Something that worries many parents when it comes to weaning and feeding young children is what to do when they put TOO much food in their mouth?
Stuffing their mouths with too much food can be quite common in babies and young children, and it can be quite worrying as parents to see. So why do they do it and what can we do to prevent it? Find my 7 expert ways to help them and reduce your anxiety.
What is food shovelling?
Food shovelling, also known as food stuffing or overstuffing, occurs when babies quickly push large pieces of food into their mouths using their hands. This behaviour is common as they explore and learn about food, typically up to around two years of age.
During this period, babies often pack their mouths with food, which helps them receive sensory feedback from the muscles in their mouths. This feedback teaches them how much food is too much and encourages them to take smaller bites.
While this behavior is a normal part of development, it can be quite concerning for parents who worry about the risk of gagging or choking.
Why is my toddler shoving too much food in their mouth?
- They may be still learning – They are learning how big their mouth is and how much food is RIGHT for them to fit in their mouths.
- They may not know the food already there and so too much gets put in.
- Enjoyment – They are possibly loving the taste and feel of the food, playing with it and can’t get enough of it.
- Perhaps they haven’t worked out how to slow down.
Is food shovelling dangerous?
Generally no, as they will gag if it goes too far back or learn to spit it out. It can become an issue if they start to hold the food in the sides of their mouths (also known as food pocketing).
You don’t want your toddler holding food in their mouths and leaving the table as it becomes a choking risk once they start moving around.
How do I stop my baby or toddler from food shovelling?
Here are my 7 expert ways to help reduce food shoving:
Here are some strategies you can try to try to minimise your little one stuffing too much food in one go: These tips will also teach them to slow down their eating and take their time, reducing the amount they put in their mouths at one go and thereby reducing the risk of them gagging or choking on their meal.
For the first two strategies, you would choose just ONE of the strategies – i.e 1. serve a smaller portion OR 2. Serve (more) food, depending on your child and what works best for them.
1 – Serve a SMALLER portion
Sometimes, when children are presented with large amounts of food at once, they may be inclined to consume it all in one go. By starting with smaller portions, you can help prevent them from overstuffing their mouths.
On the other hand, for some children, it might be beneficial to serve more food on the plate, especially if they are finishing their portions quickly and still appear hungry. In such cases, offering additional food can be the right approach.
2 – Serve MORE food
Sometimes babies or toddlers might be worried about “missing out” on the foods available and so they might end up eating fast, or putting too much in their mouth at once, almost in excitement and a little greed! It may help to show them that there is more food to come, that there is plenty available and that they don’t have to shovel down as much as they can in one go.
You can do this by serving family style meals where people help themselves to an array of food on the table. Even with babies this can be helpful to allow them to see that there is more food coming. If they are old enough, they can also help themselves to some of the food or you can assist them in doing this.
Additionally, some babies may rush through one meal to get to another part of the meal, i.e. offering puddings. I’m NOT a huge fan of puddings and have written about why I often serve sweet foods along with savoury foods at mealtimes to explain this. Having all foods served together at mealtimes may also stop them rushing through one course.
REMEMBER – to always follow your child’s lead as to HOW much they can eat at mealtimes – but this doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful to slow the pace of eating or how much they consume in one go.
3 – Communicate this message to your baby or toddler
Every time you see them stuff food into their mouths, talk to them and say “too much?” or “that looks like a lot of food in one go” or “you might not be able to finish that amount, shall we try again?”. You can also show them that the size of the food is too much by holding it in front of them and saying “ too big” or “smaller bite next time”
4 – Teach them to take bites
If they are struggling to take smaller bites, you can teach them how to take smaller bites or rip pieces of food off yourself simply by showing them. Being a role model is really important because they need to see and learn how to do it. Sitting with your child at mealtimes is really important as it helps to teach your child a lot about eating.
Some types of foods to try teaching them to bite would be foods like: toast fingers, pitta bread strips and other perfect finger foods for babies. Ensure that they are finger shaped so that they can learn to take bites.
Here is how to teach them to bite:
- Hold a large piece of suitable food in front of them and say ‘bite’ then bite down on it- overemphasise the bite as you bite down.
- Then say ‘Rrrip’ as you tear it away
- Then give a piece to your child to try the same
- As they take a bite you can pull it away and show them the teeth marks – “look you took a bite”
5 – Give them stronger flavours
Bland and softer foods tend to be the ones that are more likely to get shovelled in like bread. Stronger flavours will be more recognised in the mouth and where they are placed. Try foods with citrus flavours such as orange segments, herbs and spices. For more information on herbs and spices and ways to flavour foods for babies see this blog.
6 – Offer utensils such as forks and food picks
Using utensils will slow down their eating, as they are learning to develop their fine motor skills. Also forks and food picks will need smaller pieces to fit on the end of the fork and be placed into the mouth. You can say “too big” if they take a large piece to their mouth.
You may also find to begin with they just play with the food rather than pick it up, this is all part of learning. They will get better over time.
7 – Remove distractions
This can help them to slow down their eating so they are concentrating on eating rather than watching tv or another distraction.
If you have a toddler that often shoves food in their mouths it can be hard to know how to reduce it or the reasons for it. I hope that after trying my expert strategies, it will help them learn to slow down and put less food in their mouths over time.
If you have tried all these strategies for some time and it is still not working, it would be best to get it checked out with an occupational therapist or speech and language therapist, to seek more support.