Faith and I went to her follow-up appointment to continue evaluating her eating issues. We met with Megan this time; a different oral therapist. She is very nice, but once again Faith was shy, very quiet, and just took in everything that was around her. We tried to get her to eat a little applesauce, but again, she wasn’t interested in eating. She played with a few toys, but mostly just wanted to stay on my lap.
Megan suggests we take a step back with her eating. No more textured foods. And for now, eating food is only for play. She suggests we primarily give her hard food to gnaw on, like carrot sticks, celery sticks, Gerber teething biscuits, whole pickles, etc. Faith will have full control of what goes in her mouth with these types of foods, since she will be the only one to hold it. Megan said that these types of foods can help her suppress her gag reflex, (since she has an overly sensitive gag reflex) and help train her tongue to push the food from side to side. We can dip a carrot stick in applesauce or other smooth pureed foods once she becomes more comfortable.
So Aaron went to the store to get carrots, celery, pretzel sticks, Slim Jims… lots of stick food! :) And so far… Faith is really enjoying her carrot stick! :)
Faith will continue going to therapy for awhile. Hopefully with continued appointments we will get her on track with her eating! Please keep her in your prayers! Thank you!
Today was Faith’s oral examination with a speech and oral therapist. We are trying to understand why Faith has no interest in eating baby food. The pediatrician wants to make sure there are no physical issues with her swallowing. I don’t believe there is. She swallows milk fine, and water, and pureed foods. However, it seems she has trouble swallowing textured foods. Once textured food gets towards the back of her mouth, she tries to push it out with her tongue, or she gags. The same thing happens when we give her a cracker or a cookie. If she bites off a piece, she doesn’t like the texture of it, and spits it out. She refuses to chew it up, and swallow it.
So today we had Faith sit in the cutest little kitchen filled with bright colors, and she tried out several different foods. As predicted, she hardly even opened her mouth. First of all, she realized she was at the doctor’s office so she was quiet, big-eyed, and looked a bit nervous. When we put her in the highchair she started getting scared, and whined a little. I put a couple of her toys on her tray and she calmed down. We tried applesauce, chocolate pudding, a cheese stick, a Gerber snack cracker, and some pasta in tomato sauce. She never willingly opened her mouth for any food except once. I knew she was hungry because I made sure to delay nursing her so she would hopefully eat at the doctor’s office. She didn’t :(
We have another appointment with an oral therapist on Monday. I asked the doctor if it would be helpful if I recorded her feedings at home where she is more comfortable. She said, “Yes! That would be extremely helpful!” This way, the doctors can observe how she eats, what she eats, the quantity of food she eats, and the duration of time it takes her to eat. Also, they can better observe how her mouth works as she chews the food, and swallows. I think Faith will be able to give the doctors more information at home where she’s more comfortable, than in a kitchen, and in a highchair she’s never been in before. So I will begin creating a video log of all of her feedings.
I’m still not too worried. She is getting all the nutrients she needs through my breast milk, and I’ve heard people say, “Food for fun until they’re one.” However, I agree with the doctors that she should have more experience trying out a variety of foods by now. She should be wanting to open her mouth and try different foods, at least for fun.
I’ve researched several articles and message boards, and heard moms say, “None of my breastfed babies were interested in solids until they were at least 9 months and didn’t get solids quite regularly until they were 12+ months.” So I don’t necessarily believe Faith is behind developmentally. I won’t truly be worried until she’s 1 year old, and if she is still behaving this way. Another mom said, “None of my kids had solids before 12 months – just not interested. They’re all healthy young women now who will eat anything. They all turned into foodies, in fact!”
We went to Walmart today to get a few more foods for her to try out. I am posting her first feeding since we’ve been home from the pedicatrician. If any moms out there, or other pediatricians have any helpful advice to give, please do!
Faith was excited to hop in the car and go out yesterday! Little did she know that this time she would be going back to the doctor :( Poor thing, she remembers that table with the crisp white crackling paper underneath her. Just sitting on it made her cry :( She was crying while getting her measurements done… all the while anticipating a sharp pinch I’m sure.
But no shots today! She did get a prick in the finger though… and she cried. At least it wasn’t a hold-your-breath-til-your-face-turns-purple kind of scream. She had a small blood test for lead and iron. It came back normal. No anemia, and no lead in her system. Yay!
She now weighs 17 pounds and 10 ounces, and is 27.5 inches long.
One concern we have is that she still is not eating baby food on a regular basis. So we talked it over with the doctor, and she wants to do a swallow evaluation on her. Basically, Faith will eat food that is dyed, and they will see exactly how she swallows food. I know Faith can eat and swallow pureed food fine, but when she tries to eat textured food, she gags, and wants to spit it back out. She has very little interest in food that is age appropriate for her. However, she shows a hunger for me and Aaron’s food. If she could, she would eat a big fat double cheeseburger. She smells it, and opens her mouth, and wants to eat it BAD. But once I put a small piece of something in her mouth, she doesn’t like the feel of it and spits it right back out. We’re just getting no where. Her main interest is still breast milk. So we will see what information we can find out after her swallow evaluation, and see what they would suggest we do.
Personally, I think she will eat just fine when she’s ready. I will be weaning her when she is 12 months old though … so she needs to start eating food. A real serving of food on a daily basis.
The doctor said, “Puree a hamburger and see if she will eat it.” I think that is what I will do! :)
Poor thing got a little band-aid on her finger …
The rest of the day was great! Playing outside in the grass and the sunshine! :)
