How do you get a child with Sensory Processing Disorder to eat table food?

[Anonymous]

My son was born 3 1/2 months early and is almost 19 months. In short, developmentally is slowly catching up to real age instead his adjusted age in almost every area except for eating. He likes to eat, we just can't get him to eat very much table food outside of the crackers and cheerios. He has finally reached the point that he starting to dislike baby food and we have to detract him with a toy in order to feed him. I'm sure I will get a bunch moms telling him that's the wrong to go about it, but he was born very small (1lb 1ounce) and we have to get the calories in him He is growing but is still 1% height and weight.

Because of his premature birth and low birth weight he is receiving services from the infant and toddlers program. The OT specialist has had some inventive ideas like, 1) using a nuk before meals, 2) Only introduce one food at a time 3) Keep drinking Pedisure to make up for the calories, 4) add oatmeal to baby food and make it thicker and thicker over time. 5) offer him different textures to play with (i.e yogurt, pasta, play-do.) So far the nuk (stick with a bumpy end) helped a little a but not much. This week we are starting going to start having him use a vibrating tooth brush and help with desensitization.

I'm really beginning to loose hope. Have anyone had to deal with this? Has anything worked for you? Are there any books that you would recommend? I purchased 3 books so far on sensory processing order and they haven't given me any suggestions I haven't heard already. I am open to ANY suggestions at this point. HELP!

[Anonymous]

My daughter's speech therapist had some additional suggestions -- vibrating teethers -- you can pick these up at Buy Buy Baby, which like the vibrating tootbrush get the child used to new pleasant sensations in the mouth and to working the muscles in the mouth somewhat differently; Chewy sticks -- here's a link for them --

http://www.amazon.com/THE-GRABBER-ORAL-MOTOR-CHEW/dp/B0018BWKQM/ref=pd_bxgy_t_img_b

You might want to check with your OT -- perhaps this is jumping the gun with her plan. Patience, OP, this is a process and your boy will get there. This is absolutely the RIGHT way to go about it. Don't lose hope.

[Anonymous]

OP, your OT sounds really smart in the way she/he is approaching this, we've worked with some doozies who actually made things worse.

My child still has issues with food texture and she was actually 42 weeks. It is wonderful that your little boy is doing so well in other areas. This will come in time, but for my child didn't improve significantly until after age 7, sorry to say. Sensory issues often get better at that point. Make sure his nutrition is good (pediasure) and try to find other foods with a crunchy dry texture that he can self feed since that seems to be his preference. Go at his pace and know that it is a marathon. Some kids have low tone issues that impact their mouth, or swallowing and trying to force things can lead to choking or even food aversions. There are no magic tricks, just building on what he will and is able to eat and trying to desensitize or wake up his mouth a bit. I have several friends whose kids have tubes or who are on very limited diets for allergies and who don't have an easily accessibe option like Pediature that their kids will take, it could be so much worse. A G tube or FTT is a really rotten choice to have to make. I know that food is very emotionally charged and you want to get past this but try to focus on all of his many successes. I used to get very stressed and anxious and I think it actually delayed DC's feeding progress somewhat, they pick up on your feelings and DC became more tense when eating. I actually found talking to a therapist a few times helpful both about the stress of the feeding and some other medical issues DC had. It stinks when feeding is a challenge since it comes up 5 times per day. Hang in there.

How is his weight these days? One friend found that by going back to the bottle at nap and night that her DC's weight increased. Of course, consult the experts that you are working with.

[Anonymous]

Like the PPs said, there is no magic bullet, unfortunately. DS is 15 mo and still won't eat anything with a speck of solid in it. So, you're way ahead of us! We see a speech therapist who specializes is feeding twice a month through IE. She's done many of the things you suggested - the chewy tools have been good for us. But, as she's told us, it's a really, really slow process. Just this week, DS finally stuck one finger in his food and licked his finger. I was so excited, I almost cried (which is not how you want to react, so says the therapist). But, it's a small and important step for us. I think so long as DC is getting enough nutrition, PP is right that we are lucky it isn't worse. The PP who said it 7 years has given me pause, however. I had hoped I would not be sending DS to kindergarten with babyfood jars!

And, btw, I distract DS with toys all the time to get him to eat. And, we offer him a hard solid (like a carrot stick) and a mushy solid (like a piece of banana) at every meal, and then mimic eating it sort of nonchalantly. Every once in a while he'll pick it up and lick it, or put it to his lips. But, we've had zero successful swallows so far. Our therapist has told us not to force it - we did this early on and he had apparently traumatic experiences gagging and vomiting. So, now it's just a marathon of desensitization until he decides to do it on his own. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like the PPs said, there is no magic bullet, unfortunately. DS is 15 mo and still won't eat anything with a speck of solid in it. So, you're way ahead of us! We see a speech therapist who specializes is feeding twice a month through IE. She's done many of the things you suggested - the chewy tools have been good for us. But, as she's told us, it's a really, really slow process. Just this week, DS finally stuck one finger in his food and licked his finger. I was so excited, I almost cried (which is not how you want to react, so says the therapist). But, it's a small and important step for us. I think so long as DC is getting enough nutrition, PP is right that we are lucky it isn't worse. The PP who said it 7 years has given me pause, however. I had hoped I would not be sending DS to kindergarten with babyfood jars!

And, btw, I distract DS with toys all the time to get him to eat. And, we offer him a hard solid (like a carrot stick) and a mushy solid (like a piece of banana) at every meal, and then mimic eating it sort of nonchalantly. Every once in a while he'll pick it up and lick it, or put it to his lips. But, we've had zero successful swallows so far. Our therapist has told us not to force it - we did this early on and he had apparently traumatic experiences gagging and vomiting. So, now it's just a marathon of desensitization until he decides to do it on his own. Good luck!

We used to have to distract our child with toys to get him to eat. Then we were seen at the feeding clinic at Childrens. That is not a good solution in the long run. I believe the feeding clinic deals with children with food sensory disorders. We have found it very useful for our child's eating issues. He went from 0 percent weight and 75% height to 10 percent weight and 75 percent height. I would call the feeding clinic and see if they can help.

[Anonymous]

OP = here is a string that discusses sensory food aversion - http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/98518.page#800237

It is great that you are aware and working the issues with such a young child. Older children can overcome the oral motor issue, but then stay stuck on a limited range of foods for sensory/behavioral issues that are hard to unlock. (that is where we are unfortunately). Essentially, you can overcome lots of things before 4, that after 4 it can take more of a cognitive behavioral approach couple with OT with sensory work.

Best advice - continue to utilize the infant and toddler, but also get a consult at the children's hospital feeding disorder clinic and/or kennedy kreiger. The expertise they bring may give you critical insights. The earlier you intervene with feeding issues, the better.

Books to read are "Just Take a Bite: Easy, Effective Answers to Food Aversions and Eating Challenges!" Lori Ernsperger (Author), Tania Stegen-Hanson (Author), Temple Grandin (Foreword)
"Feeding disorders in infants and toddlers: diagnosis and treatment." Irene Chatoor

[Anonymous]

http://www.amazon.com/Diagnosis-Treatment-Disorders-Toddlers-Children/dp/193401933X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298322689&sr=8-1

Dr. Chatoor is the co-director of the feeding clinic at Children's hospital.

[Anonymous]

OP here, Thank you for all of your support and suggestions. I was thinking of checking out Children's. Now I'm convinced. Also I also check out the vibrating sticks.

It's nice to know that I am not the only who has gone through this. I feel so guilty when I get frustrated. It was really helpful to hear your stories.

[Anonymous]

OP - Additional note. We bought a whole range of different color/types of chewy tubes, vibrating teethers, vibrating toothbrushes. Basically, you can't have too many. Put some in the diaper bag, some near where he eats, some in the toy area. You basically, want you kid to have access to them all the time - so it is natural and easy to pick it up and use them. We stored our where my child could easily reach them. Some also went to daycare. It got so I could see from looking at my child's face/jawline when he wanted the sensory input that comes from a chewy tube and I would just hand it to him. A good game to play is have him bite down and gently tug on the chewy tube. Kids who do not chew hard food, need this type of input to properly develop the jaw muscles.

They are not expensive, so, buy enough of them so that it is not big deal if you lose them. (Trust me - having the conversation with your spouse about where is the chewy tube and how could they have lost it >>>>>> - is ridiculous and best avoided).

Another thing we did that was helpful, was to give my child the nuke brush to essentially use as a spoon when he was eating his favorite food - yogurt. That way his tongue got the sensory input of the bump tip fo the nuke while eating a favorite food. I think that sensory input to his tongue helped him "map" his tongue and figure out how to use it.

[Anonymous]

Take is slow and don't give up! I used to think the same thing as you. My son only ate 1 thing and would only nurse. Nothing else. Yes, it was hard! He refused all cups and bottles, etc. when I stopped nursing he just ate the carbs. Now he is 5 and is doing a little better. We saw Dr. Chatoor as well. It will get easier as he is motivated for different foods and yes it will happen. Just don't let anyone push him, that does not work (based on my exp). As my son got older and started having lunch dates and lunch at school he was a little more motivated to try diff things. we are still working on it but like I said it does get better. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I wrote in the other forum chat previously. My 11 year old still has many things he won't eat and some things he will only eat as babyfood. Yup: but I don't care. As long as he eats healthily. His eating has expanded over the years (yes, years) but he sometimes still surprises me like recently deciding he can now eat mashed potatoes. Just hang in there OP: your child is just on a different timetable.

[Anonymous]

"but I don't care. As long as he eats healthily."

I can only dream of this. We are still at the point where we are happy just for calories.

[Anonymous]

Haven't read all the responses. I had the same issues early on too. I too had to distract my kid at feeding to make it successful. In our case one thing that made a difference was getting more enticing table food. I was trying to be the low or no sugar, no butter, no salt momma because all the baby books told me to do so. Well, it wasn't until I got really good stuff that feeding slowly became more successful. Once there was butter, salt and cinnamon on those sweet potatoes he was more willing to eat some lumpy mashed sweet potatoes and then eat sweet potato fries. We worked our way up the cookie chain from easily disolvable to more complicated with the help of an OT. Things progressed much faster once good cookies were involved. Whole foods Market has these organic yogurt bits withn probios in them made a company called something like Healthy Baby. Have you tried those? There's a Kashi cereal he used to like called "Mighty Bites."

All I can tell you is for us things gradually got MUCH better. I never in a million years thought I would have such a good eater after all our struggles. Good luck OP and keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

13:23 again...we also had to do things like brush his cheeks with a vibrating tooth brush as well brush his teeth with it to decrease sensitivity. The OT also showed us a way to stroke his cheeks every now and then. Once he was into baked goods I tried to bake in healthy stuff like pumkin puree and I used bean flours and protein powder and other stuff to boost his protein and nutrients.

[Anonymous]

Me yet again...now I actually read some posts. Yes, call Dr. Chatoor. We worked with someone from her team!