One year old has never swallowed food

[Fifii]

i have a one year old boy who has never swallowed food, he spits everything out without fail.

we’ve tried purées (he wasn’t interested at all), finger foods, cold food, warm food, mashed food, etc etc, it makes no difference.

he does like food - particularly finger food, and he clearly enjoys the flavours and he’ll bring them to his mouth and chew, but he just won’t swallow. We offer him a big variety of fish, carbs, vegetables, fruits etc. and we’ve been offering 3 meals a day since he was about 8 months old.

i mentioned this issue at his 9-12 month development review and they seemed to infer it was my fault for being anxious (i was anxious when first starting solid six months ago like most parents are, but I haven’t felt anxious when offering him food for months, and hadn’t actually mentioned anxiety to the HV at all). They also suggested it could be an appetite issue which I also don’t agree with. He’s breastfed and I’ve tried many many times with delaying his milk until after meals but it makes no difference. It’s as if he doesn’t know HOW to swallow food - or can’t for some reason.

for context he was born with a tongue tie but it was divided when he was 2 weeks old. He doesn’t suffer with reflux. He’s happy and healthy and meeting other milestones, though he is on the 9th centile for weight.

I feel so worried that he isn’t getting the nutrients he needs and that I’m failing him by not being able to feed him. His sleep has been virtually non existent for months too and it’s all getting on top of me. I keep seeing videos of babies his age and younger tucking into meals and having regular naps/decent sleep at night and it makes me feel so rubbish. I feel like I just can’t do anything right.

we have an appt next week for a swallowing assessment but I’m dreading it.

Has anyone else experienced this? any suggestions on what it could be, or things I should mention at our appointment?

My DC was like this for months OP. Would take an interest, bring things to the mouth and suck etc but didn't swallow anything. I remember my excitement at finding a piece of carrot in a nappy for the first time! I can't recall when DC started swallowing but is nineteen months now and has been swallowing for a good few months- it's like it just suddenly clicked!

Can't comment on any swallowing assessment or anything as we didn't go down that route, but got there in the end!

My youngest was a bit like this, esspecaly with purées. He was over 1 before he got the hang of food. I think he swallowed the odd thing before one though. He also stopped gaining weight so well from about 9 months. He is 3 and gaining now along a lower percentile for the past year and a bit. Sometime around 18 months he just seemed to wake up a different child, ate and slept, which he never did well as a baby. My eldest is like the videos you see and ate everything you put in front of her for the get go.

Good luck at the assessment.i do find health visitors, just say I hope I've reassured your worries a lot rather than refer for anything.

My little one was also like this. He's 2.5 nearly now and eating much better. I was beside myself and it really ruined the weaning experience for me because I couldn't relax. We also had a swallowing assessment and it turned out to be fine. They suggested he had a strong gag reflex. It sorted itself out and I wish I hadn't worried as much

@Hazzyyy thank you - I do feel the same way, I feel like I was so excited to start seeing him tasting foods and the whole thing just feels like pure stress now. If I’m eating a banana he’ll crawl up next to me to share it with me and it’s the cutest thing ever, he just spits it all out lol. Can you remember what was involved in the swallowing assessment? Do you remember if tonsils were checked too?

@BeastAngelMadwoman hahaha I know I’ll be the same when I eventually find food in the nappy! Grim but true. Glad to hear it suddenly clicked. Hopefully it’s the same for my little babe.

@Alwayslearning25 thats reassuring to hear, thank you! All the books make it seem like they should be eating lots by the time they’re one; I need to remember not all babies do. Gosh I hope he starts sleeping one day too. I’m exhausted!

@Fifii
Yes they did a visual check of his tonsils.
They did a barium swallow test, so he had to drink this thick white liquid and the doctor watched it all go down and made sure it was ok. It was all fine. I was convinced there must be something wrong and that it would be the answer. My little one was also 9th centile. Probably still is. It used to worry me sick and looking back and hindsight etc, I wish I didn't worry. I was obsessed with how much he ate etc. I would suggest, if he's following his growth curve then let him explore etc. my little one didn't even want to explore food so it's good yours does. People always used to say to me he'll get there and I never believed them but slowly he did. But i know that feeling all too well if comparing to others, watching others out and about and feeding well. I used to feel jealous and isolated!

Unless it was fromage frais from one of those sucking pouches my daughter didnt eat food until about 18 months, would happily play with it. She was breastfed and went to childminders 3 days a week from 1 year old she joined in mealtimes but only every consumed the fromage frais….She chose to fill up overnight on milk and subsisted on water and her beloved fromage frais during the day. Would not drink formula or expressed milk. Suddenly it clicked and apart from a few textures she doesnt like and as a teen she eats mosts things.