I spent all weekend covered from head to toe in some form of pureed food. I tried my hardest, over the weekend, to get Daven eating something. I am confident that, with the exception of any milk product, I sat anything and everything in front of him to see if he would take a bite. With little to no luck, I can successfully say that I, uh…tried.I do feel good about how he is taking to the food. He didn’t gag, scream, or freak out at any taste or texture. For that, I am pleased. I feel that the problem now is that he won’t swallow. I honestly believe that he doesn’t know how to work his tongue, chew and swallow. He allows me to put a mouthful in, tastes it, and then spews it back out; forcing the food out with his tongue. Maybe if he knew how to move his tongue and work his mouth, he might be swallowing.
Now here lies the problem…HOW DO YOU TEACH A CHILD TO USE THEIR TONGUE? This will be my first question for Daven’s speech therapist on Wednesday. Is it possible to teach him how to use his tongue and swallow? I can see some change in his texture sensitivity; he just doesn’t seem to grasp the swallowing concept. He crunched cheerios in his teeth, nibbled on some gram crackers, and even played in the applesauce with his hands. (Before, he would have a complete melt down when anything touched his hands.) So, I can see some progress.
As you can tell by the pictures, Daven was a complete MESS! I decided to dump all the applesauce on his highchair to see if he would just play with the food. (Who teaches their child to play with their food? HA!) He loved it! I loved watching just as much. Consequently, we BOTH ended up needing a bath after each feeding. I think Daven had a total of 8 baths over the weekend. And more than that in change of clothes. I am happy I tried and happy to see some change. Daven is nowhere near close to actually eating, but I am feeling optimistic with the progress that has been made.Here we are at yet another Monday. To lighten the Monday ugliness, I have been singing my heart out to some good ol’ fashioned Christmas music! Ah, I am feeling better already!
Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say throw cares away
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer…
LOVE LOVE LOVE
7 Responses to “Tongue Twister”
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About me
- I'm Aspen
- From Clovis, New Mexico, United States
- Happily married to Logan for 5 years. We have a precious son Daven Tate who was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome (a genetic disorder)at 11 months old. What a joy it will be to watch him grow. Daven just turned TWO!
- My profile
Keep at it, girlfriend! It looks like you are making some progress!
xoxox
YESSSSS! You are doing a great job! I see progress...and it's going to get easier and easier! I am so proud of you both! I love you so much!! I can't wait till he comes over to eat some of Auntie Micah's cookin' - and doesn't gag! (wink wink)
The gentic Doc at CHOP told me that the WS kids ahve a hard time figuring out how to get the food to the back of ther mouth... I am glad he is digging the apple sauce. Tatum always needs a bath after we play with food too...
Love you
You are doing an amazing job with Daven. It is wonderful progress that he is putting all of the different tastes and textures in his mouth. I feel like I am constantly covered in puree. Emerson is a pro at spitting out her food at amazing distances. I can't tell you how many times I have caught a glimpse of myself out in public with goo in my hair.
I am so curious as to what the SLP recommends. I am an SLP, but never specialized in pediatric swallowing (my disclaimer). In fact, I see two other SLP's for Emerson's feeding concerns. Just from reading your post, it seems like Daven may be doing a reverse swallow. When you drink from a bottle your tongue goes forward to swallow in a suck-swallow motion. For a regular swallow, your tongue needs to propel the food to the back of the throat triggering a swallow response. You absolutely can teach him to swallow the correct way. Let us know what they recommend, but the steps you have made are amazing!!
That is great! I can't believe he will bite down on Cheerios.. Brady gags on those melt-away things. I bet you are not as far away as you think. Keep it up!
happy Monday! :)
Love -K
Well, I have no idea... :) But keep it up, you are doing great :) The pics are cute!
Szabi did well with normal food (nearly what we eat) for example a few weeks ago, but now he is totally mad, he spits out his favourite foods, only eats pizza, cottage-cheese-chocolate and shakes... he eats simply nothing all day, I start to worry...
Love, Kati
Atta boy, Daven! He looks adorable covered in slime... :)
Keep your happy face on with the Christmas tunes ~ you picked my all-time fave to post on your blog!
Love You!