Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Speech Therapy
I took Gracie in to an outpatient Speech Therapy clinic where they did an assessment of her and what was going on. The therapist gave me a couple ideas like dipping my finger in her milk and getting her to taste it, taping a feeding tube to my finger and slowly pump a few drops of milk into her mouth and also trying to dip a spoon in the formula to see if she likes the spoon better. Overall, I didn't feel like I learned anything really new. I guess I continue to hope that I run into the 'baby whisperer' who is going to know exactly what the problem is and fix it!! But I continue to leave any type of speech therapy session feeling like I am supposed to continue to give her 'positive touch on her face and mouth'. I've done that and it is not improving her SWALLOWING. So I will try these new tips and see if the Gracie Girl will improve at all. I have a follow up appointment with her in two weeks. We'll see how she does!
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7 comments:
My breastfed babies didn't like the taste of formula and refused a bottle. So I tried my Grandma's tried and true formulas: half evaporated milk/half water, or whole milk with a spoonful of sugar and a couple of drops of vanilla. Maybe the taste of the formula just isn't tempting her to overcome her texture issues.
Oh goodness...I hope something works for you (and her). Good luck on finding that 'baby whisperer'. She is so sweet, I'm so happy to see the progress she's made thus far. In the mean time, if you come across a '3 year old whisperer' will you send her my way?! J/K
Thank you for the updates on your little miracle baby! You are an amazing lady...I don't know how you do it! My situation is NOTHING near yours, but I have a 3 year old who we did speech therapy with and now a 1 year old we're starting with. Hang in there and keep doing the things they tell you. It takes time...a lot of time! We're praying that Gracie will start feeling up to taking a bottle and keeping it down! Hang in there!
Wow! You are an incredible mom with lots of patience! Hang in there...things are bound to get better and Gracie will catch on one of these days!
It must feel so frustrating to not see progress happening. I hope the "baby whisperer" finds you soon and the issues go away. Until then, hang in there! You are doing so great and are such an inspiration!
I've been following your blog and Gracies progress for a while now.
I have a little girl, Katie, who is 8 months old. She was very, very ill with bacterial meningitis when she was 3 weeks old and we spent months in the hospital, both in the PICU and ward. I started reading the blogs of families going through similar trials and found yours.
Katie has developed a serious bottle aversion. She had a feeding tube when she was ill and now has reflux. She will scream and push the bottle away if she is awake. I feed her all of her bottles when she is sleeping. It's getting much more difficult as she gets old and naps less.
I know all about feeding frustration! I'm so sorry that it hasn't been going better for you. I have spent many months stressing about feeding.
We tried everything...20 brands of bottles, feeding at different times, being patient, being insistent, nothing made a difference other than the sleeping trick. It still takes her about 5 mins to start eating once I put the nipple in her mouth.
One other thing we are trying, and it is starting to work, is feeding her from a cup. Not a sippy cup, she has the same aversion to them, but from a little plastic cup. sometimes I use the cap from a bottle. She thinks of it differently from a bottle and although she is too young to drink perfectly from it, we are able to get some numbers into her with it now.
We're trying to ride it out until she is able to take solids for most of her calories. I'm really confident that you will be able to find something that works. You may try 100 things, but one will be promising!!
Kristine
I know all children are different... but here is our experience with NG Tubes...
While Noah had his there was nothing I could do to get him to eat. We went to OT twice a week, tried special bottles and nipples, special formula.. you name it. Nothing was helping.
But then I realized that his reflux was getting worse and I just knew it was due to the tube keeping his stomach valve opened. Then... the doctors started mentioning G Tubes.
So I pulled out his feeding tube. I figured if he didn't start to eat in a few days I would put it back in. But wouldn't you know it... within a few days he was drinking from a bottle like a CHAMP! I never had to put it back in.
This past month my husband ended up needing bowel surgery and part of the process was an NG tube. He told me it was the worst thing he has ever experienced. It hurt to talk and even swallow his spit. The last thing on earth that he would have wanted to do was try to eat with it in.
I'm sure it isn't much different for babies.
Either way, I wish you luck. I hate the NG tubes... having to put them back in when they get plugged or pulled out... always dangling in the way... I hope Gracie finds her rhythm and is able to ditch her tube quickly.
Much Love,
Crystal
Noah's Mommy: Heart Transplant 07.07.07
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