feeding and choking

[caz]

Hi all Joshua is nearly 2,he has had feeding problems since birth,he is unable to cope with anything lumpy I have to puree all his food otherwise he chokes,we just keep been told its to do with downs syndrome have any of you good people out there experienced this?

[mommygwen]

I have 2 boys with eating difficulties. I know it is very upsetting. And a lot of work to cope with also.
Neither of the children chew. One will swallow foods whole. They other gags and spits. I cut and puree, but it's gotten easier as they get older. I talked to a nutritionist who suggested carnation instant breakfast and pediasure. My son with with the greater difficulty eating did eventaully need a feeding tube.
My other son, at age 13 now, will cut his own food small (with reminders) and eats well. But he still loves cream of spinach soup (any soup really) and fruit smoothies.

[kokie]

I don't have tons of experience with sensory issues. I would suggest contacting Sara-Rosenfeld Johnson's Speech Program. She has the best speech and oral motor therapy I have ever found. Her site is www.talktools.net

Qadoshyah

[Claire]

We did have quite a problem with Adam now 8 choking and actually aspirating while feeding. He ws born with a thracheal stenosis. He never had a feeding tube but he was on purees until he was 5. I think a lot of Down syndrome kids have problems with new textures. I know Adam does. I think he may have been ready for eating regular foods before 5 but scary mom was terrified to try anything until I caught him eating a Dorito chip. Now he eats anything even meats, but we still have to be careful on how much he puts in his mouth. It will come don't worry. The way i look at it, Adam ate healthier then we did, as I made all his puree foods, so he actually got vegetables and meats at every meal.

[MaggiesMom]

Hello, me again!

Our kids must have been separated in heaven they seem to have the same issues!

Maggie did wonderfully eating till the age of 11 months. Unfortunately, our OT decided to shove a Cheerio in her mouth and Maggie choked on it. No fun! Since that time, we have yet to be able to get anything crunchy, or hard in texture near the child. Her sensory issues got so bad that she didn't even want her baby food for a while!

Now, at age 5, she has seen many, many speech and feeding therapists. Some were helpful, some were not. I too recommend Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson's website, tapes, and if you can get to her, her therapies! Laurasnowbird on the site has actually taken her son to this group and it did wonders so I understand.

Sara R-J was just at our DS Associations conference, but she didn't do any assessments. I would have paid just about anything to get her advice! Anyway, she has great programs and there are therapists who may be in your area who have been trained by her. It would be worth checking in to.

Maggie just started eating bread, and chewing soft foods on her own. She has eaten purred foods and creamy soups for the past few years. Trust me, each step has been monumental!

I hope that everything works well for you. Start an oral motor program now and find a GOOD feeding therapist!

Good luck!
Robin - Maggie's mom

[caz]

Thankyou for the replys,they are proving to be very useful.

[Claire]

Just wondering how Joshua was doing with his eating . Give us an update will you???
Hugs Claire

[caz]

Hi things have improved a little,Joshua has managed some toast without having a choking episode,which I could not believe,bless him,fantastic.I am still pureeing his feeds.He seems to be having good days and bad days,before it was all bad days,so really I should be saying things have really improved.He is having weekly speech and language thearpy,although I dont feel that he is gaining anything from this,I could be wrong.Thanks x

[momofrussell]

Does Joshua have OT? I'd suggest some OT eval and get him some OT/Feeding therapy if you haven't already.

Good luck!!!!

A.

[Monique]

jameson is 5 and is yet to chew something. Its weird but i have pictures of him eating baby food spaghetti around 2 ish but i dont know what happend. He has had everything under the sun with ot and speech.

Now at least he will "try" (meaning put his mouth on) different things but yet to chew. I dont know if he ever will. We puree everything! It sucks. Going out to a restaurant (we have 3 children) is rare but we have to bring him his yogurt and applesauce or he dont eat.

I am going to check out the therapist you guys are talking about. I just never thought eating would be the biggest issue yet with him.

ho hum. at least we are seeing some progress so thats better than nothing.


monique

[tienie]

I don't know anything about this stuff, but I just wanted to add that my daughter, who will be 5 next month, still chokes on food all the time. I have no idea why, though. In fact, it seems that she chokes more now than she did at 2. Yet she was in a big hurry for solid food, so she started chewing at a VERY young age. She could mash just about anything with those gums. It doesn't make sense to me that she would have problems eating now...unless she's just hurrying. Dunno.

[sasykjn]

i cut up all of carries foods, biscuits, waffles, nuggets, etc...and she used to choke a lot more...........she learned to spit it out before she choked on it............so i put a paper towel next to her plate and she uses that to spit her bite out on instead of the floor or the plate.........i think the food grows in their mouth which is already too small with their large tongue and low muscle tone back there.....she doesnt do much chewing either, just basically bites it small enough to swallow............there are foods that we cant give her AT ALL..........goldfish crackers and baked cheetos........doritos....chips, ............she does really well with cheeto balls, bacon cheddar fries(like hot fries in a bag)...and chesse nip crackers..........