One of the most challenging things about our sweet treasure is her oral defensiveness. When she first came home she wouldn't put anything in her mouth, but a bottle which she had to hold herself. (Remember she was 26 months and had never had solid food.) Then about a month after coming home, she let me start putting my finger in her mouth with a bit of yogurt on it. Slowly, she let me add some baby food (stage 1). I fed her that way, with my finger while she sat on the floor (and I did too), for about two months until she decided she could trust me to put that spoon in her mouth and sit in a high chair.
We have made huge progress with the spoon feeding and the high chair, but she will still not drink from a cup. Up until recently, she wouldn't even let a cup near her mouth. She also gave up the bottle suddenly-well over a year ago-because she was plagued with ear infections when she came home and I suspect that after latching on to spoon feeding she realized it was much less uncomfortable for her ears than sucking from that bottle. So..I spoon her liquids into her mouth everyday. It is hard, but I am thankful that she does get some liquid that way. There were months that she refused to even spoon her liquids in and she got nothing. SO..we take it how we can.
This month in feeding therapy we talked and found we continue to make solid progress with most of her other feeding goals so we decided to tackle the cup again. So, I keep getting it out. At first, she had me use the cup-a lot. She signed momma drink and watched as I drank from the sippy. Then she started to pick it up herself and bring it to her lips to kiss it with her lips closed. Now I can get her to open her mouth and put it in for one good "drink" at each meal. Then I push her to bring it to her lips a few more times. This is huge progress! She continues to make big strides and has come so far! Everything is such a struggle for her, but I am thankful that God continues to give her the courage to overcome slowly those obstacles that are in her path.
Praying that the cup thing will take soon and then we can tackle tooth brushing.
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