OT/Feeding Update

Shelby started Occupational Therapy for her gross motor and oral motor skills in February, so she has been receiving services for almost 5 months now. We have bad feeding days every now and again, and I get frustrated and down about the whole situation and feel like we've made no progress. But then I stop and think back to where we were when we started this whole process, and we have come such a long way!

This picture was taken at the end of January, which was right
before we started OT. This picture perfectly represents
how Shelby feels about eating!

Shelby has OT once a week for 45-60 minutes. When we started in February, we would spend half of each therapy session focusing on gross motor and the other half on oral motor. But now, we don't really spend any time at all on gross motor anymore b/c she has accomplished all of the gross motor milestones that we were working toward (walking, running, balance, climbing). All of her therapy is now spent on feeding issues.

When we started OT, Shelby was only eating stage two baby food & Yoplait yogurt (but she would spit out any fruit chunks that were in the yogurt), bananas, goldfish, some bread/crackers, and other Gerber snack foods. Our main feeding issue was/is textures (and the simple fact that Shelby does not like eating, but there's not really a whole lot we can do about that ;). For instance, Shelby still doesn't like applesauce due to its gritty texture. Whenever something with an unusual texture entered Shelby's mouth, she would either spit it out immediately OR she would swallow it but she would have a "tick"..at least that's what her OT compared it to. If the food had texture to it, Shelby would rub her hand along her chin. We always thought it was the strangest habit b/c she would do it so much that her chin would turn red. But her OT explained it wonderfully--if you get a burn/bite/bump on your arm, you rub it to diffuse the unpleasant sensation it produces. Shelby was rubbing her face to diffuse the sensation in her mouth. Interesting, huh?! Thankfully, we have gotten her past this though!

In order to get Shelby to start eating food with some texture to it, Meagan had us crush Saltine crackers and put the crumbs in her baby food. We only did this at one meal a day in the beginning, and let me tell you--it made not sound like a big deal, but it was torture. Shelby hated it, and we did, too. Eventually, we worked our way up to adding crumbs into two meals a day. The goal was for us to eventually be able to put so many crumbs in her baby food that it would be similar in texture to oatmeal. There were so many days where I questioned Meagan's methods and wondered if we were getting anywhere with the silly ole crumbs, but it obviously worked! In the last month or two, we were finally able to graduate to stage 3 baby food with chunks!! That was a HUGE accomplishment! After Shelby got used to the stage 3 food, we have now started adding cut up pieces of meat, fruit, and veggies into her stage 3 food to add even more texture/flavor to it.

Shelby will now also eat cut-up pieces of grapes, blueberries, green beans, carrots, meat, raspberries, and a few other things. She used to never let me put anything new/different in her mouth, and if I somehow did manage to get it in her mouth she would immediately spit it out. She has now learned that I will eventually win. ;)  So she lets me put it in her mouth, but she will not voluntarily pick up these foods and eat them on her own accord. :)  But if I feed it to her, she eats it. So needless to say, we are still spoon/hand-feeding her the majority of the time..unless of course it's a food she actually likes..ha!

A new thing that she has started doing from time to time in an effort to outwit us is she will let us put the food in her mouth, but she will keep it in her cheeks like a little chipmunk. She won't swallow it or spit it out..she just leaves in the side of her mouth..sometimes for upwards of 15-30 minutes! Shelby is definitely a strong-willed little girl. :) 

Derek & I always joke that parenting Shelby would be a walk in the park if we never had to feed her. She is seriously such an amazing & smart little girl, but trying to get that girl to eat has about sent me to the loony bin more times than I care to count! When we first Meagan, she pointed out that feeding issues with kiddos can be so frustrating for parents b/c as adults we associate food & meals with socialization. We like to visit with friends over lunch or spend quality family time around the dinner table, but none of those things are possible with feeding issues--or at least they don't come easily. It may seem insignificant to an outsider (and maybe it will seem that way to me in a few years), but it has undoubtedly been one of the biggest challenges in my life. But I also know it has undoubtedly transformed into a much more patient mama and reminded me of the importance of persistence, consistency, and celebrating even the smallest achievements! And I know I've already posted this picture on the blog before, but I can think of no better picture to represent where we are at today with feeding:

Shelby, we are SO incredibly proud of how far you have come in just a few short months! And I know things will continue to improve with each passing day. Our hope for you is that you continue to be able to tolerate a variety of textures and flavors so your diet can expand, but even more than that I hope that you come to realize that eating really isn't all that bad! ;)