Preemies
Anyone seen an OT for feeding therapy?
We've been referred to one by our GI... She's 5 months (actual) and now she will only take her bottle if she's being distracted. If we sit down, she immediately refuses the bottle. It's getting to the point where I can't physically carry her around and feed for much longer. Per the suggestion of our GI, we've started cereal but it's a non-starter... she's just not ready.
The GI said it's not uncommon for babies with bad reflux (she also has some other GI issues) to associate the bottle with stress/pain, and develop an aversion. I'm curious as to how they'll asses her, and what they can do to improve the situation, given that she's so young.
Thanks for any advice!
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Re: Anyone seen an OT for feeding therapy?
We had that problem with my DD. She had reflux and would projectile vomit her feeds. (seriously shot across the room!) After a while, she started to eat less and less and refuse the bottle more and more. There were times she would just scream if you started to put a bib on her and sit down, she knew what was coming. We saw a GI and they suggested feeding therapy but another thing he did was put her on Prevacid and he changed her to Alimentum (hypoallergenic formula). She was on breast milk fortified with neosure. We decided to try the Alimentum for a week and I would just freeze my milk. Literally, the next day she almost doubled the amount she took. It was a life saver! So, maybe you could try that? Luckily, we didn't have to see a feeding therapist. It definitely had it's ups and downs because of the reflux if she had a flare up or if the meds needed to be adjusted but thank God it was never that bad again. The Alimentum saved us. I was really sad to not be able to give her breast milk but in her case, it wasn't what was best for her.
I wish you luck! I know how tough and frustrating it can be. For what it's worth, we still have to distract DD sometimes with TV or something. She still isn't a great eater. It's been the most frustrating part of this past year.
We don't have the same issue but we started seeing a feeding therapist and an OT for Scarlette's eating issues. I can say that we have seen major progress since they came into the picture- they've been able to give me suggestions and show me tricks that I would not have thought of.
Our OT had us sing to S while trying to feed her as a focused distraction and that worked really well. Sorry I don't have specifics but I would go ahead and try to get an EI eval so that they can start working with you!
First - huge hugs for feeding frustrations! I know how hard it can be.
One of my guys has been seeing OT for feeding/sensory issues for a several months. In the past couple of months, we've seen everything going to H's mouth. He's still not a fan of food, but at least he's putting stuff in his mouth.
Just last week we started with ST. We're hoping to strengthen his oral muscles for speech and in turn this will give him more control over the food in his mouth.
A couple of things that have helped us:
https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Nuk-Brush/dp/B001UZ31SC
https://www.amazon.com/The-Sensory-University-TRI-CHEW/dp/B0018BVAD6/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336747860&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/THE-SENSORY-UNIVERSITY-CHEWY-MEDIUM/dp/B00173CDI6/ref=pd_sim_hpc_7
Keep trying. Try every day. Our OT said to give H anything he will put in his mouth to eat. Some nights his "dinner" consists of cinnamon cookies, mum mums and a few licks of a sucker. While this is not ideal, it's a starting point and our OT is pleased.