We've had a very low key day today. The weather has been cold and rainy, and we didn't even step out the door.
We played trucks...
I did a little scrapbooking.
Deac stared longingly out the window. (Jonah and I might have done a little of that too.)
Jonah "ate"... but really, he did ask for and munched on a few crackers.
Matt watched the Deacs get stomped... again.
Jonah made it a little better by looking cute...
...underexposed, out of focus, and completely adorable.
And he rounded out his day by having a Hug-a-Deac party in his PJ's.
On a less cute note, Jonah officially got put in his first time-out today. Daddy was working very hard to put new batteries in Jonah's remote control cars, and Jonah was just screaming and pushing him and being an all around stinky pants wanting them back immediately. He hasn't had many opportunities to practice sharing or patience, so he was pretty much out of control. So we did about a minute on the stairs and just removed him from the situation. I don't really think he got it, but we have to start some disciplining around here or we're going to have a little terror on our hands. So if you know us personally and your kids aren't sick, call me. Let's give this kid some opportunities to socialize. :)
We're planning on going to church in the morning. I'm excited but I also get really apprehensive about the nursery this time of year. I don't want to use that as an excuse though. I can't wait for Spring. I'll be sick with allergies, but at least I won't have to worry so much about colds and stomach flu.
Oh, I have a question. The only thing Jonah will drink willingly is water. But he doesn't know how to suck (because of his dependence on the tube, I guess) from a bottle or juice cup. When I leave the spout in, he can't get anything out of his cups. When I take the spout out, he drowns himself, and his therapist and I worry about water going down his trachea. We don't want pneumonia. We've tried straws (his therapist brought a little honey bear that you squeeze and the liquid comes up) and juice boxes, but he just leaves his mouth open and sticks out his tongue, so most of it comes back out on his shirt. Any ideas as to how to get him to drink from a straw better? He really seems uninterested in closing his lips around a spout or straw of any kind. I think I have every sippy cup ever made, and I've tried them all. I've tried sweet tea, Pediasure, chocolate milk, juice... anything I can think of that might make him WANT to drink more, but nothing. All he responds to is water, but still just wants it to pour in his mouth. Please let me know if you struggled to get your child independently drinking and have any tips. Anything too sweet (like soda or the Pediasure) makes him throw up. I'm out of ideas. :( I'm not stressing or too down about it. I've come to a peace about the eating/drinking thing, and I know it's in God's hands, but I thought it was worth an ask. Thanks for the help!
Hope you all have a restful Sunday.
Please don't miss the post below about Tripp and Anton. It's important.
34 comments:
To get my nephew to use a straw I took one of the ones out of a sippy cup. (the squishy kind of straw) Dipped it in water and then put my finger on the other end... I just kept putting that in his mouth and the second he started to suck I moved my finger.... instant gratification kinda thing. after I did that for a few he would suck a little longer or harder and eventually would suck all the water out of the straw before I moved my finger. Then I put the straw back in the sippy cup. It took a few times but he seemed to get it.
I was about to suggest the same thing as Colorado Bound. My children (25 and 23 yrs ago) did not have the issues that Jonah does- but we played that game with them. They got the hang of the straw. It will be time consuming for you in the beginning, but hopefully he'll get the hang of it quickly!
And I was about to suggest the same thing!!
I would suggest the same as Colorado. My son had a HARD time learning to drink from anything. But he's finally understanding the straw from practice doing it that way. I know it doesn't help with the drinking part, but I also found my son LOVES ice chips, like from sonic. Just to munch on.
We used the honeybear cup for a while. Took the stopper out of sippy cups and he just kinda picked it up. Owen liked whole milk,water, and oj. Now he's addicted to sonic diet dr pepper. Good luck. It all comes with practice.
Jonah looks GREAT!!! His little teeth are so cute! On the sippy thing, my 9 month old has been offered a sippy since 4 months and she will only take certain things from certain ones. She has a water cup and a "milk" cup. The water one is a playtex i think? but if I fill it up all the way she can do it herself. Just a little in there doesn't work cause she doesn't get tilting but maybe try just handing it to him and leaving it (like all day) My girl started doing it herself only when I left her alone with it to do!
I worked in a day care for a while and then with my own kids ive always taught them to use a straw by cutting a plastic one really short, like two inches and letting them try. its not hard to get it going that way.. then you just increase the straw length each time. It usually worked pretty quick! Also.. i love contigo sippy cups. They dont use valves, so no sucking required! Only issue is the kiddo has to be able to press a button to open it. Mine could by about 2 years.
Hey Patrice,
I don't have any great advice on the cup/sucking thing, but I thought I would recommend a cup to try. We recently bought a couple for our 4 year old (and wish I knew about them sooner!!). They are made by Playtex and they have a lid and a opening on the corner of the lid. They have a stopper that can be removed. If you remove it, it would be like drinking from a cup, but he wouldn't totally drown as fast. Here is a link to it at Target. Maybe worth a try if you haven't tried it already! Replace the dots in the link! http://www (dot) diapers (dot) com/product/productdetail (dot) aspx?productid=52060
it could be messy in the beginning but actually most pedis just encourage to start introducing a regular no lid cup at that age...when he can see all the liquid coming at him, he prolly wouldn't tip it back all the way, then no drowning...and you can say see this is how mommy and daddy drink too! ?? just an idea! :) good luck!
I like several others was going to suggest what Colorado suggested...along with I actually "showed" my kids how mommy drinks from a straw..and "talked" them through it...with the combined effort of the 2 they were drinking from a straw in no time!
In our mom's group at church we had a speech therapist come in and tell us to skip sippy cups all together, they cause speech problems (and yes, in fact M needs speech therapy). If he is really unwilling to sip you might want to start with a regular no lid, small, plastic cup with just a sip of water at a time and slowly increase the amount that is in there so he doesn't "dump" it all over him.
We also did the straw strick with M - she wouldn't suck at first either - we would get a little in the straw and drop it in her mouth. Eventually she got it.
As for time out - he may not understand at first - but he will soon enough! He is just at the age where you should start introducing time outs anyway.
Good luck!!!!!
J
To try and get him to close his mouth round a straw, have you tried blowing bubbles in a glass/bowl of water in front of him using a straw, and seeing if he shows any interest in doing it himself?
I know you want him to suck rather than blow, but if you can get him to be comfortable closing his mouth around a straw then it might be easier to work on a sucking motion?
i too was going to say what co. bound said..its how i taught all my kiddos to use a straw. maybe you could use a really skinny straw (like the ones that you get with mixed drinks) so that way if he does get a good pull off it, it wont overwhelm him?!?!?
what about good ole' fashion kool aid? use more or less sugar!?!?! tang perhaps????
you have a beautiful little boy, i've been lurking since you started the site, my 6 year old i a talk about jonah and tripp a lot at home...sending you love from MN!
a and d
Hey Patrice! I'm not sure that I've commented before, but I just love you, Jonah and Matt! I have followed your blog for quite some time now and it is so wonderful to see how well Jonah is doing and just how far he's come! My heart breaks for Courtney and Tripp. Bless their sweet hearts! I wish there was more that I could do.
I also follow a blog called the adventures of Pudge and Zippy and her blog entry for Mon. April 26, 2010 address feeding/drinking issues and what is working for them. Maybe there will be something there that will help Jonah! Here's the link: http://pudgeandzippy.blogspot.com/
One more thing...thanks to you I signed up for the photography workshop in Concord (I live there)! I'm so looking forward to it, so thanks! Enjoy your day! Kiesha
Here's my two cents:
A thicker substance sometimes helps by creating some resistance and slowing down the volume that reaches the tongue. Hopefully a qualified speech therapist will weigh in here to guide you more.
As an example, using a real milkshake, take the straw out of the milkshake and there should be a bit of milkshake stuck to the bottom end of the straw and you put that in your mouth and have all the yum-yum reaction and then you put the straw back in the milkshake pull it out and offer the covered end to Jonah. You could use applesauce or yogurt, but like I said, I'm hoping you have a SLT that can offer you step by step instructions. And, this is a process that takes practice over time, but it did work for us.
Praying for success.
Hi Patrice!
My little one was born with a very severe cleft lip and palate...she pretty much had no roof to her mouth. (well, it was an 18 inch wide hole all the way back, but in the mouth of an newborn, that's pretty much all of it!) She didn't have the ability to suck until after her palate was repaired around 1 year of age. She's two and a half now, and still can't really suck...we're trying to teach her, but she has a fistula that makes it hard and can't re repaired yet. Anyway, what we've found works, is we have to cut a little whole in the valve for the gerber sippys. The valve has an X cut in them....we pretty much cut on of the points off where the X intersects. It's not enough to let the liquid pour out, but it doesn't take very much suction at all to get the liquid flowing. My little one just can't get things flowing through a straw....the muscles aren't strong enough in the roof of her mouth yet!
I'm thinking a small cup with just a bit of water in it at first. Even a medicine dosing cup with just enough water to wet his mouth a bit. Time consuming, for sure, but sounds like all of our suggestions are : /
What about just putting a very small amount of water in the sippy cup- that way if it spills, he won't choke on it.
I also let my daughter practice drinking out of an empty creamer cup- like the single use ones you get at a restaurant. It holds such a tiny amount that she can't make a huge mess, but she gets the practice of how to drink out of a cup.
Hi there. I'm a lurker - hope you don't mind :)
My wee man has issues with feeding and drinking too. He is the same as Jonah in that he can't suck hard enough from a cup with a non spill valve but if I take the valve out he chokes. I have discovered 2 things that help.
1. We put Gaviscon in his drink to thicken it a little so it doesn't drown him. Not sure if you have Gaviscon Infant powder in the U.S or if it is called something else (I'm in New Zealand).
2. We use a Nuk cup. Again not sure if you can get the same type. It doesn't have a valve but the opening of the spout is more of a slit rather than holes. It means Owen has to suck to get the water out but not too hard.
Hope this helps.
P.S Sheesh Jonah is a sweetypie :)
Sweet sweet pictures! I agree with the other posters - I'd go with a straw or just a straight cup. And a big vinyl tablecloth under your table (LOL).
Seriously, we've had a couple of our kids that "got" straws and a couple that didn't. We had them practice "kissing" the straw and alsow played the straw game that ColoradoBound mentioned. Eventually the lightbulb came on!!
Hope you have a good rest of the weekend!
Love,
Laura
PS- Jackson (6-yr-old) wanted me to tell you that "Deac + Jonah = hug." :)
If you and your therapist are concerned with water going into his lungs then you may want to try thicken liquids. A swallow study can be done to confirm if needed. However you don't need a prescription to buy a thickening agent. You can buy powdered Thick-It at Walgreens for the least amount normally. Or send me an email with your address and I can mail you a sample of some gels that will thicken liquid to either nectar or honey consistency. I am a teacher and mom who uses these daily at school and home.
Our daughter had a similar situation... her Occupational Thearpist gave us the idea of using a cheap ketchup bottle and placed oxygen tubing in it for the 'straw'. You can squeeze the bottle to get the water to come out, and work on him 'sucking' to keep the liquid in his mouth.
It's baby steps... but it's a start!
~ Best Wishes ~
I haven't read through the comments, but the only thing that came to mind are these little 'medical sponge swabs' that are used to moisten a patients' mouth. I was trying to find a decent link, but if you look up 'oral care swabs' you'll find that they are sterile and packaged. This might allow him to try liquids with little commitment and practice sucking. I don't know how sensitive the inside of his mouth/cheeks are to being touched - so I don't know how realistic this is ... but (medically speaking) our family has learned to live outside the box and that's all my pea-sized brain could come up with tonight!
Oh, another thought - shot-glass size cup with small amount(s) of liquid?
Blessings in your endeavor!
Similiar to the ketchup/straw idea there is a playtex version that came out in November that allows you to squeeze so liquid comes up the straw...
http://www.teebop.com/cgi-bin/item/PLA05908&source=Facebook&kw=PLA05908
Another cup to consider: http://www.eiokidscup.com/. There's no valve so no sucking needed. But also not spill proof. However, the hole is small so it shouldn't come pouring out at him too fast.
We use the first stage "Tommy Tippee" sippy's. Our son doesn't "suck" either. You just BARELY have to suck, or just close your lips around the silicone spout and the liquid comes out...but not too fast. Davis "drowned" a little at first, but nothing like he does when we leave the spout out of the others. We also just use open cups (i'm a speech therapist). It's messy, but with some time, he'll get the hang of it!
What about the ones with the soft spouts? My daughter started first with those because they can bite them to get the liquid out, but eventually they will suck.
I was going to suggest the same thing as most everyone here...suck, put your finger on the end and have him drink from the bottom of the straw. Once he gets that there's fluid that comes out, move onto thicker fluids (ie:shakes or smoothies)and he'll put his mouth around it to suck b/c he's expecting something to come out. That's what's worked on my older kids. With Daylon, Ahhhh. Whole other story. I've given up. I just stick with the Meads Johnson cleft palate squeeze bottles. Daylon has a SERIOUS oral aversion and it's been the only thing to work for us. He's FINALLY putting his mouth around the nipple and then I just squeeze it in. Fewer blisters, so that's good right? :) On a good day, he'll hold the bottle and squeeze it himself. Jonah seems to act way more age appropriate, so I'm sure he can figure it out. Happy drinking (in a non-alcoholic way)! :) Love ya, Jenn
Jonah and the dog are precious. I love seeing him hug and cuddle on his bestie. How blessed they are to have each other.
My daughter was not really fond of sippy cups and the like. Dixie cups and small, children's/toddler cups quickly became my friend. Since Jonuh just likes/expects it to be poured in his mouth, have you tried allowing him to drink out of small cups like Dixie cups? I know this will mean some wet bandages until he gets good at drinking from the cup, but it might be worth a try if you haven't already.
We started with just enough water to cover the bottom of the cup (one or two sips worth) until our daughter mastered that, and then we would gradually add more.
I agree with those who have mentioned trying just a regular plastic cup with no lid. Start with water, but usually after a few tries, the kids learn to control how far they're tipping it up so as to control how much liquid they're getting. Doesn't take long before they're able to sip out of the regular cup. My daughter is 20mos and has been using a regular cup without spilling for 3 or 4mos now. I know Jonah's situation is unique, but like I said, they usually learn very quickly how far to tip the cip up.
My daughter was a preemie and she resisted all sippy cups at first. We bought those "disposable" sippy cups that they sell everywhere. They don't have a valve but the top is designed to not let the water flow too quickly. She really took to those, and they were cheap, so if it didn't work I wasn't out a lot of money.
Shorter straws will be easier to suck from than longer straws.
Also - once he kinda gets the mechanics of it - you can try to find some "fun" straw and suck on it first so he can see it and then see if he's interested? Something like this - http://www.parties4kids.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/UST2525.jpg
But it would be hard at first because it's so long. But maybe it will help him get motivated to try?
Just catching up and maybe this has already been suggested. :) My boys were speech delayed and received therapy. They had to be taught to use straws and make their mouth form that shape. We played with blowing pinwheels, blowing bubbles, and practiced using a straw to blow things across the table. :)
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