Feeding

Short Bowel Syndrome
#1

anyone have any ideas on how to teach infant how to swallow.
he’ll let the formula be in his mouth and store in cheeks like a chipmunk and then he gags . he doesn’t know how to swallow since he’s been fed through a g-tube and now they are giving him solids and its been a real struggle. We’ve tried every nipple and cup and he just doesn’t actively swallow. Help also
if anyone has any granuloma ideas on what to keep them at bay
please let us know

#2

I will be out of the office Friday May 2nd and Monday May 5th. . For immediate attention on Friday please call and ask for Tracy. Linda will be back on Monday Linda Taylor @ ltaylor@color-art.com 314-432-3000x608

#3

On the swallowing issue, have you checked out the tips on the short gut wiki?:

http://grey.colorado.edu/shortgut/index.php/How_to_help_prevent_an_oral_aversion_from_developing
and
http://grey.colorado.edu/shortgut/index.php/Oral_Aversions_and_Feeding_Problems

We are struggling w/this issue w/our son Max, but have made some progress
w/these tips and the help of oral and speech therapists.

Good luck!

On Saturday 03 May 2008 at 02:42 pm, tinkers wrote:

#4

you might want to try an eye dropper, if you drop a smaller amount he might not have the tendency to store it. He knows how to swallow, he just doesn’t know that he knows.

good luck and if that doesn’t work, you might want to put this question on the Oley Foundation site and see what feedback you get: oley.org. (lot’s of experienced people there)

Eileen
tinkers sbs-cpt8944@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#5

For my son, we worked on sucking a pacifier first. We tried all the shapes and sizes, then he took to one in particular. When he had that down, I found a bottle nipple with the same shape as the pacifier (it was difficult…we had to special order). Then was started with the slowest flow and progressed from there.

#6

thank you - he sucks on a pacifier fine its just when you introduce liquid into the equation . He’s not sure what to do with it.

#7

Hi
If your child is gagging they may have an aversion to food/drink, especially if they have been tube fed. It usually takes months to feed orally and you may want to do some desensitisation work first. Messy food play e.g. vegetable printing, picking chocolate buttons out of jelly (jam? sorry im from uk!) These activities shouldnt be at meal times.
At meal times sit him with family and offer finger foods/purees and his own spoon,bowl etc. praise him for touching, smelling food and even licking it but the key is to not pressurise him to eat it e.g dont
blackmail him (you can watch TV if you try this for mummy etc!)
Show him its ok to get messy with food and model what you do with it e.g. licking fruit puree from your fingers.
Good luck, i’m afraid it is likely to take time but perserve and hopefully he will be an oral feeder soon!