Feeding Therapy
When we learned our daughter was born with single sided deafness and moderate to severe hearing loss, we were stunned and confused. There was no known cause. Thankfully it was 2013 and deafness is the first of the five senses to be replaceable. God bless. She's bionic.
Oddly enough, teaching Charlotte to hear and speak was far easier than our road to eating.
"All kids eat cookies!" I can still hear my mother-in-law telling me as Charlotte refused everything offered to her. Well, it's just not true. All kids don't eat naturally and confidently. Nothing like having your third child and getting your ego kicked in the booty.
Charlotte was by far my best nurser. I mean don't get me wrong, I still had to go visit my mother goddess lactation consultant who had helped me almost a decade earlier with Lola and Ollie, but by 13 months, Charlotte was still only drinking breastmilk. NO bottle. NO solids. NO NOTHING.
At 8 months, when Richmond City's Early Intervention group came in to assess Char for her qualification and support needs, they asked me about her putting things in her mouth and foods. To which I proudly responded that "Charlotte doesn't even put the tiniest of legos into her mouth - she's so great!" And they began to look at one another.
Unfortunately Charlotte and I would spend the next 18 months in horrid feeding therapy services. You don't know what you don't know - right?!
We had been receiving "behavioral feeding therapy." It took us months of Charlotte gagging and throwing up, hazardous choking, and endless tears on both our parts + crying and screaming and AWFUL.
I just didn't understand why I couldn't feed my child???
Sadly she'd had to give up nursing at 14 months when I was pregnant with baby number four, Emma, due to the excessive throwing up for months on end that I do while pregnant (yes - all four times!). Thankfully she would eat vanilla yogurt and once in a while sweet potato puree. BUT she was dropping weight.
Our pediatrician didn't seem too worried, but my gut was just telling me something was wring.
Having lived most of my life with bulimia, it was almost like a Freudian joke to be suffering at the hand of a child that spontaneously threw up ... because she had sensory integration issues. I HAD NO IDEA!!!!
I eventually quit the early intervention feeding therapy sessions. Emma was born and life with 4 kids was really overwhelming at first. I just couldn't cry at every meal and not sleep at night and nurse every other moment.
I literally fell to my knees one day and prayed for God to help me. I walked to my computer and typed something... And I found her. The Feeding Lady. Suzanne McKeever.
She saved me. She has taught me so much about me learning to mother Charlotte for who she is vs. me trying to make Charlotte be easy for me. #parentinglifelessons
Charlotte is 5 now, and while we have pulled back, we still see Suzanne every other week. I cherish our hour together. She refocuses my mental game, and Charlotte has made such progress.
Now don't let me fool you - sensory integrated feeding therapy is like the slowest ass process EVERRRRRRRR.
BUT, it works. It is working. I have to remind myself of that now still.
With Suzanne's help, Charlotte broke into the world of purees. To this day, her staple is Happy Baby Chicken and Quinoa with Hardy Vegetables, tricolor quinoa, vanilla yogurt (used to be whole milk organic vanilla, have progressed to Chobani Vanilla for more protein and less sugar), Earth's Best Stage Three oatmeal, chicken and stars, beef and rice pilaf, broccoli and zucchini blend, and Trader Joes Breakfast Bars (she prefers blueberry). We have recently integrated in instant oatmeal (some days it's still a struggle - it's all about how much time I have to sit and get her to chew and pay attention), graham crackers, Trader Joes chocolate cats cookies, and some sweet chocolate chips. - oh, and chocolate pudding and ice cream. Literally like a happy dance when the last two happened.
Growing up with a mom who would put me on week long watermelon fasts and Fit For Life cleanses in elementary school, it's always a struggle for me to embrace where my kids are with their pallets, but that said - they are all so amazing, and Char has come so far. She is basically like the hardest to feed and healthiest by "health food junkie" standards. Miss you, Mama Sue.
Charlotte food journal... Helping me feel like progress is being made
Aug 2: breakfast bar cut into tiny pieces with a fork
August 8 in feeding therapy: roled gold pretzel, Scooby snacks, animal cookie
Aug 9: more Scooby snacks!
Aug 10 at Kate's party: graham cracker gold fish, cupcake icing
8/18 - three tests of tomato roasted red pepper soup
8/19 - ate dinner with roasted potato and carrot fries, on of each about 1/3 in long and a tiny flake of roasted salmon
Aug 20 - 3 bites chocolate chip zucchini muffins
8/21 - nibble of fruit snack
Also loving chocolate ice cream
8/22: two nibbles of jelly sandwich; 4 bites of cheese puff; animal cracker
9/6: tasted cornbread - smushed ball on to teeth like crumbs
9/10: ate noddles from 2 cheese tortilinis mixed in to Chicken and Stars “chicken noodle soup”
9/11: tried coco crispy crumbs + mixed in 6 more carrot cubes from can into chick chick w/quinoa and Beef/ Rice baby food
9/19: dipping pretzels into chick chick... did it all week
9/25: eating a purple Popsicle and using chewing teeth to take little bites
9/26: Red big popsicle and green ice push up
9/27: Annie's bunny chocolate chip cookie (1/2 if tiny one)
10/14 - chocolate chips in yogurt
10/17 - pretzels dipped in hummus
11/28 - little pieces of string cheese she’s putting on her chewing teeth; ate chicken pieces mixed with quinoa and rice; loving little pretzels dipped in Chick Chick; ate three bites in a row of chocolate cat cookies
1/1/18 - mashed up very plain black eyed peas into quinoa and chicken with greens
1/7 buying no more baby food. Char isn’t liking the very plain zucchini mix I made her wicked with the quinoa and chicken but she IS choosing the hummus and pretzels in the tasting cup for tiny bites when I tell her to come take a bite
Feb 25 - chicken noodle soup “mom, instead of having extra noodles, can i have extra carrots?” And I added about 1/3 cup of carrots
Starting to know what she needs...
Mix microwave oatmeal - steal cut w/a little apple sauce
5/2 - roasted shredded turkey with pretzel crumbs
Teeny bites of tangerines
Rolled gold pretzels: 10 bites in right and 10 bites on the left - slow feed
Lotsa love,
Leah
