Advice needed for issues with my DD

[paddysgirl]

My DD is 3.9 and I have a few little niggles which I wondered if anyone could help with.

Firstly DD is a very fussy eater, she started off really well when she was a baby, eating all sorts of fruit and veg and she is good at trying new things but I have noticed that it seems to be textures which she struggles with. She actually gags on certain foods (such as sweetcorn and peas) and won't touch jelly or anything that doesn't look solid. I don't want her to develop issues with food so I've tried to encourage her to have a try but not made a fuss when this happens but I'm not sure how to get over this fear of textures.

Secondly, she learnt to sing when she was very young but she copied the shapes of words and now, although her speech is getting better people struggle to understand her as she often misses off the beginnings and ends of words and she get very frustrated when she keeps having to repeat herself. I feel like I'm her translater most of the time! I know there's a speech therapist who visits her new school nursery regularly but just wondered if anyone else had had similar problems and could advise on anything that would help us both.

Last of all, DD has been dry for some time but has suddenly started having accidents, especially at night. It seems she just doesn't wake up in time and I'm having to change her bed on a daily basis. I just wondered if anyone had tried the pyjama pants and if they are worth a try or if there's anything else people can recommend?

Sorry for the long post but I feel these three issues are niggling away at me and would welcome any advice. Thanks for readin

Definitely, contact your local speech and language therapist. They can assess your dd and offer advice on how to help her speech. I'm sure the nursery will do this for you if you request them to.

With regard to the bed-wetting, does she drink enough? Sometimes this happens when they don't have enough fluids and so don't get strong enough signals that they need to have a wee. Also, make sure that she goes just before going to sleep. Ds had a few accidents when he started reading before going to bed and ten not having a final wee after before turning his light off.

To help make life easier, you could double layer the sheets on her bed so that you just whip off the top sheet and waterproof and then have another layer underneath. Or could you try 'caremats' if she would rather not use a pullup again.

You might also need to get her checked for a urinary tract infection, which can also cause this, I think.

With the gagging on food, I would continue to give her a variety of textures and (although keep a very close eye on her) do not react if she gags, just remain calm and remind her to chew everything. You could also discuss this with the speech and language therapist when you get an appointment.