I'm in a serious battle of wills with Sarah right now. Her delayed feeding is making me want to rip my hair out and leave Sarah out for the traveling gypsies. She REFUSES to chew her food tonight. I cut up pasta pick-ups and put them in Ragu, and she's spitting out EVERY SINGLE BITE. I know she can handle them because she's been scarfing down cut-up ravioli all week like crazy. For some reason tonight she refuses to chew anything. She hardly chewed her diced fruit with breakfast and she refused to chew lunch as well.

I'm just so frustrated these days. I can accept that she's delayed. I don't like it, but it is what it is. It's when she won't make any effort that I want to scream. I'm down here cooling down before attempting to feed her again. I've decided I'm going to keep trying to get her to eat and I'm not going to be so quick to switch to baby food if she puts up a fight. I guess eventually I will probably have to give in but I want her to know that I want her to TRY.

It really drives me nuts that she's still on baby food at 18 months. I'm jealous of parents who can just hand their kid some cheerios for a snack, or can give them some of whatever the rest of the family is eating for their meal. I know people say their kids eventually refuse baby food. I'm hoping that happens before she's in college.

She's basically at a 10-month-old level in pretty much all areas (except gross motor these days and social), and I'm really tired of it. She's essentially been ten months old for eight months and I'm really sick of it!

I know I'm doing everything I can to improve the situation, but it still sucks and I just wanted to vent.

I could just be talking out of my hat here since I have no clue about dealing with eating delays, but this bit stood out to me. What if you just didn't switch to babyfood? If she's not eating when you know she perfectly well has the skills to now, then don't give in to her. If she's spitting it all out say "okay, you must be done then!" and put her down to play. Maybe she'll feel more cooperative later when the hunger really is getting the best of her and she realizes that this is the only food on offer. :dunno:

I've decided I'm going to keep trying to get her to eat and I'm not going to be so quick to switch to baby food if she puts up a fight. I guess eventually I will probably have to give in but I want her to know that I want her to TRY.

I may have to try that. I took her food away and said she obviously wasn't hungry, but I didn't put her down to play. It might work. Although she does tend to rebel more when she's hungry for some bizarre reason.

I wound up just accepting her taking another bite and chewing it and then she started spitting again and I said to heck with it and gave her baby food.

I can't even ask her OT for advice since she's away this week and next week and we'll be away the following week. I may ask her teacher for her thoughts on the situation when I see her on Monday.

My kids don't have any delays and we go through this too. Some days they just don't want to eat. It's especially frustrating when you know it's their favourite meal, but I never force them. If they don't eat, then they don't eat. They won't starve themselves. I agree with Anne, if she's not eating, don't offer baby food, just put her down.

I totally agree with Clare and Anne.

:hug99: The situation must be frustrating. Are you feeding her or can she feed herself with her hands? Maybe you need to let her feed herself.

I totally agree with Clare and Anne.

:hug99: The situation must be frustrating. Are you feeding her or can she feed herself with her hands? Maybe you need to let her feed herself.

Nope, she's not feeding herself with her hands. We're trying, but she's resisting. We're working on her spoon-feeding herself, but she's nowhere near ready to do it on her own.

I agree with the others. THere are some days where Brenna will eat everything and like tonight she took 3 bites of mac and cheese and was done. They know when they want to eat. Just keep practicing with her!

~Kerrie

I'm sorry that you're dealing with this. Wish I had advice for you.

Is there another OT who works with your OT that you can contact this week?

Hi Amy.

I'm sorry you're frustrated. Totally normal reaction, though, so I hope you don't feel badly for it.

We have a new patient where I work (an OT's office in Arnold) who is 4 and won't eat any fruit or veggies unless they are baby food. He has significant oral motor delays and is 2 years behind in his speech because of them. The speech pathologist recommended OT, not speech for him, though.

I'm telling you this so that you know that Sarah is not the only 18-month-old who still eats baby food. And, with her delays, just not giving her baby food isn't going to solve the problem. For some kids, refusing food is a power thing, or a growth spurt. It's not for Sarah.

The OT I work for swears that sports bottles are the best things for oral motor problems. I don't know if Sarah is too young to drink from a sports bottle, though.

Just a thought. Hugs to you!

I have a friend that has kids who all wanted to eat baby food for quite a while. She has a 3 year old that will almost only eat baby food. He does like french fries at McDonalds though - go figure.

I doubt Sarah would drink from a sports bottle. She'll only take one type of sippy cup. I can try, though. Brooke, would you mind asking the OT for her thoughts since I can't get ahold of ours right now? If she wants more details, just ask and I'll do my best to give them.

Amy - She left for vacation this morning, too! I'm sorry. She won't be back until the 21st.

Thanks anyway Brooke. We'll be away that week! I'll just ask her teacher when I see her on Monday for thoughts.

She did better this morning. She still spit a lot, but did mostly okay. We've been having trouble with diced apples anyway. They're inconsistent. Some pieces are really soft, others are pretty hard. I talked to Jennie and she said it could be due to teething. She's been cutting canines for at least a month. I may try giving her Motrin half an hour before her next meal and see if she does better.

I was also thinking that maybe her teeth/gums were hurting her or something? Another option is maybe cooking the food yourself. You said the apples, for instance, were inconsistent in their texture, and maybe that's why she's willing to eat some and refusing others. Perhaps if you cooked it, you could ensure that it was all the same texture/amt of softness.

I really don't know what was going on with her that night, but she's doing a lot better. She gobbled the ravioli for lunch yesterday and even managed a whole pasta pick-up with lunch. It was tough and she didn't want anymore to do with it after that piece, so I think we'll stick to cutting them up for a little bit.

I have a friend that has kids who all wanted to eat baby food for quite a while. She has a 3 year old that will almost only eat baby food. He does like french fries at McDonalds though - go figure.

That could almost be Caid...

Anyway, I know, it's been awhile since I've been here (this is our first week off from therapy/school before it starts back up in september and I have time) but we have a lot of eating/feeding difficulties with Caid.

I don't know that I'd actually refuse to give her baby food, but then I only have experience with Caid, who really will starve himself, he was losing 1lb a week in june and most of july cause he just refused to eat most anything...we've figured out a few new tricks (miso soup in a sippy cup with oil added to it, gross, I know, is the biggest one) and we've got the weight loss under control...but he still hasn't regained most of that weight.

Kincaid is delayed in all areas except fine motor...he is basically around a 14 month old level according to his last evaluation everywhere but gross motor, which was at an 18 month old level (and I'd assume has progressed to a 2 year old level now..he is 2 1/2).

Anyway, we just try and try and try till we find that one thing he will eat...it seems about 1-2 times a year he goes through a phase of refusing to eat ANYTHING at all (I mean, literally going days and even up to weeks at a time where he doesn't eat anything)...and we just try to figure out the trick that will get him to eat again...first it was forcing him to nurse in his sleep, the second time it was carnation instant breakfast, and this last time it was miso soup. Once we can get him to take that one thing it is actually easier to start adding in other things. On a normal day where he is not refusing food he is still perfectly willing to go all day without eating anything, and he will only eat a few select things, oatmeal, yogurt (both of these I mix baby-food cubes into), sushi (only tuna rolls, only if it is just tuna, seaweed and rice, and only if it is rolled so the seaweed is on the outside as opposed to the rice being on the outside), and french fries are about the only things we can gurantee he will eat...

So...we offer him what we are eating for that meal...then when he refuses to eat everything (and some days he surprises us and will eat whatever we make, but these aren't very often) we give him one of the things he likes at night/in the morning with his topamax (a seizure drug that has to be sprinkled onto food)...so that way we know he's getting 2 "meals" a day...

Anyway, that was a long post, but that's what we are dealing with and what has helped us so far. In the fall he will be attending feeding group, which is either an extra hour or an extra two hours of OT a week with other kids who have food issues. It seems Caid's problem is two fold and completely sensory related. 1. he has a very under reactive sensory system and he just has no clue when he is hungry cause he can't feel it. 2. He just doesn't seem to enjoy the sensation of eating...maybe it's the chewing, or the texture of food, or the taste, we don't know yet...

I really don't know what was going on with her that night, but she's doing a lot better. She gobbled the ravioli for lunch yesterday and even managed a whole pasta pick-up with lunch. It was tough and she didn't want anymore to do with it after that piece, so I think we'll stick to cutting them up for a little bit.


Ohh, I'm so glad she is doing better now!!!!