15 Months Old and Still Having Food Issues

Ask your pediatrician if you should consult a feeding therapist and/or occupational therapist. She might say that he doesn't need it, but it doesn't hurt to ask. One of my triplets had a serious feeding issue. It took months to figure out the he couldn't tolerate pureed textures (baby food). Once we figured that out he went from bottles to lasagna! lol One of my other little guys was slow on the physical development side. Occupational therapy helped him a lot. Now he is actually ahead. That being said, you're right not to worry. Kids all do things at their own speed.

good luck.

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I'd call Child Find in your area and see what they say. The evaluation is free, and then you know. All the therapy is done in the home. I'd say he could definitely use feeding help, maybe even for the grasping thing. We've had two kids with feeding issues. Usually gagging means reflux, from my understanding. I could be wrong. We had a "silent reflux" kid and he had serious eating issues that resolved almost overnight being on reflux meds. I'd be surprised if your doctor did send you for an evaluation, which is why I say go to the specialist yourself. You don't need a referral for Child Find at all, and only sometimes for your insurance. GL!

I agree with the other two moms who responded that an evaluation is called for. The issues you describe may be sensory processing disorder, which affects how kids deal with sensory input - in this case, feeding. You can read about it at www.spdfoundation.org . You are entitled to a free evaluation by the Child Find organization in your state if you suspect developmental issues. If you would prefer, you can go to an occupational therapist who is trained in sensory issues (that is important)for an eval. You can find such OTs on the SPD website in the directory.

Hi, My name is D. and I am a mother to three children. I was reading your blog about your son and his eating habits and it reminded me of an issue my nephew had. I dont remember all the details but I do remember that he hardly ate much and when he did he gagged alot, and did not eat many foods that were not pureed. In the end, it had something to do with the palate, in the roof of his mouth and something about his tongue (not touching the palate?) not doing what it normally does when a person eats. Anyways he had to go to a physical therapist and they had to train his whole chewing mechanism and swallowing process and once that was accomplished the results were like night and day. My advice would be to take him to a ears, nose and throat specialist or a physical therapist and explain your issues with them. Good Luck:) I just asked my sister in law what the name of his condition was and it is called Tongue Lateralization Deficit. You could research it on the internet and read more about it.

have you spoken to your doctor about Sensory processing disorder? It could be a texture issue he is having, and they have both occupational and feeding therapy to help him learn to eat without gagging. If you start to work on it now you will be happier later on when he eats more things.
Good luck.

Hi C.,
Your son may be developing just fine and I definitely don't want to set off any alarms, but from what you said with the gag reflex and his trouble with the pincer grasp, he may be having some sensory issues. If he is, you definitely want to get intervention earlier rather than later. I would start by asking your pediatrician about sensory challenges and doing a little research yourself. If you do suspect that his challenges are sensory based, the STAR center in South Denver has a feeding clinic and may be able to help you.

Good luck!

I am having similar issues. Consider something called oral motor therapy (its a type of therapy/ evaluation/ exercises). It is can be found through the physical/occupational therapy departments at the hospital. Primary Children's should be able to help you/ or any major pediatric medical center in your area. Hope this helps.

I agree with everyone else's information provide to you so far. I will toss in that I had a friend whose son had the same eating issues without the pincer grasp issue that was resolved as soon as he started doing a dose of probiotics each day. Turns out he had a pretty serious imbalance of healthy and bad bacteria in his digestive tract causing severe reflux, resulting in the gagging. By the time he was three or four, it was serious because he was so self limiting on foods. So long story short, you could try giving your son some probiotics, either in powder form you get from Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods, or in the DanActive yogurt drinks. My friend's doctor was not concerned either, and she found this solution on her own with her dad's help, but obviously their lives are much better now that her son can eat a variety of foods without gagging and eventually throwing up. She has said that he self limits his food on days they forget the probiotics.

The pincer grasp could be a sign of there being something more sensory or developmental. I took my two year old to the child find services for speech, and although they decided we needed to wait and watch for 4-6 months and reevaluate, they gave us strategies to try and we ended up not having to go back, as the issues resolved themselves. They can be really helpful.

Another thing not to rule out would be food allergies, as they can cause a strong aversion and self-protection mechanism to food.

You can see there are several possible explanations for your son's behavior. It could also be normal for him and he may just need a little extra time. In which case, you jsut have to be patient. You now have lots of possibilities to explore, but most importantly trust your instincts. Don't be afraid to ask questions of experts, but if their advice or solution seems questionable to you, get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. Good luck!

H.

If he is developing well in other areas, etc., I wouldn't be concerned with sensory issues, but would seek feeding therapy. Depending on where you live, this may be offered by a speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, or physicial therapist. Some babies have weaker muscles in the face/jaw, which are often first noticed with breastfeeding problems. It could also be related to the tonuge or palate, basically "oral." Often you can get a screening for free, which is a 10-20 minute appt. Either ask your doc for a referral, or call a few of the above mentioned professionals and ask if they are familiar with pediatric feeding therapy. It is well worth the time and effort to help your baby feel comfortable eating. It's just a muscle thing that needs help. Good luck!
A.
www.breastandbottlefeeding.com

One of my friends just learned her little boy (a little over two) has a mildly cleft palate at the very back of his mouth that they hadn't noticed until he was checked for problems with his tonsils. His doctors think this has caused his breathing/sleeping problems and is likely the cause of his very strong gag reflex, as well as frequently really bad breath, since foods get caught up there. He drinks a lot of shakes cause he is also really picky about textures. Might be something to look in to. Best of luck!