We are on a mission to fatten up Taylor. And, we think we're making progress. Our little peanut is growing. We saw a fabled feeding specialist (Gayllyod) on Monday afternoon - she came to our house and evaluated Taylor's high chair, her eating habits and how she eats food. She's such a guru that her evaluation was $400/hour, and Susan, our primary therapist joined, so it was $600/hour of expertise - thankfully covered by insurance. Gayllyod quickly adapted Taylor's high chair to help her sit more comfortably. Essentially, she needed a boost and so now she sits on a large layer of foam. This is similar to how my dad made me sit on large pillow when I first got my driver's license. It was quite embarrassing, but served the purpose. Taylor's in a similar situation. She sits much more upright with her adapted chair and now can reach out and play with her tray (before the tray sat too high for her arms to reach across comfortably).
She also watched Taylor eat and was very positive. She doesn't think we're in "crisis mode" and was pleased with how well Taylor is sitting in her chair and how well she eats baby food and drinks from a bottle. Essentially, our challenge is texture. Because Taylor has had limited hand control, she just started putting her hands in her mouth during the last months and she's just now putting toys in her mouth. This is another delay due to her hand motor control. This impacts her eating because her mouth isn't used to solids, or textures (most babies are introduced to solids/textures via mouthing toys - not actual food). Amazing how it's all so interrelated. So, we have these little tools now (like skinny toothbrushes without the bristles) to help Taylor get used to having solid objects in her mouth. She also advised that we give Taylor large food items (such as a large, peeled, whole carrot) that she can safely hold onto, hopefully gnaw on, and get the idea of food. She also encouraged us to keep trying. We'd gotten discouraged and worried about her weight gain, but we just need to be more creative. At the EEU today, David gave her a smashed banana and she ate almost half of a real banana! We are thrilled. Now we can try avocado and other mashed food to help her transition to solids. She's very slow, so we just need to be patient and keep trying.
The other thing we're doing is upping her caloric intake. We are really shoveling the food to her right now. She's eating at least 1-2 jars of baby food/day more than she was a few weeks ago. And, we're doctoring her food to add calories. Her morning oatmeal isn't just mixed with formula now - she gets a big hunk of butter and a spoonful of sugar. My healthy nature can hardly stand it, but the calories are good for her - and no surprise, she loves it! Amazing how much more oatmeal you can eat when it's loaded with butter and sugar. We're feeling optimistic that we're on the right track. She'll go back to Dr. Dudas for a weight check next week and we're seeing a nutritionist at Children's on October 7. Thankfully, Gayllyod didn't recommend regular therapy (hallelujah), although we will see her again in three weeks to see how Taylor is improving.
We're continuing to make great progress in therapy. The past sessions have gone really well. She's getting stronger and her sitting and standing practice is going well. We're so happy to work on functional skills and can't wait to report when she's conquered her next big milestone! This is a pic of Taylor sitting in her bumbo chair in the tub (we thought it was a great idea, except it floats, so you have to constantly hold the chair down - oops).
She also watched Taylor eat and was very positive. She doesn't think we're in "crisis mode" and was pleased with how well Taylor is sitting in her chair and how well she eats baby food and drinks from a bottle. Essentially, our challenge is texture. Because Taylor has had limited hand control, she just started putting her hands in her mouth during the last months and she's just now putting toys in her mouth. This is another delay due to her hand motor control. This impacts her eating because her mouth isn't used to solids, or textures (most babies are introduced to solids/textures via mouthing toys - not actual food). Amazing how it's all so interrelated. So, we have these little tools now (like skinny toothbrushes without the bristles) to help Taylor get used to having solid objects in her mouth. She also advised that we give Taylor large food items (such as a large, peeled, whole carrot) that she can safely hold onto, hopefully gnaw on, and get the idea of food. She also encouraged us to keep trying. We'd gotten discouraged and worried about her weight gain, but we just need to be more creative. At the EEU today, David gave her a smashed banana and she ate almost half of a real banana! We are thrilled. Now we can try avocado and other mashed food to help her transition to solids. She's very slow, so we just need to be patient and keep trying.
The other thing we're doing is upping her caloric intake. We are really shoveling the food to her right now. She's eating at least 1-2 jars of baby food/day more than she was a few weeks ago. And, we're doctoring her food to add calories. Her morning oatmeal isn't just mixed with formula now - she gets a big hunk of butter and a spoonful of sugar. My healthy nature can hardly stand it, but the calories are good for her - and no surprise, she loves it! Amazing how much more oatmeal you can eat when it's loaded with butter and sugar. We're feeling optimistic that we're on the right track. She'll go back to Dr. Dudas for a weight check next week and we're seeing a nutritionist at Children's on October 7. Thankfully, Gayllyod didn't recommend regular therapy (hallelujah), although we will see her again in three weeks to see how Taylor is improving.
We're continuing to make great progress in therapy. The past sessions have gone really well. She's getting stronger and her sitting and standing practice is going well. We're so happy to work on functional skills and can't wait to report when she's conquered her next big milestone! This is a pic of Taylor sitting in her bumbo chair in the tub (we thought it was a great idea, except it floats, so you have to constantly hold the chair down - oops).
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