I contacted the Birth to Three program a couple of weeks ago becasue im concerned about my 14 month old's development. He has yet to say his first word, and has feeding issues. He cant seem to be able to figure out a hard-spouted sippy cup (the only kind he can get to work are the soft-spouted Nuby cups which you suck on like a bottle :? He also cannot eat foods like crackers, cheerios, chips, etc becasue he chokes on them.. i dont think he chews despite having 5 teeth. He still mainly eats infant cereal and jarred babyfood (the 3rd foods) because he chokes on most table food. Granted he was a preemie, but he was only 5 weeks early so I dont think thats the cause of his delays. The lady who evaluated him wants the feeding issues looked into further, so the speech therapist will be coming to evaluate him.. I'm worried, but in the same sense if there is a delay I'd rather them catch it sooner rather than later so it can be addressed and corrected. Has anyone else had similar issues with their toddlers? If so, what course of action was taken? And the outcome?
I have never experienced this w/ my son, but my friend's son was having similar problems to yours and it turned out that he needed his adnoids and tonsils removed. After that he had no more problems. Maybe if you decide to see a speech or eating therapist you could ask them to check for those problems.
We have Early Intervention here. I refer lots of kiddos to them.
Your definatly doing the right thing by wanting to get him evaluated. Catching what is wrong early is the best way to avoid problems in the future. Most places work with kids up to three years of age and then they are normally refered to the school district for more help. If you have any questions you can PM me.
both of my kids are involved with the local Early Intervention Program. My two year old because she hasnt decided its an important skill to work on. My son because he has a muscualr problem the caused major feeding issues. He is only 7 months old.
The Early Intervention program here set up funding so the Audrey can get speech therapy and Ash get physical therapy and feeding therapy. In our cases the therapies have been very beneficial. Audrey after three sessions has made huge progress, although her speech problem may have a alot more to do with stubborness than a physical problem
As for my son...we caught is really early (at 2 months) and he is already able to drink out of a bottle on his own and swallow some thicker things. This is due to being vigorous with the therapy and taking the advice of the therapists. Even if it feels like you dont have time for all the things they may tell you to do....do it. Kids are amazing and can work through all sorts of problems. They thought my son may never be able to sit, eat on his own or talk...hes already doing two of those things so we are doing great...as will you and your son.
PM if you have any specific questions, although it may work differently where you live.
good Luck
my 15 month is haveing ECI come out for feeding problemes and wait gain. he was dignosed with gerds at the age of two months old and has had problems every since. he also has a hernia in is esopugus that is causeing him not to be able eat. the only thing that he eat is stage 2 baby food. now we have descoverd that he has holes in the lineing of the stomach
Alexa never liked sippy cups either, she only really liked straw cups, and i have heard those help with speech development, it might be worth getting a few and see how he does, but i think you are doing the right thing with getting him evaluated.
also if you wait to get him evaluated (most places only serve kids from birth to three) you will have to do it through your local school district. they are a lot less likely to provide service and it can be a pain in the ass to get them (uphill battle the whole way). so you are definatly doing the right thing by doing it now.
The Birth-3 coordinator and the speech therapist came this morning to discuss the results of his evaluation. He does qualify for services based on his feeding delays and we will be having a speech therapist coming to our house one a week to work with him. According to their assessment, his feeding abilities are that of an 8-9 month old.. I had no idea he was that delayed, but then again hes my first.. so I really didnt know what "normal" was. Im just really glad I called now, since thee IS an issue, and now that we know it can be addressed early.
Good for you to get this process started! I second the straw idea...it might help to develop his oral muscles.