9 year old with Phobia about choking on food - any advice please

Jaspersmum

Hello

My 9 year old Daughter saw some videos at school last week regarding first aid - one of them was a man choking on a sandwich.
Since this - which was last Tuesday she will not eat any solid food - she will eat mousse, smooth soup etc.
If I give her solid food she chews it for ages and ages then spits it into a tissue.
I am obviously very concerned with this issue and have spoken to the practise nurse at the Doctors surgery who tried to reassure her that choking was not a common occurance, but she is still the same.
Should I try to just give her solid foods and hope she is hungry enough to eat them eventually or should I give her soup etc and hope this passes.
She is only a slim girl anyway and does not have the weight to loose.
Any advice or experience gratefully accepted.
Thank you

righter

Go back and see your GP,before this escalates. i had a friend who had a phobia about being sick,its quite a common phobia.

this phobia has meant she would not have children,because of morning sickness. will not eat out. Will not travel abroad,and many other things or situations she will avoid because she fears being sick.

I am not telling you this to frighten you,but to underline how something can develop into a life changing problem.

Luckily now,GP`s can offer CBT,this was not available when my friend was young.
CBT can be done online,on the phone or face to face.
I hope you get some help.

Jaspersmum

Thank you for your reply, unfortunatley the waiting list for CBT here is 12 weeks plus.
I know because I am on the list as I suffer with an unrelated phobia.
I hope it will just pass but have no idea on how to handle it, should I give her the liquid type food or be harder and give her real food and hope for the best.
I am waiting for her headmistress to ring me for an appointment to discuss.

Crisp_£_note

I dont want to sound harsh am just trying to suggest to help so forgive me sorry.

Can you not go on as usual and cook the normal family meal and tell your DD where the food processor is and show her how it works and under your supervision she can blend up her dinner every night and some ready for lunch the next day? Point being you dont have to spend more money on soup just for her and cause more problems at mealtimes so keeps DD included but with any luck to you she will get fed up of having to go through the liquidising process (and perhaps feel a bit out of place with the liquidised dinner for packed lunch instead of sandwiches at school) that she reverts back to eating normaly ? Sorry as I say its not meant to be a bullying tactic just a way to help both ways.

On the other hand have you considered why she may have been frightend by this video? Perhaps its not the fact of eating food but maybe the fact the first aid administered? Eg a sharp punch in the abdoment or slap on the back? Sorry cant remember the current correct proceedure, if the video showed it in more of a negative way?

Jaspersmum

Thank you for your reply C£note.
I will try this, hopefully she will eat mash potato (eg jacket potato with maybe a bit of cheese) and for lunch she will have to have soup.
I really hope this is a passing thing and if I don't make too much of a big deal about it she will start to forget and try more things with bits in as I introduce them.
I will show her where the blender is tonight and ask her to have a go.
Thanks

Violetta_2

Have you tried tempting her with her favourite food? Just wonder if that might be an idea to get her used to eating something more solid as it were. I'd find it hard to turn my nose up at chocolate or ice cream & it melting as it does would reduce the risk of choking feelings. I think you are right to not make too big a deal out of it though, wish I had more advice.

thegirlintheattic

TBH I'd nip it in the bud before it becomes a habit, give her normal food and if she refuses don't offer an alternative. If she doesn't eat in a few days take her back to the GP.

olibrofiz

Hugs to you & your DD.


One thing that came to mind, hard as it may be, was not to make a big deal of how she's behaving at the moment but just keep an eye on her.


I'd give her baked potatoes & beans/cheese, spag bol, pasta, soft (but not too smooth stuff) and sit her down to eat with the family as normal. I think I might even say what a silly person that was choking, they'd obviously tried to swallow too big a bit of food and just to take small bites, after all 'mummy & daddy eat all sorts of food and you haven't seen them choking'.

Wotsits & quavers dissolve in your mouth too

liana_y2kuk

OP I really feel for your little girl. I also have a big fear of choking after seeing my dad choke twice. Please try not to draw attention to it. I find that I feel like i am going to choke more if I have been. reminded of it resently. A lot of the time i can eat normally but sometimes have to put my food into a tissue like your daughter. I just feel like the food wont get small enough to swallow safely.

Hopefully if you dont mention it to her she will forget after a short amount of time.

Kat
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