Has your kid been in a feeding group?

[angelaa73]

no, but it bet this totally works. i don't know why, but kids will eat shit other kids are eating. its so weird, man

[mandymay]

Nov 8, 2013 13:30:43 GMT -5 angelaa73 said:

no, but it bet this totally works. i don't know why, but kids will eat shit other kids are eating. its so weird, man

It's true! My daughter hated peanut butter with a passion until we were over at her friend's house and she had a pb&j for lunch. She specifically asked for one the next day and I was shocked!

I've never heard of feeding groups, but from my very limited experience it sounds like trying it might be a good idea.

[angelaa73]

oh

is it texture?

[sharknado]

Not a group, but I took my little girl to PT/OT for feeding issues.
She still won't try new things.
I just let it go.
She would totally participate in therapy and do everything perfectly (she was 18mo-24mo), then we would take her home and try the same foods and techniques and she would not eat!
She is still alive, skinny, but alive.
I feed her what she is willing to eat and she hates peanut butter.

[ijack]

Has she done OT/ST for her eating issues? She's not going to outgrow it without help, and it annoys me that you have people telling you that. Has anyone looked into the muscle tone in her mouth? I think a feeding group can be very helpful, but it won't get to the root of the problem which is something I'd want to do first.

[texassmith]

DD1 did an extensive feeding program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia when she was about 2 (like 5 days/week for 4 weeks...basically a full time job for me for a month). I have lots of thoughts about it but don't have a lot of time to type right now. If you have specific questions I'd be more than happy to answer them. Here or in a PM, whatever.

[catinthehat]

My 3 year old has been in feeding therapy for almost a year. He has sensory issues. Around 2 he started to gag and show physical distress to different textures. Since he has been in therapy his feeding has greatly improved.

The therapists explained that they get them to play with the food with their hands and fingers and once they accept/understand food doesn't cause harm they work on getting the food into the mouth and chewing a swallowing. There can also be poor muscle development that causes the child to not sense the texture in their mouth which causes frustration and anxiety so they do strengthening excises to help develop those chewing muscles.

THey are really creative with these activities and I'm thankful for the progress he has made. If you wait too long to address it, it becomes harder to desensitize them and they eventually become used to their preference and never try new things and can have anxiety about feeding.

My son now enjoys his lunch time at school with his classmates and dinner time is becoming easier(we can now go out to eat in public or have friends over for dinner!). We are taking a break from therapy while we appeal our insurance. They do not want to cover his sessions anymore because he hit the max allowed and his therapy is $260 per week if we pay cash. I haven't noticed any regression but i still continue the activities we learned so i believe it's been helpful.

[sharknado]

Nov 8, 2013 13:45:14 GMT -5 ijack said:

Has she done OT/ST for her eating issues? She's not going to outgrow it without help, and it annoys me that you have people telling you that. Has anyone looked into the muscle tone in her mouth? I think a feeding group can be very helpful, but it won't get to the root of the problem which is something I'd want to do first.

Oh golly, I sure hope you or POG did not take what I said as saying she should not do it. I should have clarified, it didn't work for my kid, but that she should try it, it won't hurt.

[ijack]

Yeah, that age does make it really hard, and it sounds like you are making progress. My only thought was that if it is truly a texture thing, that is hard to grow out of. Like if she can eat smooth strawberry ice cream, but not ice cream with chunks of strawberries in it. With stuff like that is it a choice or does the texture make it hard for her?