Home › Forums › Feeding Issues › General Feeding Issues › Finger foods and putting things in mouth
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July 11, 2006 at 9:08 am #11313
Anonymous
InactiveWe’re still waiting for EI approval, but looks like we’re getting it because Ian has a delay with fine motor skills. The biggest issue is he does not want to put anything to his mouth (by himself) except a pacifier. He will occasionally put a ball or block to it or will lean in and teeth his stroller or crib but as far as picking up food or teethers and putting it in-no way. He will take purees when I feed them and same for bottle. So any tips? We saw a ST and she recommended this really great teether called z-vibe that vibrates-you can attach spoons, other teethers, pacifiers, etc and for the first time ever, I saw Ian love a teether. BUT he will not hold it to his mouth himself. He can be starving and I know he can feed his own bottle but wont do it. Anyone have suggestions? We also need help on finger foods because he’s not on any grains yet. I can imagine that slimy ones aren’t going to go over well. And, I’m assuming he won’t bring it to his mouth anyways. He’s eating apples, pears, banana, blueberry, chicken, sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, and green beans so far. We’re retrialing oatmeal this week (cross your fingers-only one day so far!).
We saw pediatrician yesterday for 9 month and he confirmed what all the specialists said and that is that this is all related to reflux problems (which are now-with exception of antibiotics last weeks-seem to be totally controlled). Conditional. He also said keep Ian’s formula up until 11 months because that’s when the babies develop ‘gut’ immunity. I never knew this but our dr. seems really on top of new research. Said that keep trials to a minimal until then so digestive tract doesn’t have to work too hard so when it matures, we can really experiment. He said then he will switch Ian to no more than 16oz and he’ll eat more solids and by a year -he wants him totally off formula. Apparently there’s no need to be on milk at all and it was used as a poor man’s way of feeding babies and research has shown it can be damaging in the long run. He’ll go straight to water and solids. Then if after a month or so and if he won’t start eating more, we’ll have to think about formula again but he’s confident he’ll make the switch. Ian also gained weight!! He’s now 31″ and 22 and a half pounds.
Just thought I’d post his thoughts if anyone had any comments, etc.
July 11, 2006 at 9:45 am #11319InactiveMarisa always refused to hold her own bottle. She will, however, hold
her own straw cup IF she wants to – maybe about half the time. But she
also always loved to chew/teethe/mouth all toys, etc.As for finger foods, have you seen the “Just Tomatoes” brand of
fruits/veggies? They have a good selection of them at whole foods and
offer dried apples, peaches, blueberries, etc. You could try those and
also the Gerber apple bites – freeze dried apple pieces. That way they
aren’t slimy.That’s really interesting with the formula/milk comment from your Ped.
What does the research say – why can milk be damaging in the long run?
Will he put him on other calcium foods after 11 months – like cheese,
yogurt, etc?Great news with the weight gain! He’s a big boy!
July 11, 2006 at 9:58 am #11323InactiveThanks Karen. Do you break up the pieces of dried fruit? Ian still has no teeth and I’m terrified of choking. And yes, Ian used to hold a sippy cup but those days are gone for some reason-probably because I didn’t focus on it.
As for the milk stuff-I’m not really sure. He just said there is a ton of info about how cow’s milk is really rough on digestion and can cause problems when they’re older. He said soy milk, and cheese, yogurt would definitely be options if he can tolerate.
Yes-it’s a miracle on weight gain! He’s really tall-98 percentile and weight is 50 percentile for height to weight ratio. Overall-77 percentile so Dr. said his curve is staying the same. He said at this point babies only gain about 1 pound every three months.
July 11, 2006 at 10:05 am #11325InactiveGreat news about his weight!!
As for stopping milk/formula at a year, I’d be worried mostly about his fat intake. Babies need plenty of fat for the first two years for neurological development.
Good luck with the oatmeal trial. I hope he can tolerate it this time.
I’m sorry I don’t have any suggestions. Just wanted to wish you my best.
July 11, 2006 at 10:06 am #11326InactiveMarisa likes the dried blueberries best – no need to break those up –
they are really small and soft – and remember, she only has her bottom
front teeth still (working on like 4 others) and those aren’t the ones
babies use to chew anyway. And the Gerber pieces are really small and
dissolve/turn soft very easily.Interesting with the milk and digestion comment – will keep that in
mind! We’re lucky these days to get 14-16 ounces of formula/day in
Marisa and she’d much rather drink water. She eats solids quite well
other than breakfast. Since she’s 11 months today it’s all stuff to
mull over…Funny – and M is so short (of course I’m only 5’1 and DH 5’5 so no
surprise). Like Marisa, Ian must just not need a lot of calories to
grow!July 11, 2006 at 10:28 am #11330InactiveYes, I worry about fat too. I guess we’ll figure it out the closer we get. Thanks for well wishes!
So amazing M is almost a year! Seems like just yesterday I found you guys on the board and she was on Neocate. Look how far our ittle ones have come.
Yes, I’m 5’9″ and husband is 5’11” but the height is definitely from my side. All the men are well over 6 feet!
July 11, 2006 at 10:30 am #11331InactiveWell you can get fat if he can tolerate soy cheese and if he likes
avocado… no milk seems kind of extreme to me – but I do think that no
every baby needs 12-16 ounces or whatever…I know – it’s crazy!
July 11, 2006 at 11:48 am #11338InactiveTracy,
Just wanted to ask about the fine motor issue. Does Ian pick up toys, does he pick up small objects with two or three fingers? Just curious why they said he has fine motor delays vs. an oral defensiveness issue.
Also, interesting what your ped said about the no milk. I’ve really never heard that before. Funny too because our ped (who also is quite up on the research, though not seemingly related to reflux, LOL) told us to keep Hailey on formula up to 18 months. With my older daughter he told us to keep her on whole milk until 18 months. I’ve also never heard about the maturity of the gut. Interesting. Does he want him to take a multivatin or anything?
Also great news about the weight gain. Congrats!
July 11, 2006 at 12:18 pm #11339InactiveSounds like really good weight and height! Did you guys decide on tube at all?
I am also surprised at the ped’s comment on milk too – my ped just told us that there is some research that just came out that talks about how i think it is something like 80% of girl and a bit less of boys are really not meeting the calcium requirements through food or drink so the emphasis is again on anything that has calcium. (Also, a lot of babies are breastfed past the one year and even though i was never able to breastfeed, i think nature is wiser??). Also, we all become more and more lactose intolerant as we grow older but i am surprised that he wants to cut it for an infant?
On the oral defensiveness vs fine motors – you are an OT so this may or may not make sense, Lori, but i think what they told us is – fine motors, Matthew is totally fine, pincer grasp, putting things in his mouth, cheweing, moving with tongue etc, he has all the reflexes that you expect at his age (so he can do all this and he has developed all these fine regardless of food and probably his gag reflex has moved to the back of the tongue) but he has oral defensiveness – ie his mouth and face is his space and only he can approach it. We cannot approach a spoon, put our face or hands in his mouth, or anything in his mouth at all! He needs to be in control of any movements close to his mouth and also upper body in general. Probably gagging is more related to this (ie unable to control the puree in there) than the reflex itself. Does this make sense to you?? This is the explanation they are giving us and it kind of makes sense but i have found that there are so many variations of this!!
July 11, 2006 at 12:36 pm #11344InactiveI agree with all of you on the milk thing-it totally seemed unreal to me. I’ll have to do some research myself and see what I can find. I do have friends back in Mass that were told to stop at one year but then again, their kids didn’t have issues with eating. My dh could probably quote his reasonings/research findings better as he has a photographic memory. But he did tell us all kinds of stories about central park and the dairy plot in it, etc. Sounded good when I was there!
Hi Lori and Thais-yes, fine motor was diagnosed. He didn’t have a pincer grasp, handles small objects strange, doesn’t use just a couple of fingers, etc. Although he seems to be using his index finger more. But when I spread purees on his highchair tray, he puts whole hand in. He also has no idea how to eat and use his tongue regardless of how many times we push it down with a spoon. This new z vibe we just bought that vibrates has a spoon attachment. We used it today and he sucked the food off of it nicely-so hopefully it will help. I don’t think he has oral defensiveness but who knows? He will let me put fingers in his mouth, or hold ice to it, or syringes, kisses, feedings, etc but he won’t have anything to do with it himself. So kind of opposite of Matthew I think. However, I was told that he has bad associations with things going in his mouth so that’s why he won’t do it himself..confusing. I guess that’s why when I feed him, maybe he realizes it’s not so bad after all (plus we still do distractions and cheer him on a bit)
July 12, 2006 at 6:54 am #11373InactiveI’d guess probably both sides are right – I wouldn’t be surprised about
a “dairy conspiracy” (LOL) and do think that many kids drink too much
ilk but also do think that a reasonable amount of milk (or an
alternative if not tolerated) is important as a source of fat and
calcium.Glad the z-vibe is helping Ian!
July 12, 2006 at 7:26 am #11375InactiveThanks Karen. I just asked dh about it and he said he actually read some of the studies published that my ped was talking about (nytimes/new england) but we both agree you all bring up a very good point on fat/calcium. We go to the feeding clinic today, so I’ll ask their take on it and will ask ped next time we see him.
Yes, z vibe is pretty great for feedings! We’re still having major issues with him using anything as a teether though-argghh.
Also, we’re skipping tubes for now. He said they mostly use them for kids that don’t drain well-which Ian did after augmentum. He did say however when cold season comes in fall, if he gets 3 infections in 90 days he will most likely have to look into it. So holding pattern for now. We want to put him in a swimming class because he hates water and now I’m nervous…also, we’re supposed to be going to London in Sept (for my company but it’s actually dh’s and my anniversary then and that’s where we went on honeymoon so we thought-why not go the three of us) and am really nervous about flying with his ears. Anyone have experience with this…maybe I should start a new thread? I cannot BEAR to leave him here!
July 12, 2006 at 7:44 am #11377InactiveYea, I’ve heard of the studies as well and believe they have some
validity – but like many studies, I’m not sure they take the full
picture into account or really reflect a realistic picture, IYKWIM? But
I’d love to know what the feeding clinic says and good luck there today
– what are they working on with him this time?July 12, 2006 at 9:30 am #11379InactiveWe have texture today. He’s on day 3 of oatmeal but wont eat more then 1 1/2 tablespoon-very watered down with formula and fruit. So good so far he’s tolerating it but who knows if he’ll keep tolerating it once he up’s the quantity. I also brought a jar of chicken but it really just smells like cat food. I’ve got to figure out a way to make it homemade-that will travel and keep well-and that he’ll eat it. He loves sweet potato and chicken and Ive yet to find sp and apple. Also, we’ll probably work with z vibe as he’s STILL not putting tongue down while eating and food comes out.
His mood has been really lovely last few days. Very happy for change! Although, he’s going through major separation anxiety at night. Wakes up like clockwork at 3am for about 2 hours. We were feeding him (he went through a MAJOR growth spurt last week-was eating 32 oz of formula during day and solids) but we know that has finished as day quanitites have normalized. He also is in a rut because ear infection kept waking him up and he just learned to crawl. But if we put him in our bed, he’d be fine. So ped told us to CIO and not feed him anymore because it was becoming habit. It was literally and hour and a half of screaming-hardest thing I’ve ever done. DH had to pin me to the bed. Joys of parenting! However, one giggle and I melt.
July 12, 2006 at 9:59 am #11380InactiveHi Tracy,
That’s great that Ian is eating some oatmeal, even if the quantity is small. It’s an improvement. I hope he tolerates it well and begins eating more of it.
Gerber Tender Harvest makes Apple/Sweet Potato. Myles eats it all the time.
Does Ian use his pacifier all day long, or only in bed? I was just wondering because if he uses it all day that may interfere with his need or desire to put objects in his mouth like babies usually do.
I hope feeding therapy goes well today.
Christine
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