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9 month old can't (?) Swallow food

24 replies

Pinkflipflop85 · 06/08/2020 19:00

Does anyone have any experience of their child being unable to swallow solids? She loves the idea of food and happily sits in her high chair. She will put loaded spoons in her mouth or happily chew on finger foods.

She just doesnt seem to be able to swallow anything though. She looks like she is going to swallow but her tongue pushes everything back out again. Even If it is completely smooth things like yoghurt.

Not sure if i should be concerned yet or not. Normally I would mention it at the baby weigh in clinic but obviously they haven't been running for months.

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LordOfTheOnionRings · 06/08/2020 19:06

I would call your health visitor or the GP. Nine months seems quite old to not be swallowing (not that i know anything). But if youre concerned enough to post on here then I suggest you get professional advise.

Pinkflipflop85 · 06/08/2020 19:14

Thanks for your reply.

I suffer with PTSD from my first born and have an anxiety disorder so I'm often reluctant to contact the professionals in case I'm just over worrying! Things like this were so much easier when you could just talk in person at the weigh in clinic.

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FelicityPike · 06/08/2020 19:14

What has her HV said when you told them?
Has she been doing this since you began weaning? Did you start at 6 months?

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FelicityPike · 06/08/2020 19:15

Sorry I see you haven’t told anyone.

FelicityPike · 06/08/2020 19:16

Your dd hasn’t swallowed food properly for (roughly) 3 months?
I would definitely call the HV.

Pinkflipflop85 · 06/08/2020 19:25

Thanks. You've reassured me that calling is the right thing to do. Theres definitely a little bit being swallowed, as her nappies have changed a bit but we definitely end up with more food out of her mouth at the end of each meal than in it!

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loveskaka · 06/08/2020 19:26

Definitely speak to HV

rottiemum88 · 06/08/2020 19:39

Could be that your baby still has the extrusion (tongue-thrust) reflex, which normally disappears between 4-6 months. DS's was a little later to disappear (around 8/9 months) and he displayed similar symptoms. You should speak to your HV/GP and get their advice; in our case they just monitored his weight for those few months to make sure it wasn't having a detrimental impact on his development, but in rare cases it can continue to later childhood and cause other issues

CottonSock · 06/08/2020 19:41

Mine has gag reflex and food aversion until 10 months. Hv gave some help and was going to do a referral, then dd ate a baby crisp thing. I kept giving those. Also yoghurt on a teether toy etc.

Pinkflipflop85 · 06/08/2020 20:04

She has no problem accepting/trying food. It's just the swallowing part.

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Pinkflipflop85 · 07/08/2020 14:13

Thanks for the kick up the bum. Called health visitor and she's told me I need to ask the gp for a referral to the SALT.

Hopefully it wont be too difficult. Our gps still aren't seeing anyone in person.

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Kitkat05 · 08/08/2020 20:27

@Pinkflipflop85 hopefully it's jus tongue thrust as someone mentioned. My lo had it till end of 7 months. Tongue kept pushing everything out. It got better but did take 7 -8 months

ACatCalledLola · 08/08/2020 20:35

Dd2 didn’t eat anything until she was about 11 months. She gagged and spat everything out. I was worried and spoke to the hv who told me to come back if she still wasn’t eating at 12 months. She suddenly got it- by stealing her sister’s Pom Bears. She wasn’t really into food for a good year after that but now at 3 1/2 eats brilliantly.

newlittle · 08/08/2020 20:42

Hi, my daughter has this issue. She was unable to lateralize her tongue. If you eat something and observe how your tongue moves side to side? She couldn't do that. It was debated between my doc, a pediatríc dentist and the speech therapist as to whether she has tongue tie which was missed at birth. They wanted me to cut it but i thought it was cruel at her age (9 months) plus she would have needed an anaesthetic. So, a speech therapist helped us resolve it with exercises. I also got her one of those teething tubes which are long and rubber and kind of force you to move your tongue side to side. Don't worry as food before one is really for fun. But yes agree with others to address it now so she can eat properly around 1 or just after.

newlittle · 08/08/2020 20:42

Sorry I meant she "had" this issue, no longer, she eats like a champ now.

Pinkflipflop85 · 08/08/2020 21:17

She had a tongue tie revision at 11 weeks and the doctor mentioned a high palate when they did it. Not sure if that is causing any of the problem 😕

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LeGrandBleu · 09/08/2020 06:33

@Pinkflipflop85 Swallowing is actually an extremely complex process that involves many muscles and needs to be timed with breathing, so start with little quantity.
First you need to consider lubrication, that's saliva that makes the food wet and able to slide down the throat. So yoghurt as a first food is fine, but don't load the spoon. Just give it a quick dip in the yogurt and out. So there will be some yoghurt, and the process of tasting will involve the tongue.
Do the same thing with a lovely and tasty soup, or a soupy puree (so instead of steaming, cook the veggies in 2 cm of water and let them simmer, and then blend all together with whatever liquid is there) or make a vegetable broth and use it to add liquid to food.

Again, don't overload the spoon, fill a quarter or half of it. She needs to learn to push the food at the back of the mouth and not on top, and it is easier to learn it with little food, than with the mouth full.

Once she has mastered the swallowing and moving the food around, you can go back to some finger food, preferring the moist and wet ones, so watermelon for example. Avoid the baby processed snacks (melty puff, crisps, granola. rice cakes,) because you are building your daughter's taste and reference and you want to give her a taste for real unprocessed food.

You can also prepare stew or risottos, or soups with pieces like a minestrone.

Give it a try while you wait for the referral to come through. Let her try when she is interested but slow her down and small quantities

CottonSock · 09/08/2020 15:27

I'm sure the above poster means well, but I really would experiment with different textures and not just purees. The baby crisps showed my daughter that food was not to be feared. Not all babies want or like puree. If I had waited until my daughter liked puree, we would have been waiting a long time. She moved on from baby crisps to Orange segments. All purees were rejected / gagged for a long time until more confident.

LeGrandBleu · 10/08/2020 00:24

I'm sure the above poster means well, but I would really leave baby junk food as the last resort.
The OP's DD doesn't have food aversion or fear, quite the opposite, and giving her now a taste for junk food to solve a food issue now would create a food issue later on when she would only want to be feed processed food and be reluctant to try new food.

modgepodge · 11/08/2020 17:45

My daughter really didn’t swallow large amounts til about 11 months. Small amounts were being swallowed - I could tell from nappies and if she was ever sick. But not large amounts. Every time I mentioned it to a HV they said not to worry, until 1 it’s mostly milk, just keep offering food. I did an eventually she got it.

Obviously others have had different experiences though so can’t hurt to get it checked out.

NoliteTeBastardesCarborundorum · 11/08/2020 22:39

Mine didn't swallow solid pieces of food until 11 months when the concept just seemed to click for him. He didnt really eat decent amounts until well over 1. Though probably worth asking the GP based on some of the suggestions above.

Pinkflipflop85 · 11/08/2020 22:45

Thanks again for the replies.

We have been referred to the integrated therapies team.

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MotherPiglet · 11/08/2020 22:48

It's possible she still has he tongue thrust reflex. Contact the health visitor but I dont think theyll be concerned until shes 1 as they believe she should still be getting all her nutrients from milk until then.

SproutBuckle · 06/04/2021 18:51

Hi Pinkflipflop,

How did you get on? My daughter is 9 1/2 months and doesn’t seem to swallow solid foods. She can and does swallow foods like thick purées and yogurts, but finger foods get chewed and spat out. She loves eating cucumber and strawberry’s, and she has little seeds in her dirty nappy but the lumps just tumble out of her mouth. The melty puffs seem to be a bit better, but that might just be because they melt!

She has never been a big eater and she was monitored for the first 6 months because she wasn’t gaining enough weight. Not that the HV or DR ever did anything about it specifically. She doesn’t have a bottle bigger than 5oz just because she isn’t interested.

I just want my baby girl to eat and be healthy and I’m pulling my hair out!

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