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Preemies
Finger food help
My DD is a 33 weeker who is now 9 1/2 mos. We started solids at the 6 mos actual mark, so 4 1/2 mos adjusted. She did ok and I wasn't real stringent with it, meaning some days we would try solids, the next day we wouldn't. Yeah, I probably messed up there.
We feed her solids twice a day now - around 10:30 am and 6 pm. Some days she'll eat 4 oz of solids like she is really into it and others ehhh not so much but she will eat at least 2 oz at each solid feeding.
But when it comes to melts - holy moly! She has the worst gag reflex every. She'll basically start gagging and then will puke. I"m sure she just needs a bit more time to get it down but someone, anyone tell me you too experienced this.
What I'm basically asking is - when did your preemie start finally getting it? She does pick them up and study them, then puts it in her mouth, moves it around a bit and then the gagging begins. I'm currently cutting them into tiny peices (think 1/2 of a cheerio - but I'm not feeding her cheerios).
She is also not getting the whole sippy cup idea either. She is not holding her own bottle (EP'er using the tommee tippee bottles) but she will pick up her sippy or bottles and try to get it in her mouth. When you hold it for her she tries to drink (and I've takin all of the stoppers out) but just doens't get it. Do you have better luck with the straw sippy cups?
Your input is apprecaited! TIA
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Re: Finger food help
Andrew struggled with all of these.
Purees- He refused from about 6-8 mo, but started to do better after that.
Finger foods - Gagged like crazy sauce for such a long time. Around a year (adjusted) it got a lot better. We had to move very, very slow. He was in OT and she helped us - I was afraid. The first thing he was capable of eating without gagging was "veggie sticks". In a bag, like baked french fries. Again though I let his OT do it b/c he gagged so bad and puked on so much.
Sippies - Couldn't get it. I think he was mostly struggled with his balance when tipping back. At 15 mo adjusted he still wasn't and dr said to take his bottle away cold turkey. He only drank about 8 oz for a whole month. He just couldn't physically seem to drink more than about a half or 1 oz at a time. Finally he caught on to straw cups and did so much better. Take and Toss straws are great at first.
Good luck! If you continue to struggle I would recommend OT. We started back up in OT for feeding at about 18 months adjusted and it's helped SO MUCH.
She's only 8 months adjusted, sometimes it just takes time. DS started eating solids pretty well around then, but others take longer. Our doctor's were always a little surprised at how well he ate.
It's also normal for their appetites to vary - you don't need to make them get the same amount each time. It's best if they decide when they are hungry and how much they need/want. If you are cutting solids into teeny tiny foods, it may actually be confusing her a little since there's so little there...maybe try a little bigger pieces to see if she gets more of the idea of chewing then with a piece she recognizes as actual bites?
My DD is a 34 weeker and we had a similar experience. At 9 months, she was gagging on everything! She wouldn't even put puffs, Cheerios, yogurt melts, etc. in her mouth. I thought we would be on baby food forever! We kept working on it, and by 10 months she was eating like a champ! It is amazing what a difference one month makes. One thing I read, was to try having your baby use those vibrating teether toys to help desensitize the gag reflex. Since she was gagging on everything, I was willing to try anything.
I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and it does get better!
Sippy Cups--We used the Take and Toss Sippy cup. We just gave the sippy with water at meal times for her to practice. By 10 months she "got it" and was using it regularly. At 11 months, she was using it exclusively except for 1 bottle at night.