6 month old feeding difficulties

Jacks_Mum

Hi my son was diagnosed from birth with brain damage and likley CP. He is doing well in all other aspects except feeding, He has had an NJ tube since birth, though he does not suck on bottles or dummy's he has learnt to swallow and does suck on blankets, teddies or hands etc, the speech and language therapist has allowed him to start having small amounts of baby puree which he is tolerating nicley... but i really want him to start having a bottle as they are looking to send him too london for a gastrostamy to have a more permanent tube,, i would like to avoid this if possible but in the long run it would be better than the NJ through his nose as it irritates him alot..has anyone been in this position? how long did it take for your child to feed orally? and any tips to make him feed through a bottle? or even just suck a dummy... like i said he will suck everything BUT a dummy or bottle!

renacahill

I would have another word with the SLT regarding sucking on a bottle, but at six months old its probably not worth the backward step of a bottle - most babies are giving them up at this age anyway, so I would look to maybe a sippy cup or even a tommee tippee style beaker where the water doesnt need a sucking action it will just drip out. A baby that has been tube fed so far is unlikely to learn how to suck on a bottle anyway as its quite a difficult skill to pick up at 6 mo. If he was able to of course it would be a good oro- motor exercise for him, but I think your main aim is to get him eating and drinking as well and soon as possible so the gastrostomy is hopefully removed in the future. It is very very important that an assessment of his swallowing is done to make sure he does not aspirate on water, milk etc and if this was happening its possible a fluid thickener is put in to reduce this possibility or he may end up with pneumonia. When he starts moving food around in his mouth and chewing this exercise will make up for any lact of bottle sucking exercises. As for the dummy, you have no chance my daughter would not even contemplate this - she thought it was a toy and played with it !

hilsflynn

Have you seen the honey bear cups? This is how my son learnt to suck. They are from a company called talk tools...i'm not sure how easy they are to get hold of as they are an american company and there were problems with the uk distributors. But definitely worth a try. Like the other reply says, sucking is good oro-motor therapy (as is blowing - for us that is a whole other story).

Good luck

Flossy

Hi have you seen the dummy net in the net you put soft food fruit they have them in asda shops etc not very dear and they help with jaw movement, speaking and sucking and any speach problems. Sorry not sure what they are called.