What should I do with Owl re: vomiting?

[Deleted]

You guys... We are having food issues with Owl again, no refusal this time but the vomiting/attempted vomiting is happening again.

Our mental health therapists have done nothing to help with this, their answer to every concern of mine is "let her do what she wants" but that has led to us now needing a behavioral therapist so I don't want to pose this concern to her again.

Owl is cognitively around 18 months but is very smart and uses vomiting as a control mechanism. I don't know what to do anymore, MH isn't helping the situation and I am cleaning a vomit covered child and floor/table/toilet/carseat/etc every day. I wouldn't be so frustrated if this was a GI thing but that has been ruled out and the neuropsych agreed it's a control thing.

I am at the point where I'm debating letting her clean it up and leaving her in her vomit covered clothes so that she thinks twice before doing it anymore.

What say you wise ladies? CT, you would be especially helpful here. Also, I strongly encourage you to ask questions if you need more info before giving your opinion.

[twomoms2twins]

I used to babysit a kid who could do this on command and if he got to upset. Ugg it was frusterating. I also had a child in my class when I was a health care assistant for LAUSD. is she just bringing it up on her own using stomach muscles or is she gagging herself with her fingers and hands or items?

If she is just able to use her stomach muscles - then that is a lil harder to deal with. Them om of the child used to say there were days that she would just not offer the child food. I dont agree or disagree with that and I know with my girls if they throw food or gag themselves ( they use their hands cuz they are exploring. i just take it away and were all done till next meal. When i worked at the school they were trying to figure out if was a consistency thing vs just behavioral. For the kids i baby sat he was just being a turd. Do you know if its just a behavioral thing vs a consistency/texture thing?

I imagine this is very frusterating for you. If leaving her in soiled clothes if effective i say try it if you can tolerate it but if it does not bother her then whats the point also the bile in the vomit can cause skin irritation and burn ...

Hoping you can keep it down Butterfly - your so good I know you can beat this challenge!! this is all i got sorry its not more.

[2brides]

Does she ruminate? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumination_syndrome

I don't have any insight, but a quick Google search has a lot of hits of parents who are/have experienced this. I am sorry. Puke sucks.

[eratmama]

Popp life blog had a post on this awhile ago. And I think the Beyond Consequences book has a chapter. What about giving her a basket of (healthy) snacks to pick from? How much do you encourage her to eat v letting her decide?

I don't think she is too young to help clean up.

[ct]

Apr 9, 2013 10:05:24 GMT -5 eratmama said:

Popp life blog had a post on this awhile ago. And I think the Beyond Consequences book has a chapter.  

this is exactly where my mind went too.  I don't have any experience with this, so not much help to offer.  

Comparing it to other issues we've encountered (enuresis/encopresis), I'm in favor of them helping clean up but not so much in favor of leaving them dirty or in soiled clothing. 

but, again, no experience so i cant really weigh in.

[Deleted]

2brides - Her pedi dx'd her with rumination last year BUT her symptoms aren't constant as with typical rumination, she went months without an episode and ate appropriately. It seems to flare up when she is rx'd Pediasure, I think she feels pressure to eat more/higher calorie foods and she rebels by vomiting. She had been eating fine until the pedi (not our normal pedi) freaked out that she hadn't gained any weight in the last year and rx'd the Pediasure, I explained her history and asked that he not rx it because we would have to give it to her per foster rules and that last time it had resulted in months of disordered eating. In the two weeks between the pedi visit and the Pediasure delivery, I was able to get her to gain 2 lbs but he wouldn't hear it and said she needs to drink it for 3 months. I am interested in the aversive training discussed in the Wiki article and think I may try it, we are meeting with a behavioral therapist this week and I will see what she has to say about it.

Erat - We've tried both encouraging and letting her decide with mixed results. She will often say that she wants food only to sit down, take a tiny bite and vomit before she swallows. Yesterday I had a good result when I gave her a piece of cheese (she asked for it), saw that she was working up to vomiting with the first bite and told her she could have a hug when she was done if she didn't vomit; I saw her shoulders lower, her posture straighten, and the pain leave her face, she finished the cheese without incident and got her hug. I don't expect the hug to always work for her, we've had several things work for awhile and then abruptly stop working.

[Duchess1]

I wish I had some fantastic advice for you. I cannot imagine how frustrating and frankly,disgusting this must be. I hope the BT can help.

You are a tough lady. I would have lost my mind and lunch long ago. Owl is lucky to have you fighting for her.