any kind, etc. She was OK with fresh veggies but NOT cooked, and wasn't a big fruit fan except for granny smith apples. She just didn't like anything soft; it made her gag like crazy. No sense in forcing them to eat stuff; you just clean it up. We found that she truly loved rice and pasta, with just butter. She LIVED on this stuff until she was about 5. DD is now almost 17, and still doesn't enjoy meat or fish but will eat some chicken or turkey breast if it's not overcooked and doesn't have a trace of fat anywhere. She has started eating potatoes in the past 3 years, still won't touch eggs. She eats most stuff, though, but for a long time there I thought she'd be living on yogurt, pasta, and rice forEVER.

 

[bumbershoot]

My son at 14 months old was just barely getting into food at all! He still nursed for almost all of his nutrition needs.

Sure, there *might* be a problem.

But on the other hand, she seemed to do fine when doing things naturally; the problem started when you started changing it up.

Are you feeding her "real" food, or stuff from jars and bags? If it's Gerber etc, can you start giving her food that you actually make? She might like that more.

When DS did start eating, he ate food-food. First bite of anything non-mama's milk was at just over 11 months when he took a bite of apple, chewed it, and swallowed it. Had bites of more apple and a bit of pear over the next few weeks, then was DONE with food for another few months.

There was no problem, it was just how his system works.

So I'd go to the foods you guys eat. I assume you went to formula, and maybe you can go back to that, even if you have to do it in a cup of some sort. After all, since the formula companies try as hard as possible to match mama's milk, and since mama's milk is entirely appropriate for toddlers and even older, if you have no more mama's milk and she just doesn't seem ready for *food*, why NOT go back to that? See if that meets her needs?

And if not, you can always seem if there's something "wrong"...

But I don't believe that any 14 month old *has to be* eating ANY solids, let alone ALL solids. So I don't jump to it being a problem at all unless going back to basics doesn't work.

 

[Sazuburns]

My eldest couldn't tolerate anything with lumps, and now, at nearly 11 years old he still has an issue with some textures. For example, he won't eat pasta. He was diagnosed with dyspraxia when he was very small, and we recently had a diagnosis of asperger's syndrome too, so this contributes to the issue, it is a sensory problem for him.

When he was a toddler I found that although he wouldn't eat mashed food, he was fine with finger foods. He basically skipped the whole 'mush with lumps' phase and went straight to proper foods like pieces of chicken and fish etc. However, he didn't eat bananas until he was nearly 2, and then he ate them whole not mashed.

My youngest (who is now 18 months) was exclusively breast fed until she was 6 months and then we did 'baby led weaning' which means offering age-appropriate foods that they can feed themselves. Even at 6 months they can manage pieces of foods rather than mashed, so we started with pieces of banana and soft cooked carrot and very soon she was feeding herself everything including pieces of meat and fish, all sorts of vegetables and fruit, bread, crackers, rice (this is fun as it is all eaten with fingers not with cutlery).

I would continue to give her food that she is comfortable eating but also offer foods that she can feed herself and don't mash these. You can make your own fish sticks and chicken nuggets, give chicken drumsticks (but take out the splint bone), rice cakes etc.

 

[shaylahc1]

Definitely have her evaluated. 3 of my 4 kids struggled with solid food, all 3 kids also had reflux & speech delays. They all seem to be related. Feeding therapy can help.

 

[Mommy2Abby]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I really appreciate all of your input.

I should say that she does not have reflux, and that I do offer her whatever we are having to eat, as well as the baby food. She shows tons of interest in finger foods, and really enjoys picking them up and putting them in her mouth, but then she just spits everything back out. It's almost like her tongue comes up to the roof of her mouth and then out, rather than moving down to the bottom of her mouth to allow for chewing and swallowing.

I don't "think" she's behind in her speech. She is behind where older DD was at her age, but older DD is a motormouth, so I don't necessarily think it's a problem She says "ma ma", "da da", "no", "uh-oh", "down", "boo" (for peek a boo), "mo, mo" (for Elmo), "hi", "bye bye", and "cold". She might say a few other things too, but we haven't figured out what they mean yet She also babbles using lots of different consonant sounds and will try to repeat after you when you say a word.

She is a thumb sucker for the most part. She will take a pacifier too, but she much prefers her thumb. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Thanks to the poster who included the information from the sensory integration dysfunction website. There are several items on there that ring true. While we have transitioned DD from formula to milk, she refuses to drink it cold, or even room temperature. It has to be what we call "coffee hot" in order for her to drink it. She was the same way with formula. As soon as it cooled off even a little, she would refuse the bottle. We also were unable to switch around formula brands. The ONLY formula she would take is the ready to drink Similac. If we switched to a different brand, or even switched to the Similac powder, she would refuse it.

She doesn't seem to have any issues with flavors, as she'll eat any of the fruit or veggie baby food we give her, and doesn't seem to be opposed to the flavors of the table food I give her. It's much more about the texture.

I will definitely push my ped to refer her for a more thorough evaluation.

Mommy2Abby

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I really appreciate all of your input.

I should say that she does not have reflux, and that I do offer her whatever we are having to eat, as well as the baby food. She shows tons of interest in finger foods, and really enjoys picking them up and putting them in her mouth, but then she just spits everything back out. It's almost like her tongue comes up to the roof of her mouth and then out, rather than moving down to the bottom of her mouth to allow for chewing and swallowing.

I don't "think" she's behind in her speech. She is behind where older DD was at her age, but older DD is a motormouth, so I don't necessarily think it's a problem She says "ma ma", "da da", "no", "uh-oh", "down", "boo" (for peek a boo), "mo, mo" (for Elmo), "hi", "bye bye", and "cold". She might say a few other things too, but we haven't figured out what they mean yet She also babbles using lots of different consonant sounds and will try to repeat after you when you say a word.

She is a thumb sucker for the most part. She will take a pacifier too, but she much prefers her thumb. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Thanks to the poster who included the information from the sensory integration dysfunction website. There are several items on there that ring true. While we have transitioned DD from formula to milk, she refuses to drink it cold, or even room temperature. It has to be what we call "coffee hot" in order for her to drink it. She was the same way with formula. As soon as it cooled off even a little, she would refuse the bottle. We also were unable to switch around formula brands. The ONLY formula she would take is the ready to drink Similac. If we switched to a different brand, or even switched to the Similac powder, she would refuse it.

She doesn't seem to have any issues with flavors, as she'll eat any of the fruit or veggie baby food we give her, and doesn't seem to be opposed to the flavors of the table food I give her. It's much more about the texture.

I will definitely push my ped to refer her for a more thorough evaluation.

Mommy2Abby

Well, based on your description, I would say it sounds more sensory than speech related, but I am certainly not an expert on infants. DD7 is a voracious thumb sucker and has been since 4 mos. old. She definitely has some mild sensory issues, although eating food was never one of them. (She did like to eat her ice cream and soup with her hands though. ) I will say with DNephew (SID) that he would eat any type of baby food, but did not transition well to table foods. His speech was actually quite advanced and did not seem to be connected to his needs.

Anyway, all kids are different and she may just outgrow it. But, it has been my experience both as a parent and a special education teacher that the sooner you get the ball rolling, the better you can help the child if help is needed. Sometimes it can take months to get what you really need and that can be frustating. Good luck.