Posted by Holly
on 10/30/2009, 7:14 am, in reply to "Eating"
174.56.131.147
Hey Rachel...my daugther had no problems eating from a spoon. She also had cleft soft palate and a tongue lip adhesion in place at the time we started with solids. My biggest peice of advice to you would be to wait on feeding her from a spoon. 3.5months old is young to start spoon feeding any baby. Some babies will have success at this age, but most just aren't ready. Are you trying to start spoon feeding for a reason?? ie increasing calories or not taking enough from the bottle?? I started both of my kids (prs/non prs) with solids at six months old. I waited until they could sit well with minimal assistance and were rolling over both ways. I am going to give you some tips that really worked for my baby...maybe they will work for yours too.
...have the high chair semi reclined(let gravity help her get the food to the back of her mouth...some babies do do better up right)
....start out with spoon feeding something familiar like her milk)
....try giving her little tastes of food using your finger
....aim the spoon to the side of her mouth...this helps her by letting the food go back on the side and not directly into her cleft
....keep your bulb syringe handy in case something comes out of her nose...if it does.. don't freak out its ok
....have some water or something handy in her bottle to give her a sip if she needs it
....be patient and don't force the issue..she will get it!!
....try making your own baby food....i did this and found it to be pretty fun...not only does it cost a lot less...there is less waste and you can experiment with different textures/tastes and consistencies that work best for your baby
i found wholesomebabyfood.com had lots of great recipees and ideas for baby food and its free
I hope this helps you and good luck with feeding!
--Previous Message--
: Hi everyone. I've been reading the post on
: this site for a while now but have never
: posted. My daughter is 3 1/2 month old and
: we are trying to start her on cereal with a
: spoon. Her jaw is still set back along with
: her tongue and she also has the cleft
: palate. Does anyone have any tips on using
: a spoon?
:
: Rachel
:
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