Eating 101

I never thought it would take me NINE months to teach my baby how to eat! I never knew that it could be such a challenge. It's food and we all LOVE it!!! Sometimes... we enjoy it TOO much! Who'd have thought that there would be anyone out there that doesn't know how to eat or simply refuses?? I've had a crash course in feeding therapy and that's why I call this blog entry Eating 101. I am not quite the expert, as I won't get that title until Owen rids of his NG Tube.... on that day...I will celebrate!! In the meantime.... I will continue doing what works and SHARE what I know with the rest of you that are being challenged by your babes.

Twice a week we have feeding therapy. Once at home with our OT and once through PCH outpatient therapy. During our sessions, I absorb as much knowledge as possible because I know that the rest of the week it's going to be Me vs. Owen. It's never a battle between baby and mom, it's just baby food flying as Owen kicks the spoon out of my hand or spitting baby food at me when he just isn't interested. Our feeding sessions every 3 hours are actually quite humorous and a great bonding time for us! We laugh, make a mess and he laughs at me with me when I cheer him on with each and every attempt at opening his mouth. Oh what a fabulous time we have!

Up until last week I had him eating at least 15 spoonfuls of baby food at every sitting. Keep in mind he'll only eat meat or veges and he has to feed himself the first bite. He will drink water only and it has to be in an adult sized glass and be loaded with ice. He will first submerge his hand in the ice water and stir the cubes around... THEN he will take sip after sip until he everything is soaked!

Some tools of the trade that I have been given to work with and highly recommend are pictured below. The Nuby cup is a fantastic way to teach drinking/eating from a sippy cup. When Owen opens up to drink from his cup I can push from the bottom and the food will come out of the soft spout. The tool on the right is the honeybear cup with a straw inteded to teach drinking from a straw. I can squeeze the honeybear and conrol how much food he gets out of the straw at once. The idea is to get him drinking consistently from one of the cups and then we can get rid of the tube. Sounds easy?? Not so much, but we are making progress. Owen hasn't been in the mood for baby food this week nor for his devices. So after we try and eat for 20 min... we consider it a success (either way) and I let him PLAY!! This comes highly recommended from our occupational therapist as it is a great way for them to get comfortable with the food and it's smells. The #1 trick of the trade is to constantly give him exploration foods... ie: bell pepper slices, frozen waffles/pancakes, beef jerky, biter bisquits, pear slices. ANYTHING that can be chewed, slobbered and turns to mush. When all else fails... ICE CREAM works for us!!

I look back over the last 9 months and I am AMAZED at how far his eating as come!!