Hi hetal,

Thanks for replying to my previous post. Now i started giving him bread toasted with ghee and dipped in milk. Also gave him yesterday half chappati in dal..he found the dal spicy though.

I wanted to know the age when they start to chew properly. My son is 13 months and has 8 front teeth but he has been swallowing directly the food when i give. I am worried for feeding chappati and rice as it is . I still mash the rice in dal and same with chappati ,i soak and mash and give..still was worried as i see him swallowing. Will he learn eventually ?? Hetal replied. hi,
chewing has nothing to do with teeth,,,gums are good enough for the soaked things that you are giving,,infact with the 8front teeth your baby is able to bite upon a raw apple or something else and you will see how badly he bites that :)
possible reasons for not chewing foods :
1. baby has not figured out how to chew..the best we can do is,,take a bite of the food that you offer,,,and chew before him,,,and then offer him,,and when offering him the food,,catch his eye contact and you make an action to chew the food..some babies likemine learned it that way..
other is some kids have learned to chew food only when they were startd with foods that they can actually chew upon,,,so if at all you have been giving the food that he didnt need to chew at all,,he will just swallow it because he knows that things are too soft for him to chew..and then eventually, he will learn it..
the other tricks to make him chew,is give him teething biscuits,,most kids learn the chewing when biting this biscuits,,,you can try that,,
the other things that prevents your baby from keeping patience in chewing the food is he is badly hungry and doesnt want to make efforts to chew or eat,,,he just wants his tummy to be filled...so offer him meals just when he is hungry,,keep them ready,,or some 5min beforehis regular meal times, if at all he is sticking to his meal schedules...
the other reasons of now chewing could be that the baby mouth and tongue develops that chewing motion when its strong enough to hold and play with food inside the mouth,,,its a natural process and for it you cant train them,,for their mouth and tongue muscles to get strong, only thing you can do is give things like water filled teethers,,that they can grab and bite and chew....teething biscuits also suffices the need...
so go by your whatever your baby accepts,,some babies after all tries gag and choke inspite of all efforts,,,its just that they are not ready for finger foods,,keep trying by putting lumps before him and see his responses to it,,,
and yes, if thats the case,he will learn eventually,,as a mother, keep trying and checking if at all he is ready,,,,
take care, good luck