Hellobee Boards

My 3 yo has been doing this since she was itty bitty to stop the next bite from coming!

Mine did that! It was a short phase; around 8-9 months, only for a few weeks?

@LaughLines: I had a family member who did this growing up. I didn't learn until much later that it's called "pocketing" and is a lot more common than I realized! It can be tied to a bunch of things: an oral sensory issue, food insecurity (often related to adoption), mouth pain (teething or a cold sore can cause an aversion to eating/swallowing), an oral motor issue, and other stuff too.

If you google "pocketing food" and various ages, there's a lot more information on how to address it!