Eating problems

[kickassmomma]

My dd is 2.7 has a respiratory problem and also an issue eating/drinking. She has been reviewed by SALT but the report was a bit vague statin she has a slight chew which is suitable only for soft foods Such that are used for weaning I.e banana, ripe fruit. She is also on carobel to thicken her liquids up. Our main issue was we wanted to get her from weaner jars to normal food. Which we have achieved but her apitite hasn't increased Watsoever SALt hasn't explained what to do with this despite acknowledging
The problem. She explained dd is keeping weight on only from still having infant formula. We have a dietician appointment for advice for her poor appetite but since moving from weaners to proper food she is now eating less.
Any ideas /tips? Anything and everything welcome!!

Ideally you need to get a paediatric Dietrician on the case. When is your appointment?
Is your DD eating smaller volumes but getting the same amount of calories now that she has moved on to proper food, for instance.
How much of her calories are coming from milk?
If she is having a lot of milk, that can affect her absorption of iron with a knock-on effect on her appetite..
TBH I would be keeping a food diary and asking the professionals for specific advice.

We are waiting for the appointment to come through. I doubt that she is getting anymore calories. Than before as she will only have two or 3 bites of food we have been told no to remove her formula as this will affect her weight gain. I'm no sure how many calories she has from it? It's SMa hungry baby milk and she has now abou 4-5 bottles a day

Hi, it's not clear what the Salt think the issues is? Your dd doesn't chew because of what? In our case, ds (3.2) is very similar, still on 10 months baby jars, only eats 2 flavours, he eats porridge so I mix the fruit puree into it and that's it - finger feeds crisps, biscuits and sometimes toast.

He was seen by specialist Salt, she gave us some tips I can send you, she thinks it's food aversion and to go on trying to offer him new food - not working yet, he started smelling all food as well (before he would only touch to check the texture).

He was also seen by private OT, and she thought it is sensory, he only chews with his front teeth, she gave us some oro-facial exersizes to do, as it is apparently connected to his low muscle tone - the jaws and facial musles needs strenghtening. Blowing games good as well, but he can't do that yet...

So if you want, pm me your email and I will send you the stuff - not sure if NHS anywhere do the oro-facial exersizes as I have been asking about it and didn't get anywhere.

One good tip is, if she drools, don't wipe it away, but firmly dab, so she can feel it better. Does she have issues with textures - does she like playdough, grass, water etc?

I think regarding the formula, you will see what the dietician says, he will loook into all the food she is accepting and see how much nutrition she is getting.

Hi babiki she is a bit strange sensory wise some things she hates there's a certain material she will not touch covers her ears a lot when the tv
Isn't even loud. Just other things that ive looked up and it points to sensory issues. SALT mentioned in there report that she uses a side to side tongue movement while chewing. She told us to do each meal as offering a sold food I.e bread and butter then give blended food then solid as a pudding. But now she just wants the solid food but doesn't eat half as what she used to . We have a special needs chew. Mainly because she chews on everything anyway and often eats paper (ironically!) I was hoping that will help improve her chew strength x

Hmm she does sound very similar to my ds; probably mixture of sensory/food aversion and lack of chewing practice!

The thing is she eats anything and I mean anything! You put poo ( sorry for being disgusting) in front of her shed try it! She was once caught eating stones off the floor outside! :s

Do you have a Feeding Clinic that she can be referred on to? They are usually a tertiary specialist service.
It sounds as if your DD has a complex set of needs; sensory, possibly low oro-muscular tone, immature chew, and possibly an incomplete swallow reflex.
Due to the swallow stuff (which I am presuming she has, with the fluid thickener) I really think you are best to look for advice on RL. Combined with her respiratory problems, it's not something that I would advise about without having had her swallow reviewed by SaLT +/- paediatrician.

There is probably lots of sensory activities and chew things that people on here can advise about once thats all clear.