How to teach a child to chew solid food: video and general recommendations

04/17/2019 Category: Drug poisoning

Pediatricians claim that in recent years, cases have become more frequent when older children refuse to eat solid food, preferring carefully crushed purees and mixtures. That is, an increasing number of families are faced with the question of how to teach a child to chew?

The reason for such a refusal of the baby is quite understandable. Today, mothers use ready-made formulas and factory-made purees for feeding. These products are crushed very carefully, so the child does not have to make any effort to chew. Of course, it is easier for the child to follow the path of least resistance, and he does not want to chew solid food, because anyway, the mother will then give her the usual pureed food.

What are the dangers of not chewing?

Is it necessary to teach a child to chew and swallow or let everything take its course? After all, over time, the child will still be forced to master this skill?

In fact, stopping eating solid foods and chewing at an early age will have negative consequences. Chewing skills required:

• To strengthen teeth.
  If the baby is fed exclusively pureed food for a long time, this can cause the formation of malocclusion and other dental problems.

• To ensure normal digestion.
  As the child grows, his gastrointestinal tract also develops. If a child does not receive solid food, the stomach begins to become lazy. After all, if food is not chewed, then it is not saturated with saliva, and accordingly, when it enters the stomach, it does not contribute to the production of digestive enzymes. As a result, the child will face serious digestive problems in the future.

• For speech development.
  When chewing, the muscles that take part in the pronunciation of sounds are trained. If a child does not develop chewing skills in time, then it is not surprising that he will have problems with speech development.

In addition, if the chewing skill is not developed in time, the child may simply get used to it and not want to make an effort to cope with solid food. At 2-3 years old, a child is already quite capable of manipulating his parents, understanding that if he clenches his lips tightly, refusing to eat, or begins to shed streams of tears, then they will leave him alone and feed him the usual pureed food.

Prohibited products

To avoid food allergies, digestive and dental problems, a child under four years of age should never be given:

• lollipops, caramel, toffee
• nuts and any seeds
• any hard cheese
• tough pieces of meat
• whole grapes
• large pieces of hard vegetables and fruits

In addition, the children's diet should not contain honey (a very strong allergen) and mushrooms (which can cause problems with the gastrointestinal tract).

When should you start studying?

It turns out that you need to start developing chewing skills very early, even before the child acquires teeth. At the age of 6-7 months, babies actively put everything into their mouth to scratch their gums. By gnawing on a special device (teether), the child gradually trains the chewing muscles, preparing for the transition to solid food.

In ancient times, to train the chewing muscles, grandmothers wrapped a piece of food (for example, an apple) in gauze and gave this bag to the baby so that he could chew it and gradually chew the food. Modern mothers have access to a more convenient device called a nibbler. Outwardly it does not look like a pacifier, but has a lid on the back into which baby cookies or other product are placed. When using a nibbler, the child crushes the product and moistens it with saliva, which contributes to the appearance of a sense of taste. Moms will only need to make sure that the mesh of the chewing part of the nibbler remains intact (the baby’s sharp teeth can damage it) and, of course, wash the device after each use. You can give your child nibbler as early as 7-9 months.

As a last resort, if you were unable to purchase a nibbler, you can give your baby drying. To prevent him from losing it, the dryer can be hung on a string like a pendant. Of course, drying does not have any particular nutritional value, but it is an excellent exercise for the chewing muscles.

Giving a nibbler or drying agent to a child during the appearance of the first teeth, if this moment is missed, then it will be much more difficult to accustom the child to chewing. In addition to biscuits and cookies, a 9-10 month old child can be offered pieces of fruits and vegetables. Even if the child initially refuses to bite the food offered, you need to periodically offer it to him again and again until he agrees.

Many mothers believe that it is harmful to give solid food to the child before he turns 1 year old. Actually this is not true. Of course, while chewing an apple or a cookie, the child will not eat much, but his muscles will receive the proper load, and this will over time facilitate not only the process of learning to chew, but also the development of speech.

The only thing you need to watch out for is that the child, while mixing the product, does not breathe through his mouth, that is, his nose should be free. If your baby has a runny nose, you will need to temporarily stop giving him solid food until he gets better.

Learning to chew

There is no special technique for teaching chewing, because everything should go as usual. However, with the help of our tips, you will help your child master this skill faster. Organize the place. Think in advance where your baby will feel most comfortable: in a high chair or on your lap. Pick a moment. It is important that the child is not too hungry - otherwise he will be nervous and your efforts will go down the drain, but at the same time he wants to eat.

Prepare your cutlery. Use a light plastic spoon with a rounded handle for feeding - then the baby will be able to use it independently. Think over the diet, “usually we advise mothers to offer their children pieces of apple or soft cookies, which they will bite and thus learn to chew. An inquisitive baby will definitely agree to taste a new product, and at the same time he will understand why he needs his teeth and will practice chewing movements, says Yulia Rakhimbekova. “Any dish that you feel is appropriate at the time will do, depending on whether it’s part of dinner, a snack between meals, or dessert after a big meal.” When buying jars of puree, pay attention to the markings on the label: among the jars recommended for the age of 8-10 months, you will definitely find those that say “pieces that teach to chew.”

Take your time. Start feeding in small portions. If your baby refuses new complementary foods, do not insist. Make the consistency of the dishes offered thicker over time - thanks to this, the need to work with the jaws and tongue develops. If the dish is too thick, add a little water or milk.

Take advantage of his curiosity. At 4-7 months, the child will persist in his mouth and try to chew what you give him. Your job is to make sure it's safe. The main thing is to avoid sudden changes in the diet: you should not give carrots if the baby has previously only eaten ground porridge and puree. Don't be distracted. Let your baby focus on the process of absorbing food, then the actions of his hands, tongue and lips will be as coordinated as possible.

How to teach?

The transition to solid foods should be gradual. If a child is fed with ready-made factory-produced foods, then purees and cereals should be selected according to age. Most well-known manufacturers divide their products into age groups. That is, a 10-11 month old child should not be fed porridge intended for six-month-old babies.

Products for older age categories differ in consistency; they are thicker and contain grains and lumps. This will prepare the baby well for the transition to the common table.

If the mother prefers to prepare the baby’s food herself, then you need to gradually reduce the degree of grinding, working less with the blender. After a year you will need to use the blender less often. For example, do not puree boiled vegetables, but chop them with a fork, and grate an apple.

But there is no need to rush with meat; this product can be given in pieces only after three years. Meat requires more thorough chewing, so a small child will not cope with the task. For children of this age, you should prepare dishes from minced meat - meatballs, meatballs, etc.

What to do if the moment is missed?

First of all, you need to make sure that there are no physiological reasons that prevent you from eating solid foods. Disturbances may be associated with malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract or diseases of the throat or oral cavity. Therefore, mothers should not neglect clinical examinations, which, as a rule, reveal the reasons that interfere with the development of chewing skills.

If the child is healthy, then the reason for refusal is most likely a reluctance to overcome difficulties. In this case, parents will have to show maximum patience and endurance to teach their child to chew solid food. You should not put pressure on the child, since parents’ strictness in this matter will lead to the child developing fear and rejection of the feeding process.

Under no circumstances should you suddenly switch to chunky food. If yesterday the child was fed carefully crushed puree, and today he was offered borscht or vegetable stew in pieces, then it is quite natural that he will refuse to eat. He simply won’t understand why, instead of “normal” food, his mother is trying to shove something into him that, in his opinion, is inedible.

Some supporters of strict measures prefer to adhere to the principle: “If he doesn’t eat, it means he’s not hungry.” But this principle is by no means the best, since the child is still too small and regular nutrition is very important for him.

Moreover, there is no need to shove spoon after spoon into the baby’s mouth if he is choking and spitting out food. Such feeding will bring nothing but damaged nerves.

Parents need to prepare themselves for a long learning process, in which any transitions will be made gradually.

You need to feed your child the usual purees and cereals, gradually changing the consistency of the food, making it thicker, but still free of lumps. If you made the food too thick and the child does not eat, then you need to dilute the portion of food very slightly with liquid (water, milk, broth) and try to feed the baby. If you act gradually, the child will soon learn to eat thick, albeit pureed food.

Next, you need to put a few pieces of vegetables or fruits on the plate along with the usual puree. At the same time, it must be emphasized that this is the kind of food (in pieces) that all big children and adults eat. A child often strives to imitate his parents, so it will be easy to motivate him to acquire a new skill - chew food in pieces.

At this time, it is worth seating the baby at the common table with the whole family (of course, in a high chair for feeding), so he sees that everyone else is eating food in pieces, and not pureed.

The next step is to add pieces to the food. For example, you can add small pieces of soft fruits (peaches, pears) or vegetables (boiled carrots, beets) to the porridge. Gradually you need to increase the size and number of pieces, eventually completely switching to non-mashed, but soft food. Then you can introduce pieces of solid food into your diet - apples, cucumbers, etc.

To stimulate the interest of a child over 2 years old, you can “involve” him in cooking. For example, when cooking porridge, let him touch the rice or buckwheat. If soup is being cooked, then show what the vegetables are.

It is worth using the best way to teach children - play. For example, offer to play as a bunny or squirrel, which is gnawing on an apple, carrot or cookie.

What else can help you teach your baby to chew cheerfully and with appetite?

1) Lay out a “rainbow” on a plate, put together “houses”, “draw” animals from slices of boiled carrots, beans, broccoli and cauliflower, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. If your baby doesn’t chew very well at first, just supplement him with his usual pureed food. Try cutting into pieces the foods he likes most.

2) Add small-small pieces of soft fruits (for example, pears), boiled vegetables, berries (raspberries) to porridges and purees. Gradually increase the size and number of pieces in the dish.

3) Play. Take a piece of boiled carrot and pretend to be a bunny: “How does a hare eat carrots? Like this! Can you?"

4) Invite guests, and also eat outside the home - practice situations where there is simply no opportunity to chop food.

5) Contact a speech therapist: he will show you how to conduct speech gymnastics and speech therapy massage. Such a massage (5-7 minutes of exercise per day) will correct changes in tone and help in training the muscles of the articulatory apparatus.

How to stimulate appetite?

Sometimes the reason for refusing to eat is not a reluctance to eat solid food, but the baby’s poor appetite. If this is not a sign of ill health, then simple measures will help to cope with the problem.

To stimulate a child’s appetite, it is worthwhile to fortify his diet. For this:

• add rosehip syrup to compote or tea (instead of sugar);

• you can make tea from rose hips;

• instead of juice from bags, give your child homemade compote, which must include prunes and a small amount of fechnel seeds (1 teaspoon per liter of finished compote);

• increase the duration of walks. The child should be active while walking: run, jump, climb, and not sit sedately on a bench;

• You should exclude all snacks, do not allow you to drink juice or milk outside of meals, this is food, not drink. Water or unsweetened compote is best to quench your thirst. Juices contain sugar, which can suppress your appetite.

In addition, you must ensure that the child has regular bowel movements. If you have problems with this, you should consult your doctor. As a rule, it is enough to change your diet by introducing more vegetables. You can also use glycerin suppositories (a quarter), they are harmless than an enema.

Well-known pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky gives the following advice to parents who want to teach their child the process of chewing:

• Mom or dad will have to show some acting skills, explaining to the child why today instead of the usual puree for lunch there is a thick dish. For example, you can say that the store no longer sells canned puree or come up with something else that justifies the need to “master” a new food.

• It is worth involving the child in chopping food in a plate, let him try to mash pieces of boiled vegetables with a fork. Of course, you need to be prepared that some of the food will end up on the table or even on the floor, but children usually eat food that they “prepared” themselves with great pleasure.

• You can offer your child something tasty in a piece - for example, a slice of marmalade or marshmallow.

• It is worth using the power of example. Visit yourself or invite guests with children. Seeing that his peers eat food in pieces, the child himself may want to quickly acquire the chewing skill.

So, to teach your baby to chew solid food you will have to be patient and persistent. It is best to start training at an early age, as soon as the child has teeth. However, even at a later age you can quite successfully achieve your goals. It is important that the process of eating does not turn into a punishment for the child; no matter what, you need to maintain a friendly and even attitude. You shouldn’t be angry with your child, because it’s not his fault that he doesn’t succeed in everything right away.

Switching a child from feeding ready-made formulas and breast milk to adult food is a problem for many parents, since the baby cannot learn to chew food, is capricious, refuses new foods, and spits out what he cannot swallow without chewing. Naturally, his parents are worried that he is malnourished and doubt whether he will be able to develop normally. How long will this last, and are there any secrets to help teach your baby to chew?

1. Late start of complementary feeding. Some mothers take doctors' recommendations too literally that there is nothing healthier than breast milk, and that the baby should not be weaned from the breast for as long as possible. After 1 year, he begins to actively resist chewing pieces of food, as he knows an easier way to get enough.
2. Parents fear that the baby may choke if they give him unchopped food. Excessive caution of parents leads to the fact that a 2-year-old child, if he does not refuse food completely, then accumulates it in his mouth and then spits it out.
3. Lack of skill in using teethers. These rubber devices, which are easy for the baby to grasp with his hand, not only massage the gums, facilitating the process of teething, but also teach him to make chewing movements with his gums.
4. Busy or weak-willed parents. They don’t have time to spend a long time with the feeding process; it’s easier to give the baby what he loves. He quickly gets used to the compliance of his dad or mom and demands his usual food.
5. Increased child activity. He cannot concentrate on the process of chewing and swallowing food, cannot sit in one place for a long time, grabs food on the go, choosing what does not need to be chewed.

Video: What to do if a child cannot chew

Causes of chewing problems

Children who are accustomed to receiving only liquid food will not immediately begin to accept food with a denser consistency. Most often, they try to spit out an unfamiliar product, turn their heads away from the spoon, or start crying. There are several factors that have a detrimental effect on the reflex in children:

• Late feeding. Some mothers have their own interpretation of doctors’ words that there is simply no alternative to breast milk, and that breastfeeding should continue as long as possible. As a result, after twelve months the child does not recognize solid pieces of food, because he knows a more accessible way to satisfy hunger.
• Parents are afraid that their baby will choke when swallowing pieces of rough food. Excessive fears result in the growing child refusing unchopped food. Even if the little one agrees to take the spoon into his mouth, its contents will be spat out.
• Inability to use a teether. This dental device, which is convenient for the baby to hold in his hands, allows him to massage his gums. At the same time, teething becomes easier. By making chewing movements with the gums, the child gets used to eating solid food.
• Passive attitude of parents towards the development of the child. Busy or weak-willed parents do not have the time or desire to pay due attention to the feeding process. The child is simply given something that he never refuses.
• Hyperactivity. He is unable to concentrate on the procedure of chewing and swallowing food, constantly breaks away from his seat, and grabs from the table what can be easily swallowed.

There are reasons related to health conditions that leave an imprint on the baby’s ability to accept solid food:

• Pathologies of the respiratory system (polyps or respiratory diseases that cause nasal congestion).
• Weak muscle tone, in particular the muscles of the tongue.
• Poor sensitivity. Children practically do not feel the taste of food in their mouth.
• Congenital pathologies and defects in the oral cavity requiring surgical intervention.

In order for children with developmental disabilities to learn to chew food, they need qualified medical care.

What should parents do to teach their baby to chew?

To teach your child to chew both soft foods and hard pieces, it is necessary to gradually add dishes with larger food particles to the diet. For example, you can gradually add soft bread to the soup so that the child feels pieces of food on his tongue. Of course, you need to carefully ensure that the baby does not choke. You need to give him food in small portions. The child should sit quietly at the table. You can’t distract your baby while eating or make him laugh.

The invention of ready-made food for babies, of course, makes life much easier for parents. The jars contain the “right” food, which contains all the necessary vitamins, and the amount of various nutrients is strictly calculated. However, when buying such food, you must definitely pay attention to what age the porridge or puree is intended for. For older children, thicker food is prepared with the addition of larger pieces.

Note:

Cooking food for a child independently, and even with his/her feasible participation, increases interest in food and improves appetite.

Video: How to introduce a child to solid food

Why does a baby need to learn to chew by age 2?

The transition to more solid foods that must be chewed in order to be eaten is a natural physiological process associated with the development of various body systems. The digestive system gradually gets used to digesting solid food. The need for nutrients is growing. A variety of “adult” foods can satisfy her.

If a child does not learn to eat normally, the nutrition of all tissues of his body will be disrupted. This affects his physical and intellectual development. If you still have a problem with chewing, then don’t panic. Some special techniques will help teach your baby to chew pieces of food.

Advice:

You can give your baby boiled carrots or a chicken leg. They are comfortable to hold and fun to put into your mouth.

Experienced parents share their methods for overcoming the problem on forums dedicated to raising and feeding children. Some people advise letting everything take its course: he will grow up and learn. Others, on the contrary, offer shock therapy: do not give him food, but leave adult food within his reach. If he wants to eat, he will get it and eat it.

Dr. Komarovsky gives simple advice to parents who are faced with a child’s reluctance to chew food on how to teach their child to chew.

In particular, he suggests that mom and dad don’t have to immediately agree with the baby’s stubborn demand to give him the usual pureed food. Parents should show artistry, feign regret that the blender is broken or the store has run out of jars of pureed meat. As a last resort, you can give your baby a fork so that he can mash the potato pieces. He'll probably enjoy this, although lack of skill may result in half the puree ending up on the floor. But this is already a problem for parents. But next time the child will demand just such “interesting” food, stuffing it into his mouth (the fork must be a special one - plastic, with blunt teeth).

In order for your baby to learn to chew food, you need to give him a tasty and beautiful cookie or a piece of sweet fruit that he likes. A bagel will do. Some parents give children already at the age of 5-6 months dried or baby cookies. At this age, as a rule, there are no teeth yet, but the child works on drying because he feels the pleasant taste. He soaks it in his mouth, bites off small pieces with his gums, learns to chew and swallow them. Drying should be given not so much for saturation, but for the development of the chewing reflex. Then, when the first teeth appear, it will be more difficult for the baby to get used to such a healthy and tasty toy. It’s uncomfortable for him to bite with his gums, and he doesn’t have enough teeth.

Komarovsky recommends trying to feed your child in a children's cafe. He will watch with what appetite other children eat, and he himself will want to try such food. In addition, they do not serve the usual pureed porridge or vegetable puree.

When a year old baby pushes away the steering wheel with his little hand, refusing to take it into his mouth, most parents do not attach any importance to this. When at one and a half years old the little sun persistently spits out all the solid pieces of food, and then most mothers do not worry.

And only when, at the age of two, it turns out that the already grown-up strong fellow does not chew food, which is why he has to be given only ground and crushed pureed foods, then panic begins. Why do children so often today have no chewing reflex? How to restore it and teach your baby to chew?

How to introduce solid food: stages of transition

When transferring your baby from liquid and completely homogeneous food to solid food, you should follow a certain sequence. First, liquid dishes are turned into semi-liquid ones, and then into viscous and thick ones. In addition to this, the pureed food is first finely ground and then separated into medium and large pieces.

1. From three to six months, taking into account the type of feeding, children are advised to give pureed foods on a spoon. All food in this age period should be semi-liquid and free of lumps to avoid difficulty swallowing. Before serving, any vegetable puree is chopped twice using a grater or blender. Before cooking the porridge, the cereal is ground into flour.
2. Between six and nine months of age, the consistency of the food becomes thicker. Vegetable crops are still rubbed through a sieve, but now one grinding is enough. The porridge is prepared using medium-ground grains. Children in this age category are given homogenized meat (twice minced in a meat grinder, and then beaten in a food processor with a decoction of vegetables).
3. Starting from nine months, the baby is offered solid food such as wheat bread, cookies, and crackers. Any of these dense products are placed in the baby’s hand, allowing him to scratch his teething teeth. At this moment, it is important to closely monitor the baby to prevent a situation where a broken piece gets into the respiratory tract. To make the process of eating food as safe as possible, food is placed in a nibbler.
4. From about ten to twelve months there comes a time when the child is introduced to less crushed food. Pieces of food measuring 3–5 mm are allowed. A fork is used to chop fruits and vegetables, and the meat is boiled in the form of meatballs. At this age, whole, but well-cooked cereals are suitable for porridge. Among other things, older children want to hold objects that interest them in their hands, which makes it possible to give them small pieces of vegetables and fruits and slices of white bread. They put all this into their mouths without the help of adults and try to chew them.
5. For a one-year-old baby, it will not be difficult to cope with a casserole made from cereals, a steam cutlet, finely chopped fresh vegetables or fruits and other dishes. At two years of age, the chewing reflex is already fully formed.

When does a child start chewing?

In order not to encounter a similar problem and not go to pediatricians with complaints that your child cannot chew, you need to think about this as early as possible. If you don’t develop fine motor skills in your baby at the age of 2–3, he will have a hard time later. It's the same here. If you don't develop the chewing reflex by 6 months, it will be too late to bite your elbows later. When and at what age does a child begin to chew? Everything happens gradually.

• Six months

The chewing reflex awakens in infancy, by 6 months. If at this age you give your child a dryer, a bagel or the same teether, what does he begin to do with it? Many believe that this is how he scratches his gums, but, as it turns out, this is not the only reason that forces the baby to put all hard objects into his mouth. This is how he learns to make the first chewing movements. And this moment is very important not to miss, because in a couple of months, when your baby turns into a funny bunny with two front teeth, it will be very difficult for him to chew. Therefore, try to ensure that he acquires his first skills even before the appearance of his first teeth.

When the baby already has more than a couple of teeth in his mouth, he will again try to chew mixed with swallowing and sucking. And again, if you miss this moment and do not maintain the chewing reflex, the child will happily give up this “work” and will swallow soft and liquid purees and cereals.

• Two years

By this time, the baby should definitely learn to actively chew (even if he doesn’t always succeed) solid food. And if he doesn’t want to chew by this age, know that you need to take action. After all, it is at this age that solid food contributes to the proper development of the dental system, exercise of the masticatory muscles and normal salivation, without which there will be neither self-rinsing of the oral cavity nor normal digestion.

This is how the baby’s chewing reflex should develop. The parents' task is to help him in this difficult matter. And if the situation is such that at 2 years old he does not chew solid food, it is necessary to identify the cause of this phenomenon as quickly as possible and try to correct the situation.

Why doesn't the child chew?

A baby may refuse to chew for various reasons. Some of them can be easily eliminated, but others are problematic, because it will be too late to correct them in two years. The reasons why a grown-up toddler chews poorly or refuses to do so altogether are most often the following factors.

1. Incorrect feeding
   . This happens if a mother, caring too much about her baby, is afraid to introduce solid food into his diet, citing the fact that he may choke. The predominance of liquid, puree foods is the first and most common cause of this phenomenon.
2. Lack of development of skills
   in infancy. This happens if at six months the child’s teething teeth were missing, and at one year he was not given anything to chew in his diet.
3. Laziness
   . Some children are too spoiled and lazy: yes, yes, they are just too lazy to chew. Moreover, if they know that at their first request (whims), mother will replace the hard piece with soft puree. You will find a couple of tips for this case in the article:.
4. Hyperactivity
   . Sometimes a child refuses to chew for the simple reason that he has no time to do it: he is always spinning, does not sit still, runs, he always needs to run somewhere. Read: .

These are the most basic reasons why a child does not chew food. Analyze your own situation, watch your baby - and soon you yourself will understand the reason for this unpleasant phenomenon. After this, it will be much easier to get rid of this scourge.

How to teach a child to chew food

The main question that concerns all parents is how to teach a child to chew food and restore his chewing functions? Nothing is impossible, so be patient and get started.

1. Show him by your own example how to chew: teach him, give him a few lessons in a playful way.
2. Buy marshmallows or marmalade that you must chew.
3. Stop grinding and chopping food: only hard pieces. If you haven’t eaten, don’t insist: hunger will eventually take its toll.
4. Don't yell or get angry. Try to communicate calmly with your child while eating, explaining everything to him in an even, kind, calm voice.

Yes, it’s not so easy to withstand the vagaries, but if the process is started through your fault, there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes you can only force your beloved child to chew food with your own endurance. Always remember about the result you want to achieve, and not about the whims and tears of your little sly one. Having seen how unyielding his mother is, you will see that he will soon give in and give in to you.

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

Correct 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 your baby in time. The baby wakes up at about the 6th month of life. If you watch your baby, you will notice how he diligently pulls into his mouth all the objects that fall into his hands, and diligently chews his gums with teeth that are breaking through.

Be sure to give your child teethers and chewing toys, since the baby needs them not only to scratch his gums, but also to develop the awakening chewing reflex. It is advisable for a baby to acquire his first chewing skills even before he acquires his first teeth.

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

If you are afraid that a baby about a year old will choke on a piece of dried fruit or an apple, use a nibbler. This device is a mesh nipple, inside of which a piece of a suitable product is placed. It could be an apple or a baby cookie. The child sucks and chews the nibbler, feeling the taste of food, which helps him get used to chewing food.

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

Note! A child must breathe through his nose while “working” with a nibbler or dryer. If your baby has a runny nose, wait until it gets better before offering solids.

With proper development at two years, the child can actively chew and swallow food normally. He may have a little difficulty with new solid foods, but overall he will cope.

How to tell if your baby is ready for solid food

As a rule, the baby himself makes it clear that he is interested in updating his diet. This can be seen from his behavior:

• Stops sucking food from a spoon, taking it with his upper lip
• Tries to chew
• Shows interest in “adult” food
• Puts hard objects into mouth
• Opens mouth wide when feeding

This usually happens no earlier than 8-9 months - this is when you can start giving your child cereals and other foods with small solid particles.

Why doesn't the child chew?

If you do not support the chewing reflex between the ages of six months and one year, there is a high risk that at two years the child will become capricious 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 and spit out unpleasant pieces. When trying to swallow food, he may choke or provoke a gag reflex.

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

If you feed your baby only foods with a delicate texture and do not stimulate chewing, then after some time you may encounter serious problems in the child’s development.

What to do if your child cannot eat solids

In some cases, even a one-year-old baby cannot chew food and constantly choke on small pieces. This means that the chewing reflex has not fully formed, and parents will have to act very delicately:

• Prepare thick cream soups and purees for your child, but leave a few tiny boiled pieces of vegetables when blending
• Later, the vegetables can be chopped with a fork; the pieces will become larger, but not hard enough for a child to choke on.
• The best effect will be achieved by products whose taste the child likes. These can be baked apples and pears, bananas, children's cookies
• Food needs to be made not only tasty, but also beautiful so that it attracts the baby

If, during the learning process, the child continues to choke and is unable to swallow solid food, this is a reason to consult a doctor who will find the cause of the problem.

Why should you chew?

Chewing skills are very important to develop from an early age. Regular exercise and eating solid foods ensures:

• Healthy beautiful teeth. Without constant stimulation, which cannot be provided by the absorption of soft pureed food, the baby’s jaws grow poorly, which is why the new teeth become cramped. The blood supply to the gums deteriorates and the teeth grow insufficiently strong. As a result, a malocclusion is formed and other dental problems may arise.
• Good digestion. A child’s gastrointestinal tract develops in accordance with his age, and the stomach of a baby over one and a half years old requires food well soaked in 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 result in serious digestive problems in adulthood.
• Developed speech. Refusal to chew and poor speech in a child aged two years and older are interrelated. If a baby does not chew from the age of six months, the muscles that are used when pronouncing sounds do not develop well. In this case, it is physically difficult for the child to speak clearly, and he tries to avoid verbal communication.