My Baby With Down Syndrome Spits Out Food

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Noah'southward xi months old in today's video and we decided to try and allow Noah self feed today. As you tin can see he actually enjoyed it (as we did his mommy and daddy.) I idea I'd share a fiddling scrap virtually our feel with allowing Noah to cocky feed for the start time for any of you getting prepare to try this with your child.

It's messy

I am not going to prevarication, my biggest fear with starting self-feeding with Noah was the MESS. I have seen this child eat off a spoon and it isn't pretty, so I could only imagine what he will practice when he is in control. So the offset step in deciding to allow your kid self-feed is getting a really adept mop and lots of newspaper towels. Information technology too helps to let them eat in only their diaper…your washer and dryer will thank y'all afterwards. I have all but abandoned bibs as they only go along i department of him make clean and Noah is able to target every surface area outside of that with excellent precision.

When to starting time

I speedily realized that I had no idea what I was doing or where to kickoff. It is all-time to try cocky-feeding when a child is able to support themselves while sitting. Since this is sometimes delayed in children with Downwards syndrome I don't think they need to be sitting on their own so much as being able to sit down well when supported in a feeding chair or high chair. They besides should be able to reach out and grab things and accept fairly good aim at their mouth.

When they start doing this with toys, they should exist more than willing to do this with food. They should also be making some chewing movements with their mouth, they don't demand teeth, but they practice need to know what to practice with a more than solid food. Teeth volition determine the consistency of the foods you will try. If your piffling i does not have teeth nonetheless you'll want to stick to hands mashed items. It'll also exist easier if they are interested in what is on your plate while you are eating.

Noah started grabbing our drinks and food which fabricated me realize that maybe I needed to give him his own plate.

I don't propose starting with an apple. 🙂

When nosotros were introducing solid foods with Noah our pediatrician recommended to starting time with puffs, a classic. They dissolve almost instantly in the oral fissure and are like shooting fish in a barrel to handle. I recall our OT was a chip shocked when nosotros told her with excitement that Noah was advancing his diet. I couldn't quite effigy out why until we tried the puffs. These things are not quite as easy to choice upwardly every bit they look. As hard as Noah tried, he could non get them to his mouth himself. We gave up on self-feeding for a trivial while after that as I causeless that he was not set up.

Type of grasp determines food choices

I finally had an epiphany ane 24-hour interval when I was at my best friend's house.  She knows all the cool stuff people are trying and had a volume lying around called The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook: 130 Recipes That Will Assistance Your Baby Learn to Eat Solid Foods – and That the Whole Family Will Enjoy, by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. (Long title, huh?) I was skimming through information technology and with their help it finally clicked what I was missing. I needed to lucifer Noah's grasp development with his foods.

Puffs are for those who take a smashing raking ability and more importantly a pincher grasp which typically develops around ix months when children usually beginning eating more solid foods. The average age of a child with Down syndrome having a pincher grasp is xx months. The reason I wrote the mail service on grasps is because I had but figured this stuff out and knew I would exist referencing it now as I talk about feeding. Noah is however at a radial palmar grasp which makes puffs pretty hard to pick up.  I had gear up him up for failure because I didn't figure out his grasp prior to giving him foods.

Foods to start with

The book mentioned to a higher place has a bully table matching grasp type with food choices. They recommend starting with big stick-shaped pieces of food. I started with bananas. They recommended making information technology await like an water ice cream cone with the peel still on with the banana exposed at the superlative. Noah grabbed onto that, brought it right to his mouth and started gnawing on it. See…if I just put the correct thing in his paw.

Some other options are veggie straws which are basically tube-shaped puffs, larger pasta with a shape that is easy to grasp similar rotini, or cutting long narrow pieces of breadstuff. Using long pieces allows the child to hold an object with an edible department exposed that can easily be put in the rima oris. Compare this to the puff which gets subconscious in the hand and has to actually be released into the mouth. The teething crackers, such as the ones nosotros are using in the video, are also great as they dissolve easily and stick out of the mitt since they are fairly big.

Brute cookies are always a favorite.

Next you can advance to foods that your child can option up in clumps. Think rice, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, mac and cheese (practice see why y'all need a good mop) and one of Noah'south favorites eggs. These are offered when your child is doing a raking grasp. Puffs can be offered at this time as well.  When we started with these Noah was still eating the parts that were on summit of his mitt and not and so much releasing information technology into his mouth.  I however believe that this helped him realize that if he opened his hand there was more goodness inside

Yous tin can get smaller and smaller as the grasp develops to where some day instead of your child picking up a dodder of rice, he is picking up the individual grains.

Likely will not get all of their nutrition at the beginning

I did non rely on Noah to get all of his intake from self-feeding alone.  I would give him some things to play with as give him meals by spoon feeding in combination with milk.  As he starts getting better I volition stop giving him things off a spoon as much. You need to accept a balance, and it may take a while before your child is able to eat enough on their own.  This is ok.  The whole point at the starting time to to be exploring not necessarily providing nutrition.

The Gag Reflex

Your child will gag. They are supposed to gag. You desire them to gag. It volition scare you. You lot may have your hand on the phone for 911 before you realize that your child is ok. Gagging is non the same thing as choking. Choking cuts off the air supply where every bit gagging gets a clamper of food out of the back of the throat then that information technology tin get worked on some more than. With choking you will not hear many sounds from your child and they will likely be irresolute colors, now is the time you want to shout "Annie, Annie are you ok?", get your kid out of their chair, put them over your knee joint and give them 5 back slaps to help get that detail out every bit well equally call 911.

Notwithstanding if they are trying to gag an item of food upwardly, requite them a few seconds and it volition become there. Starting with mushy or slippery things helps the child swallow without problems. I accept seen Noah eat whole noodles before without difficulty. Chicken on the other hand causes united states a lot of problems with gagging as he tends to not chew it enough. (Annotation: If you ever have whatever concern that your child is choking, or not able to breathe, you need to call 911 immediately. Additionally if you take questions or concerns about this please be sure to talk with your pediatrician, as this post is not and should not be taken every bit medical advice.)

Patience

I idea that letting Noah self feed would speed upwards the feeding process…I was very wrong. It has slowed it down, but that'southward ok.

Noah eats his meals with united states of america as usual, and I attempt to give him whatever we are eating plus or minus a few things. He likes to shovel the food in so nosotros accept to place it in front of him slowly. Information technology is swell to share eating times together and has finally brought my married man and I to the dinning room table rather than eating in front of the television receiver.

Offer variety

I know that several children with Down's syndrome have issues with textures in their oral cavity. Your OT or ST should be helping with these issues. I encourage yous to offer equally many different textures as you lot can. Too attempt all sorts of different fruits and vegetables so that your child gets used to eating them. It tin take something like 7 exposures to a food before a child will accept it as something they will consume. I find parents oft just give the child what they know they will eat rather than branching out and trying new things. \

It's very easy to get into a routine. Obesity is a big risk for our kids, and getting them to eat fruits and vegetables now will simply assistance them in the long run.  I noticed our friends over at The Fun House ever offered their children fruits and vegetables at each meal, and their children devoured them.  They definitely inspired me to be well enlightened of what I am putting in my child's mouth.  Do we venture out to pei wei and pizza…sure.  But they are existence eaten with a fruit or veggie on the side. 🙂

What foods did you try with your child first?  What were y'all agape of most?  What challenges have y'all faced with feeding?

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Source: https://noahsdad.com/self-feeding-child-down-syndrome/

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