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Hi Leanne
I have a 16 month old son who previously suffered from mild reflux until the age of 12 months but seems to be okay now. I am having trouble feeding him food with texture ie. food with lumps, and continuously have to puree his food so that he can get it down without gagging. He also has trouble eating things like biscuits and crackers unless they completely dissolve in his mouth first. His first set of molars have not yet come through.
I am not sure if his inability to eat lumpy food is due to the fact that when he had reflux I only gave him smooth pureed food and now he is just so used to it he can`t get used to textured food, or that this is actually a problem that will not improve with training. To your knowledge are there any physical conditions that prevent a baby from dealing well with textured food and are these conditions something that they grow out of or do they in fact need medical treatment?
Thanks for you help.
Yes indeed there are a number of mechanical issues that can affect a little ones ability to chew and swallow food. To this end there are now experts in this field called deglutitionists (glutition refers to swallowing). Also speech pathologists are specialists at picking up on mechanical issues with mouths and are now used for feeding problems very successfully.
So with this in mind I would thoroughly recommend such people, you can find speech therapists in the yellow pages and also some hospitals may have a referral name for a paediatric speech pathologist. Also below are two sites to perhaps start off with, the No Fuss Feeding Clinic are excellent. Also Tresillian can help with feeding issues.
Aussie: www.nofussfeeding.com.au
NZ: www.paediatricfeedingdisordersclinic.co.nz/index.htm
It may be possible that your toddler just needs some help with developing muscles for chewing and swallowing, or you may find that there could be other reasons such as enlarged tonsils and so on. So you will be on the right track with a feeding expert.
I hope that helps and wish you all the best,
Leanne