Children develop chewing skills through a process that depends on strength, muscle stability, and motor control. Factors like teething, illness, and selective eating habits can impede chewing proficiency. Techniques to teach chewing include beginning with purees, offering safe solid foods in small, pea-sized pieces, progressively enlarging the food portions, and employing songs or games to make chewing fun. Utilizing social praise and rewards can also serve as motivation for children throughout this learning phase.
🥣 Babies learn to chew through purees and safe start solids, gradually mastering chewing for more advanced foods like bagels and steak after the age of three.
🍽️ Strategies for teaching kids to chew include presenting purees with lateral placement, using social praise and rewards when they bite down, and gradually increasing the number of chews.
🎶 Songs like "Wheels on the Bus" or "Baby Shark" can be used to engage and motivate kids while teaching them to chew.
🃏 Older kids can be encouraged to chew multiple times by playing card games, with the number on the card indicating the number of chews.
🚰 Introducing a thin straw and offering a sip of water can help teach kids to chew and swallow food.
🍽️ Gradually increasing the size of the food from pea-sized cubes to nickel-sized bites can help children expand their variety of chewed foods.
📝 The Three E's chart can be used to track a child's progress in expanding their variety of chewed foods.
Key Insights
- 🥣 Feeding is a developmental process, and children don't automatically learn to chew. It requires strength, muscle stability, and motor control, which develop over time.
- 🍽️ Strategies for teaching kids to chew include presenting purees with lateral placement, using social praise and rewards to reinforce biting down, and gradually increasing the number of chews to build the motor pattern of chewing.
- 🎶 Engaging children with songs or games can make the learning process more enjoyable and help them associate chewing with a fun activity.
- 🃏 Older kids can be motivated to chew multiple times by incorporating counting or card games into the process.
- 🚰 Introducing a thin straw and offering a sip of water can help children learn to chew and swallow food, enhancing their ability to safely consume solid foods.
- 🍽️ Gradually increasing the size of the food from pea-sized cubes to nickel-sized bites allows children to expand their variety of chewed foods and develop the necessary skills for chewing more challenging textures.
- 📝 The Three E's chart can be a useful tool for tracking a child's progress in expanding their variety of chewed foods and monitoring the size of the food they can handle.
