Or, they may have engaged in a more generalized random mouthing that did not include exploration with greater sensory awareness. Children need to know that they can get pieces of food out of their mouths. Adults can help them use their fingers to remove a piece of food, learn to spit the food into a bowl with good lip and tongue control, and gather small pieces of food together for swallowing by using a smooth food that binds or sticks the pieces together. Smooth applesauce could be paired with chunky applesauce. Blenderized spaghetti sauce could be use to bind together pieces of pasta that are stuck on the tongue.
Some children learn to clear their mouths by taking small drinks between bites.
Many children can learn to bite off a piece of food and spit it out immediately. As this becomes comfortable, they may progress to holding the food in the mouth or moving it around the mouth before spitting it out. Gradually they will learn to chew it briefly without swallowing and then swallow small amounts as they chew. Through confidence, comfort, and experience they master chewing and swallowing foods easily and independently. When children know that they can get the food out of the mouth when they need to, they are much more likely to put it into the mouth.