Please help: DD inhaling / choking on fluids

[Member652554]

Hi everyone. I am worried about my DD. She seems to hate drinking any sort of fluid . That's all milk/juice/formula etc. When she tries she will cough . I have therefore continued to breastfeed. She is now 13 months. HV didn't appear concerned at her one year check as she is still breastfeeding and is thriving well. But now I want to wean off the breast as I am back at work and all the sleepless nights are not great. Has anyone had a similar issues ? I would love to hear from parents who have had SALT input for their DC. Thanks

My dd is the same, she is 14 months and we had salt imput back in January.
She is fine as she can chew food, move food to the back of her mouth etc.
She just doesn't know how to use a beaker/bottle cup which breastfeeding makes them drink differently and I guess cups etc are very plastic tasting as well.
Was told to keep trying and not get to hung up on it (yea when she wakes up 7 times a Night wanting to be fed).
She eats like a sparrow and is tiny, so she needs the extra calories.

Hi dafodils07 sorry to hear about your DD's difficulties. We are waiting for SALT referral. In the meantime I am going Try thickening her fluids . My DD also wakes up a million times a night to bf . Which is exhausting. Everyone suggests that I just stop breastfeeding but that's difficult to do when you know they rely on it. Luckily She is okay for weight at the moment .
Are you thickening your DD's fluids ? What investigations did SALT do for your DD ?

Salt just came round and watched her eat and try and drink.
That was it, she said that as she can drink fine from me there is very unlikely to be a problem.
I was told to stop the bf as well but like you it's hard because she won't drink from anything else.
And also because of her food intake is awful.
I do love feeding her as well, just wish she would drink from other things lol.

I have just been to the GP with her to discuss my concerns. According to him It's unlikely to be an issue with her swallowing and more likely be a matter of swollen adenoids due to infection/allergies. So we have been given some piraton to give her. I have discussed trying her with thickened fluids too and he said it's worth a try. So I have bought a thickening agent suggested by a kind mother on MN. I find it difficult to believe it is purely down to swelling as she has had this issue since she was born. Did your doctor suggest allergies, tonsils , adenoid issues ?

Nope never suggested anything, just put it down to the fact she is breastfed.

If your DD continues to cough and splutter despite Piriton, push hard for a videofluoroscopy. This will show whether she's aspirating when she drinks. My DD coughs and splutters when she drinks unless we thicken the fluids, and a VF showed that liquid was penetrating her larynx and she was in danger of aspirating.
Has the doctor given you a prescription for thickener? We get Carobel on prescription.

The piriton has helped somewhat I think but getting it into her is a challenge. We discussed the thickener idea. Got no prescription but the Gp said we could try bran fibre as thickener as its natural and has other benefits for the bowel too and no prescription is needed . But I have abandoned the thickener idea until the next appointment for now we are continuing with the Piriton. The GP insisted that if it was a swallowing problem , she would also struggled with solids ? In my experience that's not always the case . Does your DC struggle with solids?

My DD is absolutely fine with solids (and this was confirmed in her latest videofluoroscopy). To be honest, your GP sounds a bit clueless about it.
Any sign of your SALT referral? It might be worth giving them a call and explaining the situation.

For my DD, it's the speed with which liquid flows down that causes the problem - which is why thickener helps and why solids are OK.

I agree, please push for proper follow up. Mine had no problem with puréed foods but couldn't swallow water as he aspirated it and choked. It was a very stressful time getting him help but once I did things were much better.

Video as much as you can to make your case. That's what got me to the right consultant. Good luck.