Hi, I'm a bit of a newcomer but am really hoping someone has been in a similar situation to me and might be able to offer me some advice or reassure me that this will pass.
In short, I have a two year old who simply doesn't bit or chew. I've been doing everything I can to try and find out whether this is "cannot" or "will not" but am no further forward. I first sought advice 14m ago when he has 14m, as he seemed not to have advanced in his eating as much as I expected. He accepts food on a spoon but then leaves it on his tongue. Anything larger or harder than a squashed pea causes him to gag and choke. He doesn't put anything in his own mouth with the exception of his fingers and a blanket so finger foods have failed totally.
He was born with a thick, tight tongue tie which was cut at 5m but there is a small section still tethered at the back.
The speech therapist admitted that he appears not to bite and chew and beyond asking us to stroke his throat and chin when eating (which he hates) had no further advice to offer in this area. I asked for a referal back to the plastic surgeon who agreed to have a look, accompanied by a maxofacial surgeon but has now changed his mind and referred us to a paediatrician.
I first sought the referral for the plastic surgeon at the end of April but because we've been referred on again we're faced with another wait.
Feeding has, these last couple of months, taken a turn for the worse as my son is now refusing anything which is meat or vegetable based and seems to want to live on mushed weetabix, stewed fruit, semolina and ground rice. I do continue to offer him finger foods and bigger, harder lumps which will challenge him and give him the opportunity to learn how to deal with these foods but he either gags and chokes on them or else refuses them altogether.
He can't drink from a beaker (he has a short tongue so finds sucking difficult), won't put an open cup to his lips so has to drink from a bottle with the teat end cut off so he can clamp his teeth over the silicon to control the flow. I still give him toddler formula to drink as I'm at least certain he is getting enough vitamins and minerals.
In all other respects he's fine. He attends play group twice a week so has plenty of toddlers and babies to 'copy' at snack time but he just gets upset when offered food.
I'm hoping I'm over-reacting and that this is a phase which he will grow out of but it's been 14 months with no progress and I'm getting a bit desperate. No, make that very desperate. It's beginning to affect my mental health as I'm stuck between feeding him mush and dealing with a choking fit.
Is there anything else anyone can think of which I could try?
Sorry the message is so long and thanks for reading.