Hi mummies, my 2 yo takes forever to eat her food and she likes to keep food in her mouth like a hamster. I always have to remind her to chew her food. Most of the time i need 2 hrs to feed her and this is really frustrating. I try not to lose my temper but is like testing my limit.

When you are trying to get your child to eat, does she get lots of attention as a result of your many attempts to get her to finish her meal? Constantly talking to your child can be a significant distraction from the task at hand. Your child may also be enjoying all the attention she is getting, and therefore be motivated to keep engaging in her squirrel-like eating behaviour! To see whether this may be the reason for your child’s behaviour, try sitting with but only speaking to your child when she swallows her food, and give her lots of praise when she does this. If your child’s behaviour is motivated by attention, she should soon learn that swallowing in a timely manner gets her lots of it, but storing food doesn’t!