https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 04 Apr 2026 19:47:33 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2882126 Thu, 25 Apr 2019 21:12:22 +0000 wrkbrk 2882126@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: Yes yes yes! I didn’t know this had a name! It drives me CRAZY. For about a year my three year old will occasionally do this with a single food - chicken. His daycare teacher told me she has to do a mouth sweep before his nap like she’s a prison guard 😂😫 I have no idea what make shim do it one time out of twenty or whatever. Sigh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2882032 Thu, 25 Apr 2019 09:37:35 +0000 periwinklebee 2882032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO does this with certain foods (15 months), like a little chipmunk. We're not forcing/pressuring him to eat anything. For some reason he just likes doing this, especially with fruits. He'll either eventually swallow or spit it out when he realizes there's something he'd like more. Both at daycare and at home, we just remind him that he needs to swallow his food and he has to swallow before he can get something else or come down. I figure it's a stage. ugh... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2881975 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 20:57:58 +0000 PinkElephant 2881975@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yes, I definitely think DH has been pushing her recently on eating - she’s already funny about eating tons of something one day and refusing the next, so it seems like control. I’m going to try backing off on “managing” her eating - I think she may actually be stuffing her mouth to get rid of foods she prefers less, or to get more of what she likes, and then getting “stuck” with too much in there.</p> <p>@graceandjoy: thanks! The last couple of times, DD has not been cooperative about swallowing it or sitting - I wanted to think it was accidental and she didn’t know what to do, but IDK... it seems pretty willful! </p> <p>@ALV91711: I appreciate this story - thanks. I really hope it’s a short lived behavior and not indicative of something else going on! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2881920 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:35:50 +0000 graceandjoy 2881920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom told me I used to do this all the time; take a bite of food and leave it in my mouth forever :grin: </p> <p>I have a 28 month old that does this sometimes, but it's more like stuff that requires a lot of chewing (usually meat) so she gets tired and just leaves it in her mouth for a while?When I notice, she'll usually swallow or spit out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2881919 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:32:11 +0000 ALV91711 2881919@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS did this around that age. There were some days he’d come home from daycare with food still in his cheeks. I made it habit for a while to check his mouth when he was done eating. Also let him know if he couldn’t chew/swallow something to spit it out. It didn’t last to long. </p> <p>Even now at 6 he will sometimes take a bite of something and for whatever reason go and spit it out before continuing to eat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2881905 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 08:31:24 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2881905@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No my LO doesn’t do this at the same time I have made eating something on his plate a condition of eating something else he’d rather have. DH and I sometimes ask to look to make sure he’s swallowed so he’s not stuffing more food in. For food that he really doesn’t like I just move on because I wouldn’t want to have eat something I really thought looked bad or tasted gross. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toddler-suddenly-pocketing-food#post-2881898 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 08:03:11 +0000 PinkElephant 2881898@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 2.5 year old has always been a great eater. Once in a while she'd overstuff her mouth with food she likes, but she has never had an issue with chewing and swallowing.</p> <p>Over the past few days, she has started chipmunking food in her cheeks - usually it's something she doesn't really like, but has been told she needs to eat a few bites of (egg, apple w/ the skin), but she's also done it with oatmeal when I didn't ask her to eat more than she wanted/give any sort of ultimatum. She will hold it until someone notices, and has to be coaxed to spit it out. Yesterday I didn't realize she was doing it, and she held a mouthful of watery oatmeal for 20-30 minutes through school dropoff and errands! Today she was holding apples after breakfast, and I had to sweep her mouth after she put in a jellybean I gave her for potty training efforts, because she couldn't chew it (I had hoped she would swallow once she realized she'd get a treat). </p> <p>Today I asked her if something hurt, and she showed me her throat...but that may just be power of suggestion. I've told DH we have to stop pressuring her to eat things she doesn't want to, at least for the time being, so there is no pressure for her to pocket.</p> <p>Anyone's kids ever do this? I'm really hoping it is just a power struggle and not a long term feeding issue thing. </p>