Sunday, October 14, 2007

Sensory problems with eating STILL

Tomorrow Brady goes for his two-year check-up. It's almost comical, because we are at the doctor's once a month already, so tomorrow we'll go and get a weight check, have a shot, then be on our way. I have given Brady whole milk a couple of times with some added heavy cream over the past week, but I just need to check with the doctor as to how many days she wants me to give it to him. I am assuming it will be a slow start so we can watch his calcium levels. He loves ice cream, so I am pretty confident he will make the transition pretty smoothly.

Now if he will only eat his food that smoothly! I am finding his sensory issues in his mouth are just getting more and more in the way. His Speech Therapist has worked with us for a LONG time regarding this, but it doesn't seem like it's improving. I don't know if I am doing all I can, or if we need to go about this a different way. It doesn't seem like a lot of WS kids were at this point at this age -- meaning he should be getting through this by now. Amy has helped me tremendously on this -- any more ideas from anyone??

5 comments:

camille said...

Hi, Can you be a bit more specific and say exactly what is happening? What foods will he/will he not tolerate?

Amy said...

Happy b-day Brady. Gosh he is how old?!?! Geesh, time flies. He is so cute!
XOXO
Amy

Julie said...

Happy Birthday Buddy!! I would be curious what Brady can and can't tolerate since he and Noah are so close in age. Noah still has some issues with texture. I suspect he is also just showing some preference. It is really difficult to know if he dislikes something or if it is a sensory issue. He loves cracker, but he takes such tiny bites that ritz are much better for him than goldfish because he just ends up making such a mess. He still cannot eat a whole cheerio in one bite. Noah doesn't drink milk, he drinks pedia sure. I am sure as he eats more foods the doctor will want him off of this, but I don't know if he will drink milk.

Nicole said...

Happy Birthday Brady!!!

This eating/sensory stuff is hard. Emerson tolerates most food in her mouth, but I swear she only swallows half of it. My best friend, also a Speech Pathologist, has a 3 year old with pretty severe sensory issues as related to feeding. Here are a couple of things I know they have tried:
-brushing and joint compression (has helped the most)
-oral stimulation before eating (using nuk brush on gums, tongue, hard palate), brushing finger around lips and down cheeks towards the mouth
-vibrating toothbrush in mouth
-changing up a tolerated food in one dimension only (ie., same mac and cheese different noodle shape, ice cream with food coloring, bananas refrigerated compared with room temp, etc...)

My friend's child only eats things that were either puree or crunchy, nothing in between. No fresh fruit, no vegatables. Mac and Cheese is the only soft thing and she only eats one brand. She got her to eat a sandwich by slowly changing up a cracker to resemble a sandwich and eventually toasting up bread enough. Often her daughter gags and vomits on the spot even thinking about putting a food in her mouth. My friend always remain unreactionary and cleans it up and then goes back to business. I'm sorry you are going through this, I know it is challenging and it is completely exhausting and frustrating for my girlfriend.

Emerson sees a feed team (GI doc, nutritionist, behavioral psych, and speech path) and collectively they have always come up with my feeding game plan. That way you can balance Brady's complex nutritional needs with his sensory issues. Just a thought.

Kerry said...

Hey Camille! He will eat mush foods, like baby food with cereal, loves ice cream... will basically TRY anything. I can slip in pieces of baby carrots, or other textured foods here and there and sometimes he gags, sometimes he moves it around, and if it doesn't dribble out his mouth, he will wash it down with milk.

He LOVES the Nuk, toothbrush,e tc. LOVES to lick things. We have done oral stimulation before, but I don't think I have done it before meals in awhile. We will give it a go-ahead.

Thanks EVERYONE for their input - I am printing everything and showing the Speech Therapist in the AM