Speech Therapy: Round One
12:18 AM Posted In down syndrome , feeding issues , gabby 3 Comments »
Okay, so...I hate speech therapy. I know I should give it a chance-and I will- but seriously, our first session sucked!
.
The first half was fine. We basically just played and emphasized sounds of the objects we were playing with (which I do regularly, but whatever) and then our therapist decided we should have some snacks. This is when I started to get nervous because you see, when you mess with Gabby's food, you should be prepared for a war. She wants it her way and you BETTER be quick about it. Sigh.
.
A common characteristic in children with Down syndrome is that their teeth come in later than typical babies. At sixteen months old, we are finally seeing signs of two top first molars and they are slowly taking their time to appear. I first discovered them about three weeks ago (after suspecting them for a good six months) and today they are still sitting where I found them. Just chillin'.
.
Anyway, because of this, Gabby has since moved on to more solid foods and has learned to just swallow everything whole. And can I just say- Thank God for that mini food processor I bought recently! Anything we eat, Gabby eats as well (after a quick spin in the mini FP!)
.
So here I am thinking I am doing a good thing by letting Gabby eat pretty much anything we eat however it is she wants to eat it (ie: swallowing whole.) I figured once those teeth came in she would figure out what they were for and start properly chewing. WRONG. Apparently, babies chew even when they don't have any teeth (who knew?!) and I have been instructed to start offering crackers or puffs to Gabby by putting them in the side of her cheek. One problem- Gabby HATES this plan. Her philosophy is that if it doesn't come on a spoon A) It's gross, and B) It can't get in her mouth/stomach fast enough which leads to major tantrums and hyperventilating which = choking on cracker/puffs.
.
I should probably take video one of these days so you guys can really understand what I am dealing with here...it aint' pretty. Needless to say, the second half of our session was a big fat FAIL and I really felt bad for our speech therapist. She seemed at a loss. I was sweating, she was sweating, Gabby was sweating...it was a hot mess.
.
My homework for the week has been to offer foods that require chewing in between meals to get Gabby used to it and to get her accustomed to the fact that just because she throws a tantrum doesn't mean she'll get the food her way. I must admit that I haven't been offering her crackers or anything dry because I am SO terrified of her choking. Instead, I have been offering cereal bars (broken up into tiny pieces) and other soft things like corn bread, etc... and she has been self feeding herself those foods without incident. I'm not convinced she isn't still swallowing them whole, but I think it's still progress.
.
Sigh. Next step is that darn straw cup.
.
The first half was fine. We basically just played and emphasized sounds of the objects we were playing with (which I do regularly, but whatever) and then our therapist decided we should have some snacks. This is when I started to get nervous because you see, when you mess with Gabby's food, you should be prepared for a war. She wants it her way and you BETTER be quick about it. Sigh.
.
A common characteristic in children with Down syndrome is that their teeth come in later than typical babies. At sixteen months old, we are finally seeing signs of two top first molars and they are slowly taking their time to appear. I first discovered them about three weeks ago (after suspecting them for a good six months) and today they are still sitting where I found them. Just chillin'.
.
Anyway, because of this, Gabby has since moved on to more solid foods and has learned to just swallow everything whole. And can I just say- Thank God for that mini food processor I bought recently! Anything we eat, Gabby eats as well (after a quick spin in the mini FP!)
.
So here I am thinking I am doing a good thing by letting Gabby eat pretty much anything we eat however it is she wants to eat it (ie: swallowing whole.) I figured once those teeth came in she would figure out what they were for and start properly chewing. WRONG. Apparently, babies chew even when they don't have any teeth (who knew?!) and I have been instructed to start offering crackers or puffs to Gabby by putting them in the side of her cheek. One problem- Gabby HATES this plan. Her philosophy is that if it doesn't come on a spoon A) It's gross, and B) It can't get in her mouth/stomach fast enough which leads to major tantrums and hyperventilating which = choking on cracker/puffs.
.
I should probably take video one of these days so you guys can really understand what I am dealing with here...it aint' pretty. Needless to say, the second half of our session was a big fat FAIL and I really felt bad for our speech therapist. She seemed at a loss. I was sweating, she was sweating, Gabby was sweating...it was a hot mess.
.
My homework for the week has been to offer foods that require chewing in between meals to get Gabby used to it and to get her accustomed to the fact that just because she throws a tantrum doesn't mean she'll get the food her way. I must admit that I haven't been offering her crackers or anything dry because I am SO terrified of her choking. Instead, I have been offering cereal bars (broken up into tiny pieces) and other soft things like corn bread, etc... and she has been self feeding herself those foods without incident. I'm not convinced she isn't still swallowing them whole, but I think it's still progress.
.
Sigh. Next step is that darn straw cup.
Posts
3 comments:
Therapy was painful in the beginning...for us the worst was PT, though. KayTar used to SCREAM when the PT even looked at her, oh man...it was awful. She warmed up, though.
It sounds like KayTar had more severe eating issues than Gabby does and even she got there (sort of, LOL)...so don't worry too much. Keep trying and that's all you can do. You can lead a kid to solids, but you can't make 'em eat! I learned that the hard way!!
Speech therapy was tough for us when CJ went thru it as well. I think it will get better tho, give it some time!! And, Ella does the same thing with eating. It has to be on her terms, and she sometimes chews but typically will shove everything on her tray into her mouth, which typically results in choking. UGH, I hope it gets a lot better for you, that must be tough!!
Baby steps, baby steps.
I know it's tough now, but little by little, hopefully Gabby will start to get the hang of it.
My lil guy still just has those 4 front teeth. Knowing that the worst of the teething nightmare is still ahead of us is not a pleasant thought. :(
Post a Comment