Feeding Update Friday: Week Two

We began this week feeling a bit defeated, and I am happy to report that we have worked through some of our issues and seem to be ending on a much more positive note than last week.

At the beginning of the week, Greyson was really beginning to challenge us for his meals, especially breakfast.  There was lots of swatting the spoon away, yelling, and (ugh) even hitting me.  Those of you who know me personally know that in no way would I ever let my child get away with hitting me, let alone anyone else, so this was extremely challenging for me to work through.  There were lots of tears, lots of getting up to remove myself from the situation before I reacted (how I so badly wanted to, but couldn't), and lots of desperate texts to my husband for reassurance.  I've also troubleshooted with Greyson's SLP from The Children's Institute as well as Greyson's OT through Early Intervention and come up with several ways to help this new issue.

I've also come to the conclusion that Greyson needs some more time in the morning between waking up and eating, so we have come up with a new morning routine to hopefully get through this rough patch.  He wakes up around 9, and I was trying to feed him at 9:30.  We are going to try giving him at least an hour before getting him in his chair to do his sensory play and then mealtime.  During this hour, we are getting in some kind of fun physical activity.  Ms. Maria (OT through Early Intervention) brought us a fun slide to play with before mealtimes and Greyson loves it!

We had Greyson's feeding evaluation at York Hospital this week also.  While they seem like a great program, they just aren't able to follow the model set up by The Children's Institute (which we know is working), so we won't be going there for weekly therapy.  On the positive side of this, we are able to return to Greyson's original SLP because she is open to using CI's model for feeding!  Greyson will be so happy to see her again.

A few positives from the week:
     -we've got a solid plan to continue moving forward
     -Greyson is eating wonderfully for Shane in the evenings
     -we're beginning to expand food choices
     -we have made the decision to return to Greyson's original SLP for weekly sessions
     -Greyson has been much more interested in the foods that we are eating, and even scooped some very finely cut spaghetti with a spoon and ate it.   This is the first time ever Greyson has self-fed with a spoon!

List of foods Greyson has eaten this week:
     -stuffed shells and sauce
     -yogurt (vanilla and strawberry/banana)
     -whale crackers
     -goldfish (original and grahams)
     -cup of noodles (pureed)
     -chocolate pudding
     -grilled cheese sandwich and tomatoe soup pureed (it actually tasted yummy!)
     -spaghetti, sauce, and butter pureed to a fine chunky texture
     -graham crackers
     -juice
     -chocolate milk
     -yogurt drink

Total Daily Intakes:
     Friday:  5 ounces and 5 whale crackers
     Saturday: 55 mL (almost 2 ounces) and 4 whale crackers (very rough day)
     Sunday:  4 ounces and 20 mL
     Monday:  6 ounces and 5 mL
     Tuesday:  6 ounces and 15 mL (our golden day!)
     Wednesday:  3 ounces and 20 mL and 3 Goldfish grahams
     Thursday:  5 ounces and 20 mL and 1/8 graham cracker

OT session before mealtime