My 10-Month-Old is in Therapy...

Feeding therapy, that is.

When we last saw the GI specialist in October, he recommended feeding therapy for her swallowing problems. By the time the referral called, I had decided she was fine. When my pediatrician told me at her 10-month appointment that we should consider feeding therapy, I decided I should finally listen. Two doctors? Okay, we've got a problem.

The problem was that when Julia would eat solids, she would gag, choke, and throw up on food with textures, and sometimes foods that were completely pureed. It was so bad that I didn't want to give her solids anymore. And of course, because of these constant unpleasant experiences, Julia hates to eat and refuses food. 

So we went to therapy, and it was LIFE CHANGING. In our 50-minute assessment, Shannon (who is a speech and feeding therapist) identified that Julia's issues stem from control over thick textures. It had nothing to do with chunks, and everything to do with viscosity. She taught us to close her mouth when she starts to gag to initiate the swallow reflex which has in turn prevented her from throwing up, and she taught us to push the spoon down on her tongue and let her take the food from us so that she is in control. Okay, so maybe this is no-brainer information for you veteran mothers out there, but we were clueless. 

A whole new world has opened up for Julia. She is eating spaghetti, carrots, beans, rice and puffs and all sorts of new stuff! (She could always eat Cheerios which dissolve into a thin texture, but would constantly throw up with Puffs which dissolve into a stickier substance.) 

And since she is able to eat finger foods, she is finally feeding herself...

She hasn't quite mastered the spoon (which is a Squirt - the best thing ever invented, thank you Tammy!), but she enjoyed making a mess. 

Hmm....maybe we should have stuck to the pureed foods for longer. I think we'll be doing a lot more laundry in the future...