Q: My child is facing problems in chewing his food and the doctor suggested we should give him food with a little less mashing gradually and he will learn to chew. We tried that and we see that even if we give him solid food, he swallows it without chewing properly. So is it OK, will he learn to chew gradually or should we try something different? We also tried leaving him hungry for some time and then give some solid food like daal chapati which he swallows anyway. However this has not resulted in any digestive problems to him as his stool is perfectly OK. Please advise me on this.

A:Your baby who is 20 months and weighing 20 kg and 90 cm tall is rather heavy and has a good height. I don't know how tall are both the parents. But it shows he is getting enough nutrition. His stools are fine. I don't think you need to hurry up to teach him to chew. Give him slightly mashed food and gradually introduce semisolids and solids and he will learn to chew and eat properly. Visit your paediatrician to make sure that his excessive weight is not associated with muscular hypotonia i.e. muscles with decreased tone which may be associated with chewing and swallowing problems.