Posted by Angela
on 8/24/2009, 7:55 am, in reply to "Food Aversion"
173.54.57.225
I'm not sure I can offer an advice, but I can say I've been there. When my daughter was born, they put an n/g tube in her within 12 hours. I had no idea it wouldn't come out for 22 mos. One of my greatest regrets was not fighting harder for her to be able to bottle feed, but airway got in the way and we did they best we could. She eats 100% orally now but it was a long rode.
First thing you need to do is make sure he is medically cleared to eat. A swallow study will help with that. Provided there are no anatomical issues or anything else preventing him from eating, you can move on. Make sure his GERD is under control enough to prevent the vomitting. He likely would benefit from speech therapy or feeding therapy weekly if not more. Unfortunately, once a month is probably not doing much for him. Has he ever eaten by mouth? A good therapist can help him transition to it but it takes time. Does he let you put things in his mouth? Have a pacifier? A chewy teething toy? All those things work the muscles and will help him get used to it. If he's never eaten by mouth, he needs to relearn how to use his muscles, how to close his mouth around a spoon, how to move food around in his mouth, and swallow properly.
As I said, my own daughter was n/g tube fed at varying degrees for 22 mos. We worked on oral feeding everyday once her airway issues were under control. She ate from a bottle from the beginning, but never enough to sustain herself. Once she started solids, we started feeding therapy in earnest, but it still took her 10 mos to take enough in to get her tube taken out. You can read more about it on my blog. Here are the links to 2 entries I did specifically on Kate's eating challenges:
http://pieceofkateb.blogspot.com/2008/08/back-whe-kate-was-3-weeks-old-she-had.html
http://pieceofkateb.blogspot.com/2008/09/teaching-kate-to-eat-took-far-more.html
Good luck, and feel free to email me with questions!
Angela
--Previous Message--
: When my son's g-tube was placed at 6 weeks of
: age, I now see that I was naive to think
: it'd be so temporary. He just turned one and
: is not eating. His palate has yet to be
: closed-was supposed to be this week but is
: postponed due to a crummy sleep study. I'm
: going to try to have a swallow study done
: since he hasn't had one in a while, but any
: suggestions on getting him interested???? He
: has a speech therapist that comes to our
: home once a month, but she's had no luck
: either. He has gerd and was recently put
: back on prevacid, so his vomitting has
: slowed. I thought that might be one factor
: contributing to his fear of eating.
:
: I just feel defeated. He really doesn't know
: what to do with solids in his mouth, he will
: either accidently swallow and gag and throw
: it up, or instantly spit it out. Friends,
: family, strangers, tell us to try sweets and
: that to get his interest, but taste is not a
: major factor when you have oral-sensory and
: motor issues.
:
: Sorry so long....please respond if you've
: had a similar experience and found that
: something has worked. I know we all go
: through feeding issues,
: so I know I shouldn't feel alone, it is just
: tough. Thank you
: Katie
:
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