Food Adversion Therapy

Just wanted to give you some information - ( I am a speech therapist) you will be having an evaulation of her eating - most likely they will observe her eating her normal diet ( they may have asked you to bring food she normally eats) they may also trial some other items to see her response to the foods - usually a complete history is taken so bring a list of when your daugther met her developmental milestones and your prenatal history. it shouldn't be too stressful for you or her. and NO you didn't do anything to cause this - some kiddos are just more sensitive to certain textures and there is a way to help them become less adversive to textures slowly and non threatening - and some kids have difficulty handling the specific food texture due to reduced oral motor skills ( weak muscles of tongue or difficulty with coordination of movements) which they can help you with as well.
This will be a good thing!!!! Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions.
F.

My 2.5 year-old has tactile and oral sensory issues. He is seeing an occupational therapist and goes to 2 different speech therapists (1 for a feeding group and 1 is working on the tactile/sensory issues with his mouth). He is still on stage 3 baby food (only a couple and nothing w/bits as he chokes/gags also) and eats some "crunchy" type foods (goldfish, certain crackers, pretzels). I won't tell you it is easy - it takes a lot of patience, cheerleading, and continually working on presenting different foods. I can honestly say that I do not do any of these well so don't beat yourself up! Just hang in there and work with the therapists - it will not be a quick fix, that is for sure. My son is definitely making some progress, it is just slow (and we didn't get started on therapies until he was almost 2 so you have at least an early start on it). If you want to talk/email with me as another parent who understands, send me an email and we can exchange numbers.

I'm not sure about the therapy, but to put your mind at ease about solids. I have only just begun feeding my 12 month old solids at about 10.5 months, and she still gags on solids (ie. B'day cake, puffs, stage 3 w/ chunks). When I mentioned it to the ped at the 12 mo. visit, he was not concerned and said these happen at their own rate. My older one didn't get solids until 11 mo, and has progressed fine. Not sure what other issues may be coming into play for your child, but bear in mind, they all grow at different rates, all of which are normal. I would stick to what she can eat and progress her as she tolerates. More than likely she will come along on her own. I doubt very much you have done anything "wrong", she may just still be incorporating her gag reflex and learning how to use it.

I haven't been for this type of therapy, but I know several moms whose kids have needed it. It has been very successful. I thought we would need it with my little guy who is just 13 months old. He was doing the same thing -- purees were fine, but any lumps at all, even 1/2 the size of a grain of rice, would make him gag. I just kept at it though. Offer the lumpier stuff first, when your baby is hungriest and when she doesnt' have a full stomach so if she gags it doesnt' all come back up. I really liked the new fruit/cereal mixes that Gerber has in the stage 2 plastic rectangular two-packs. They helped bridge the gap. They are completely pureed smooth, but very thick, like a thick pudding. Much thicker than the regular stage 2s, but with no lumps. They come in 4 flavors, banana-peach-granola was my baby's favorite, but they all worked. The apple-mixed grains was a touch thinnner, so maybe start there. If you look for them they are mixed in with the stage 2 fruits but the packages are a little different and they have DHA in big letters on the front. I also offered small bits of those little baby veggie crackers (not even a 1/4 cracker at first). The ones that come in the bright yellow rectangular box. They really dissolve in the mouth, so there isn't much to gag on. After that, I tried half a cheerio at a time. Slow and frustrating, but it works! Around 12 months it all came together. Now he eats 3 stage 3 jars plus 2 baby yogurts a day! Good luck.

We went through therapy with my son. We started when he was 18 months old though because he was eating a few solid foods, but wouldn't try anything new. He also had issues with texture. I don't know where you are going for therapy or what kind of therapy you are getting (individual or group). My son was in a "food group" with a couple of other children with the same issues so they could use each other as models. We went to therapy at Easter Seals. It did seem to work well because they used each other as models. The food group was run by a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist. Therapy started with the children going through an "obstacle course" which was the occupational therapy part of the therapy. They worked with different textures (find a puzzle piece in dry macaroni or rice) and had to climb through tunnels, etc. We did the dry macaroni at home because my son refused to put his hand in it. As soon as I did it with him at home, he got much better. He still plays in the tupperware container of macaroni. After the obstacle course, they went into the therapy room where about 10 different foods were introduced to the kids in a hierarchy. They related to each other in some way (same color or same shape). They basically just had them interact with the foods in any way that they would (touch it, feel it, smell it, and eventually taste it). They always started with a "safe" food that all of the children would eat. My son went to food group from June to November. He doesn't eat whatever I put in front of him, but he is SO much better now. We can actually go to a restaurant to eat and I don't have to bring his own food! It is definitely nothing that you have done though. Through going to group with my son, you see how many children there are out there with the same problem. There has to be if they have developed a whole program and trained people to help them!

If she's breast fed, I would ask a La Leche League leader for advice. Best of luck!

as a nurse in a peds office I know there are a lot of people who go through the same thing as you do. I can understand your guilt- its definately not warranted but thats what we moms do. sometimes I feel so guilty and question if I did something and I know I didnt see some signs. I also know I am so blessed and things could always be more difficult- he should out grow this. I am sure your will to. just let go of that guilt and think only on the love you have for your child.

Sounds like you're doing fine with getting the help you need

Just another perspective...my little guy did the same as yours and I heard that mouth/tongue muscle development might be hampered and make speech difficult later, etc. I just kind of stuck with introducing stuff super slowly and he got over the gagging on his own. He's two now and eats nearly every texture (even when he's being picky.) Though we'll see the occasional gag it really did self-resolve. And - my boy's speech is fine. I'm not saying "hey, you don't need to do anything!" but it kinda happened that way for me and turned around in its own time.

I would continue to offer a variety of foods that have texture within your dietary restrictions of coarse,also try eating things like the mentioned carrots and show her they are ok to touch and eat,most times its just a matter of the child getting used to the new feeling items,not so much that they do not like it,also try cutting the solids foods a bit smaller and gradually work toward larger pieces she probably is trying to swallow without chewing,thats another thing you can demonstrate chewing your food so she can watch you,babies,toddlers learn by watching,so give it a try
H.

Believe me, you haven't done anything wrong. Getting a specialist involved is the right thing to do and it will help alleviate some of the stresses you probably feel with she doesn't eat. With some children, it's just harder to get them to eat than others. I have triplets and 2 of my 3 children eat like champs. My 3rd, a girl, also has food aversion issues and she's been in food therapy with a speech therapist since last October (she was about 15 months then). Even in NICU it was sometimes a challenge to get her to eat. She was the smallest of the 3 when she was born(2.5 lbs) and I'm starting to think this was probably an issue in utero but it's not like they can tell you from inside the womb! As a baby, she would take bottles and pureed foods but not solids or any "real" food - just the Gerber puffs and Cheerios. We went through Early Intervention services and did an evaluation and was referred to a speech therapist who is great with her. We also had a nutrionist come in and do an evaluation as well. With the speech therapist, initially we worked on stimulating her facial/oral muscles, with facial massages, nuk brushes and textured spoons, for oral stimulation and encourage eating. Today she's 23 months old eats/chews solids with no problem - when she wants to eat. We still work with the therapist weekly to help encourage her eating habits because she's incredibly stubborn when it comes to food. With the nutrionist, she basically evaluated her diet and then gave me suggestions to help calorie pack with she would eat to compensate for the foods she wouldn't eat. Also, my pedicatrician recommended Pediasure to help compensate for some of the nutrients and vitamins she doesn't get from eating. Since it's been about 6 months since the nutrionist came, we're planning on doing another re-evaluation just to see if we can make any more improvements/progess to her diet. Good luck and I hope this information helps.

Hi M.,
What else is going on with your 10 month old. When did this start? Why the strict diet? What is her behavior like?
P. RN ;-)

My Son is having this problem also, they did a swallow test at the hospital (very easy test) and turns out he is having some problem with Liquid. But he gags and throws up sometimes with solids. We have a Speech Therpist coming Next week, once a week to work with him..

Maybe ask for a swollow test too see if they find anything, my son is 11 months old. This might give you some answers.

with the swallow test all they did was had him eat certain stuff and they watched it on a tv screen to see where it goes. When he had liquid it went to his voice box and lungs but solids got stuck in his throat, and then he coughed and it went down...Hang in there I know what your going thru. I'm here if you wanna talk. PM me let me know and I will get you my email.