BLWers, how much does yr 1yo swallow?

[titferbrains]

Do you think your dc swallows most of what she eats? I give dd some of what I'm having but she doesn't swallow much, just chews it up till she's got the goodness out/sauce off/broken it up a bit then spits it out.

Trying to work out if she has a problem with swallowing or if this is normal.

we just scoop up all the spat out bits from her bib and put them back in front of her, then she has another go.

Slow weight gain so we have to give a lot of yogurt etc to keep her going but she is also burning a lot from crawling I think.

anyone?

I'd say my 13mo swallows about 3/4 of food that she puts in her mouth. The other 1/4 she might chew up for a while then spit out or just quickly reject if she's keen to put the next thing in. However, she doesn't actually eat a huge amount of anything...hardly any breakfast (literally about 4 cornflakes or whatever cereal we're having) then just about 8-10 mouthfuls of lunch but a fair bit of dinner (e.g. a whole broccoli floret, a fist sized amount of fish, (her fist size!), some other bits and bobs. Also she'll have snacks like 2 rice cakes, 3 grapes and a biscuit over the day).

So I'm not sure if it's normal to spit out so much, because maybe your dd is putting a lot more into her mouth and still swallowing the same amount as another baby who swallows most of what goes in, but not much goes in, IYSWIM.

Anyway, if she's happy and healthy and her weight gain is fine then there's probably nothing to worry about.

Sorry just remembered you said slow weight gain. Is it still steady from what it always was or has it dropped off since introducing solids? Maybe worth talking to a HV if you've got a good one and are worried she's not swallowing much at all.

I did worry a bit more once my dd turned one because of all the "It's just for fun until they're one" making me think, eek now it's not just for fun. I'd say my dd has only really cottoned on to solids being able to satisfy hunger in the last 6 weeks or so.

thanks for posting. great to hear someone else's perspective. Like yr LO, I think mine is getting better, but I struggle to get her to eat carbs. So she chews bits of pasta but it looks like almost all of it comes out, she does the same with cheerios, she like roast potatoes I think but have only found this in the last couple of weeks. Rice never seems to even go in. Bread is also not very popular. She loves tomatoes however and I give her at least one tomato per meal because she will pretty much only leave the skin and a few seeds behind.

WE've been given a referral to a specialist to check the gag reflex etc so I hope this will put my mind to rest.

I agree that breakfast is a tough sell!

Have you tried cutting everything up into small pieces? I say that because my DS (13 mo) used to nibble off big pieces of food and now consumes MUCH more by eating food that is cut into small pieces.

He will also barely eat breakfast but for lunch he will have 1-2 sausages/2x (his) fist of chicken or fish/beef or lamb mince (meatballs). For carbs he won't eat rice, but I give him rice pasta, baby gnocci, pasta (15-20 pieces). Veg is hit and miss but I offer it every meal. He will then have a yoghurt and some fruit afterwards.

With regards to swallowing, my DS will chew the protein but usually swallows the carbs whole .

sambo what is baby gnocchi?? Have never seen this before - where do you get it? Do you think he finds rice pasta easier to eat than normal pasta?

Have already done the cutting into pieces. Does improve the hit rate, I agree.

Sigh better go and clean up the latest disaster zone that is the high chair. It's right up there with cleaning the bathroom and doing the filing.

You can get in Waitrose - Del Uro Tricolour Baby Gnocchi: Italian potato, spinach and Tomato bite size dumplings (their description, not mine!!). One bag stays in date for about 2 months, but to be honest, we get through a bag a week! Sainsbury's do Gnocci but it is really large.

I give rice pasta as I find watching him eat rice too painful and it is another alternative to normal pasta.

I know what you mean about the highchair...so boring!