23 month old will NOT self feed!
marlatuts - 06:42pm Sep 25, 2009 ESTHi everyone,
Someone or everyone, please assist! My son will be 2 years old on Oct 30th. He has not and REFUSES to self feed! It has been so frustrating because he just recently began day care and he HAS to be fed, otherwise, he will not eat. It has gotten to the point now, that if the people at day care place a plate of food with a spoon in front of him (in hopes that he will imitate his peers) that he will attempt to eat...sound simple right? My son will swipe the plate (with the food) off the table and scream and cry and will NOT accept anything to eat or drink. The staff try to give him cheerios to snack on since he hasn't eaten bkfst or lunch. But it has now been a month and my son has lost weight, comes home lethargic, does not want us to put him down(always wants to be carried now) and this is not like him....
The problem begins here..as a baby, he never mouthed his toys, even when he was teething, so i assume there is an oral motor issue there...he will pick up a spoon and scrape it on an empty plate as i am feeding him (i have another plate with his food and feed him while he plays with the empty plate and spoon)...i have put a spoonful of food on his empty plate to see if he will touch the spoon with food and he does not...this is where is begins to get frustrated. As a baby, he never held his own bottle and does not tolerate hand over hand assistance. He enjoys finger foods such as cheerios, gerber puffs, etc...but again, he has to be fed. He has uses a pincher grasp to pick up these foods, but will not place them in his mouth, he will throw them on the floor.
I am in the process of getting him EI services (Sp, OT) however, if anyone has any ideas or has encountered an issue like this before, please suggest anything i can do to help my son. I have tried the..."when he is hungry, he will eat" but I am NOT willing to try that for a month straight and have him be skin and bones!
I appreciate any and all responses! Thanks to all!!
Angel Love
- Sep 26, 2009 7:33 am
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Looking forward to seeing you at Shareunion October 1-3 in Atlanta, GA!! |
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Oh bless your heart....I know that this must be very frustrating for you. I don't have suggestions, but think that you've taken a great first step in contacting EI and other services. Also talking to his ped might be helpful. I hope that this little stinker will get super hungry soon and eat everything in his path. Keep us posted.... Tracy 
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Sammy V's mom
- Sep 26, 2009 6:50 pm
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Wow, I understand how frustrating this must be for you. I think you've already done the best thing you can by contacting your local EI. A ST or an OT should be full of ideas here.
Do you think he may have a sensory issue where he doesn't like to touch the food? If this is the case, you would need to tackle the problem from that front, probably with an OT.
Does he struggle with getting food off of a spoon or with chewing food in his mouth or with textures of food? A ST could address this issue.
I think one approach you may try (if you haven't already) is to mimic the day care experience at home. At day care, it is probably pretty chaotic and there probably isn't anyone to sit with him one on one and lovingly work with him on this. I know you said he doesn't like hand over hand guidance, but maybe if he sits at the table with the rest of the family for meals and is given positive encouragment for feeding himself, maybe he would be more interested.
Good luck and I hope that your EI services start soon and can help!
Missy
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