I'm glad that's done! It wasn't as intimidating once we got there. We had our own room and Lucas was in a great mood, so that helped. After we played a bit, we put him a booster and 'fed him' as normal (which is obviously not very normal).
Like always he did great with a cracker. But he quickly showed why we were there when presented with purees and other mushy textures. He has some serious spoon aversion! His lips clamp shut and he won't let that sucker near him.
Part of her 'diagnosis' was due to his chubby cheeks? She said that when he eats a cracker, he likes it because he can guide it through his mouth with his tounge. With purees the get 'lost' for him since there is so much space for it to slip around in there. It made more sense when she explained it, I promise ![]()
But overall, the OT was extremely helpful. She gave us some things to work on including but not limited to:
-drinking from a straw cup to improve jaw, cheek, and tongue strength
-accept drinks from open cups to improve oral motor skills
-showing him the spoon while he eats his crackers so that he associates it with mealtime, etc
It was beneficial. And seeing the other kids who were there for OT definitely made us count are blessings that this is our biggest 'problem'. There were some brave little dudes in there today...
Re: f/u food therapy
Yeah he can try anything, but she did want to keep the spoon top of mind. He basically went from cereal to meltable hard solids and we want him to 'rediscover' the soft mashed stage
Married 10.11.08
Baby LJ 05.21.10
TheRookieChef.com
I am glad it was a good experience for you! I know what you mean about the prospective thing. Adam could come home just about every day w/ a story that makes our "problems" seem sooo superficial.
It probably won't help, but have you tried those newer purees in a squeeze bag? They have been really expensive up until recently, but yesterday I bought some of the happy baby brand for 0.82-0.89 at target, so as cheap as earth's best jars, which I usually get. They are all organic w/o any bad additives. Older babies tend to like them b/c they can do them themselves, w/o having to be fed w/ a spoon. Plus they are so portable. Ingrid tried one today and really liked it. I think i'll be buying more soon.
Thanks ladies!
All-his - I've seen those before so I do know what you're talking about. Those might just work! It was so bizarre... he wouldn't even look at purees on a spoon, but she put the same stuff in a small, shallow cup (think: plastic version of those little dixie cups we had in our bathroom when we were little) and he "drank" the food from it with no major issue (still didn't love the texture though).
It's all about perception, apparently!
Married 10.11.08
Baby LJ 05.21.10
TheRookieChef.com