5 yr old holds food in mouth and meals are so PAINFUL....

[bellbottoms]

my 5 yr old has always been a painfully slow eater - though I usually eat with him, I tend to get bored waiting/have lots of things to do (in the kitchen) so leave him to it to finish off..though don't insist on a totally clean plate and he still gets something else healthy even if not finished. But now it's even more painful! unless it's ckae or biscuits, he generally takes an age, and lots of foods he chews on so slowly and says 'they don't go down'..ends up spitting it out. I try not to show my frustration / utter boredom and sadness of food being wasted,. I have now, after 30 mins of sitting here just said he does have to eat it all as I really didn't give him very much and all the food (fish, pots and peas) are ones he usually/used to eat easily (if slowly). As a single parent it's just so sad not being able to enjoy eating with my son and to be able to explore foods with him! oh argh..what to do? will it go away? get worse?

tbh I'd just leave im to it
he's probably sensing how stressed you are about it and knows it's one of your triggers
just give him his dinner and then carry on with your jobs

I had forgotten that my ds used to do this when he was 3 or 4. Can't quite remember tbh. But I do remember that it used to drive me nuts, he would just hold it in his mouth for ages. He would frequently have to spit it out because it just wouldn't go down - and yes, mealtimes were a nightmare, mostly because I used to get so stressed and annoyed.

But, he doesn't do it now (he's 6) and I guess he just grew out of it. He is still a slow eater though unless it something sweet.

Sorry, that's not much help but I just wanted you to know that he's not the only one and it should pass.

My dd does this, she goes through phases of it. I have found that making her eat v small mouthfuls helps as does a glass of water also there are certain things that tend to be more likely for her to do it with -things like chicken breast. I now give her back / thigh meat and she doesn't do it with that anymore. It will end don't worry u r not alone!