Food Pouching

[Unregistered]

What do you do with a kid who hides food in his cheek everytime after lunchtime? I only realized he was doing it when his gramma picked him up before nap one day and asked him what he was saving in his cheek. She said he does it all the time!!! I was horrified thinking about all the times I laid him down for nap with food in his mouth he could have choked on. So I have been trying to sweep his mouth after lunch but have been bitten twice, so now I just gentley squeeze his cheeks so the food goes into the center of his mouth but now he just spits on the floor. Gross!!!! WWYD? I don't even want to feed him anymore

[Cat Herder]

https://www.checkupnewsroom.com/some-children-hold-food-in-their-mouths-why/

I have dealt with it before, turned into a evaluation and diagnosis code. Kid in junior high with IEP doing well, now.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2016/02/26/parents-seek-advice-our-3-year-old-packs-food-mouth-till-he-gags

[nannyde]

I switch them to puree foods the consistency of clam chowder

[Ariana]

I had a child with suspected autism that did this. I always did the mouth sweep while he was in his high chair and took the food out of his mouth. To avoid biting wear gross tasting gloves like those blue ones!

[TheMisplacedMidwestMom]

How old is the child?

My almost 1 yr old dcb is doing this... Things that are currently working for me are:
-Taking his plate away and having him sit at the table with just a sippy of water. Extra time with nothing to do but drink water and swallow have done wonders.
-The cheek massage, at the table and ready to catch the food with a gloved hand just in case. Or give him a napkin since you know its probably coming out, let him spit into that then throw it away himself (his mess his problem). Make as small of a deal about the whole thing as possible. I guess I'm lucky in that dcb here will usually finish eating the food if I can get it moving in his mouth a bit.
-The swipe as a last resort.

FWIW my dcb is currently hitting every milestone so far. I just chalked it up as part of his learning to eat.

[Unregistered]

he is 3

[Rainbow]

I have a 2 yr old that has been frequently keeping food in his mouth after meals/snacks. When I notice this, I just send him back to the table until he is done and give him the option to spit it in the garbage.