The Feeding Session

Josiah met with C (feeding specialist) today.  He was pleased to see her as evidenced by his smiles :).   Though it had only been one month, C seemed to be impressed with how well he is doing.

We quickly got to work.....eating.  I offered Josiah a bowl of rice cereal.  He did an amazing job!!!!  C couldn't believe how well he did.  Josiah does present with open mouth posture, but there is no protruding tongue or tongue thrusting (which is usually a problem with DS children).  Josiah was able to quickly take food off the spoon, utilized his tongue appropriately, and swallow without incident.  He demonstrated this repeatedly until all food had been consumed lol.  Then, he was mad.  He was happy to drink the remainder of the bottle to wash down his brunch.

Josiah burped well (lol) and was ready to play with C.  He laid on the mat ready for action.  When C asked if he was rolling yet, he immediately rolled over for her (we both just looked at him).  Today, for the very first time, Josiah rolled from belly to back (a deliberate roll, as opposed to an accidental roll).  He reached for, and grasped, toys that were offered to him.  During belly time, he reached his arms out.  He lifted his head high off the floor.  He turned his head in both directions.  Here he is working hard:

Sometimes I watch in awe; today was one of those days.

As a side note: C & I were talking about the weight gain battle.  Given that Josiah's at the 10th percentile for weight & 50th percentile for length, C & I are thinking that I shouldn't get so anxious about this issue.  I was commenting to C that I had bought a scale for Josiah, but found myself too anxious every time I weighed him.  C said, "let's weigh him."  The scale got dusted off (hahaha) and we placed him on it.  Today's weight: 12lbs 6.5oz; he had on a dry diaper and onesie.  3 weeks ago (April 17th), he weighed 11lbs 6.5oz.  I was pleased.  We are so very blessed <3.

Feeding and Tongue Thrusting (not what I thought)

So, apparently, tongue thrust is simply a protruding tongue and open mouth posture.  I was mistaken in the belief that it was a tendency to push the food out of ones mouth (which is common for all babies).  With that being said, I'm not sure if Josiah has this issue or not.  He certainly doesn't have it to the same degree as some I've seen.

None-the-less, I had read about a technique (for feeding) which teaches a young child to keep their tongue in their mouth.  If you watched the video in yesterday's post, you'll see that I used it there.  The technique is simple.  You feed your child holding the spoon sideways to their mouth.  You allow them to retrieve the food from the spoon that way.  You turn the spoon 180 degrees, 3x, until the food is gone.  This teaches the baby to keep their tongue in their mouth while eating.  In the video, it is demonstrated (and seems to work quite well).

The following page shows great pics, demonstrating the technique.  It was the source I used & is very helpful:

http://gotdownsyndrome.blogspot.com/2011/09/spoon-feeding-to-discourage-tongue.html


Today, Josiah will meet with the feeding specialist.  We will have a feeding session so that she may observe him eating.  I'm curious to see hear her thoughts.

I'll update you later :)