What are your best tips and tricks to deal with a child who stores food in his mouth?

Firstly, good job on making sure that distractions are removed. This is important for several reasons: It teaches your child early on in life that mealtimes have a certain structure and that there is a time and place for everything. It provides a context to practice important things like focus and impulse control. For example, not having the TV on in the background or giving your child an iPad to play on whilst they are eating means that they have to direct their attention fully to the mealtime process. When a person (adults included!) is mindful of what they are doing, they can take in and process information better, which leads to more effective learning. child stores food in her mouth TV can be a big distraction during mealtimes, forcing your child’s focus away from her food. If your child is paying more attention to Dora on her iPad whilst trying to feed herself, she is probably not paying much attention to her intake of food. Thus, she is not learning what it’s like to gradually feel fuller as she eats more, or to control her spoon when scooping up food in preparation for her next mouthful so the food doesn’t spill over the side of her bowl. Before you decide what the best way will be to teach your child to chew and swallow her food in a timely manner, you need to identify why she prefers to store her food rather than eat it. The best way to gather clues for this is to look closely at what’s happening before, during and after mealtimes.