Based on my research, I anticipated all kinds of feeding woes with Eon, but we have been really blessed. That boy loves to eat! He has done really well and has been on all table foods since about 14 months.
That's not to say we haven't been cutting his food into tiny little bites every meal, though. He understands the concept of taking bites from larger food items. He will take bites if we are holding it and cue him, but was unable to handle having total control of a larger item. If given a quarter of a sandwich, for example, he would shove the entire thing into his mouth.
However, the other night, I cut half of his hamburger into pieces for him but accidentally left the intact half on his plate. Meals are, um, lively around here and I just wasn't paying attention to him. When I finally glanced over, he was holding the half of sandwich and taking bites!!! I watched him finish the whole thing, taking very appropriate bites with good chewing and swallowing. I am so excited!
Now, if I could just get him to scoop his own food with his spoon. This is how it goes right now. I scoop a bit of food on his spoon and leave it on his plate. He picks it up and puts it in his mouth. Then he hands me his spoon. I tell him to scoop it but he insists. I place my hand over his and guide him to scoop some food. He puts it in his mouth. Then he hands me his spoon, again. We do this a few times until I get distracted and he finally drops the spoon and goes at it with his hands.
Sigh. Baby steps. :-)
Alayna was like that with her spoon too, she could totally do it all by herself but for some reason wanted me to help her. Our OT suggested moving my support up to her elbow, it worked and she uses her spoon very well all by herself now.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, way to go Eon on the bites!
We are working on both bites and spoons. Lucas can't seem to bite hard items very well and tends to stuff his face. And the spoon, well he wants to do it but just doesn't have the fine motor yet. Practice makes perfect, right?
ReplyDeleteI know what a big deal that is! JM loves to take huge bites and keep shoving it in til he can't close his lips. LOL. Not very great to look at, but we're working on it... Yay, Eon!
ReplyDeleteSounds just like mealtime at our house. Emily is doing the same thing Eon does...I can't figure out how to teach her to scoop other than just showing her hand over hand...guess I just need to be a little bit patient :-)
ReplyDeleteHooray! I hated when my daughter shoved food in her mouth. Sometimes we still have to remind her to slow down.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth my daughter didn't use a spoon at 14 months. Hell, if we'd do it for her, she'd still have us feeding her at 28 months. Gerber makes cool spoons that are really deep & food doesn't fall out as easily when they scoop themselves. We love them around here for everything.
I've checked out this blog a few times; and today, when our pastor whose daughter has Down Syndrome preached on the value of a disabled life, I thought of you for some reason. If you get a chance in your busy schedule to listen to it, I think you'd be really encouraged. The link is: http://www.sovgracefairfax.org/who-am-i-series-fearfully-wonderfully-made
ReplyDeleteJust click download MP3 to hear it directly on your computer.