Hellobee

I underestimated how ingrained our little guy’s feeding and eating habits were from his terrible medical experiences. When he contracted a virus, I thought he would fight it for a week then resume feeding therapy. But this horrible virus brought back his defensive eating patterns he developed when he was in respiratory distress with his Congenital Heart Defect, including his fear of drinking fluids.

By the time our little guy’s fevers abated, his appetite and desire to drink had too. He stopped taking in fluids voluntarily, and we resorted to feeding him bottles in his sleep (dream feeds). We were right back to a year ago when he was waiting for surgery, too weak and sick to eat. I couldn’t believe all of our intensive feeding therapy efforts from the last five months had been undone by a virus. To add to our little guy’s misery, the lack of fluid was making him horribly constipated.

Prior to becoming sick, he was having success with two different therapy cups his OT had introduced. He was finally learning how to drink and not cough or spill water. The two cups helped with different aspects of drinking. The Sip-Tip drinking cup had a valve that made it easier to pace drinking, and sip a small amount at a time. It decreased choking and dribbling. The Flexi Nosey Cut-Out cup allowed him to properly hold the cup to his mouth and not dump water all over his face.

Slowly we re-introduced the cups, but this time, our tools and strategies were unsuccessful. I was at a total loss as to how to help him. I finally went back to his OT’s advice about feeding; keep it positive.

Since our little guy was a baby, reading books has been his favorite activity. I came up with a plan to get him voluntarily drinking fluids again using books. I started by giving him less formula during the night, and hoped he would be hungrier and thirstier during the day.

Then, each morning I would sit with him on my lap and read several board books while holding his milk cup. At first he didn’t even want the cup near him, but I didn’t force him to drink it. I would calmly pick it up when he threw the cup and resume reading. After a few days, he got use to me holding the milk cup while he sat on my lap reading. I started prompting him to take a sip when we finished the books. He was so engrossed with the pictures in the books, he didn’t realize he had taken a drink. The distraction and positive association worked.

After a few days I encouraged him to take a sip after each book, then after each page. Sip by sip we built up to a morning cup of milk. Next, I started reading to him with his milk cup throughout the day. We weren’t anywhere near the goal of 18-24 ounces of fluid a day, but he wasn’t screaming and throwing the cup.

We finally caught a break when spring weather hit. He was starting to feel real thirst from playing outside. He became more willing to sit and drink milk. However, he would only drink if he was sitting in my lap reading books.

I was relieved he was drinking, but it was still a concerning situation. What if I left him with my mom for the day; would he drink? What if I needed to go back to work, and he had to start daycare; would he drink?

Finally, one day in the toy room he dropped his toy dinosaur and started furiously signing “more.” I couldn’t figure out what he wanted and was giving him different toys. Then I realized he wanted milk. I wanted to cry tears of joy. He finally asked for milk, unprompted, and drank it without sitting in my lap.

Now, at 15 months-old our little guy is doing amazing. He happily drinks milk and water from a cup with a straw, and we are officially done with bottles. We are taking a break from feeding therapy for him to practice his feeding skills, and determine if he can progress on his own.

He’s not officially done with OT therapy, but it’s such a relief he can safely eat a well-rounded diet and drink from a straw cup. His constipation symptoms are improving, and he’s catching up on the growth charts. Most importantly, he enjoys meals now and the rest of the family can too.