RE: [SPAM]Re: Re: Hi there!

[Guest guest]

Judy,

I had a typical that " scooted" . Recently I was talking to a therpipist who said that Scooting IS a recognized way of " crawling ".

Bear walking is also one form. I tried to find this in print, but could not YET.

Also.. I just got a ton of Speech/feeding stuff. I will type it out ASAP. FWIW

Steph

Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there!

That is so true about "short cuts"! Reece is so stubborn. He doesn't crawl or walk so recently he adopted scooting. He is scooting all over the house now! <agirlnamedsuesshotmail> wrote:

I read something somewhere (it was about children with Down Syndrome taking "shortcuts" in completing milestones) that offered interesting research on how children with Down Syndrome will "skip" or "fudge" (that was not the exact word used, but you get the picture) certain steps in order to get the desired outcome. Being a mother of five children, I have learned that no child, syndrome or not, will do anything that you do for them instead.With overexpression of the genes in our family, I have had to "ignore" it when my children "skipped" steps or took the easy way out (sometimes, not always). Peer pressure is an effective method that has been used (sometimes negatively) for years. <br>Something I learned in nursing school was: NEVER DO FOR THE PATIENT WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO FOR HIMSELF/HERSELF. I have employed this in my parenting skills and it was EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE in getting my son (who was born at 37 weeks) to walk at 14 months of age. He kept wanting me to carry him from room to room. When I noticed he could pull up to a standing position, I would walk out of the room (for short periods only, of course) and return. eventually he began to get the message and "MOTIVATION" took over. <br>I am not trying to imply that our children are "lazy", but i have learned real fast that "you find out what motivates your child and use it to your advantage".<br>Scooby-Doo motivates my 4 year-old; all he wants to do is indulge himself in "Scooby-Doo". If he wants to watch it now on tv or his personal DVD player, I encourage (although I want to use the word "make" here) him to speak and tell me. At first, he was allowed to use just "Dooby-Doo". Then he was permitted to use sign language to express his want along with his word "Dooby-Doo". NOW, he has to be more verbal, even if he simultaneously uses sign. No, he does not always cooperate; however, he does not get what he wants either. Yes, he gets mad and he pitches a horrid fit (stomping, protesting, and YES, VERBALIZING, even if it is just "No" or something like that.) The undesirable behavior eventually replaces itself with more words. Again, it all depends on how bad he wants to watch Scooby-Doo and how motivated he is to get what he wants.<br>I urge everyone to find out what your child really, really loves and use it as leverage (do not use as punishment, though, only for good behavior). Behavior modification has been used for years in many types of therapy. (I want to add here NOT to use "food" or "candy" for any type of behavior modification, as it leads to eating disorders later in life. All you are doing is promoting good socially acceptable behavior.)<br>Just some thoughts that might help some parents with getting your child to accomplish that milestone more quickly.<br>P.S. Don't try this in public and try to pick a home-based event that your child likes or everyone will look at you like you are "abusing" your child. Be careful in your selection. trust me, children with down Syndrome are not always "happy and complacent" and they can scream just as loud as they can smile! :0))<br>> Hi !> > Welcome! (2 1/2) has DS, and is the youngest of 9, When he was 12 mo., he would not eat any food at all or drink from a cup or bottle. He was totally breast fed and that is all he wanted. He didn't exactly spit food out, but he would not swallow it, so it would all run back out or he would push it out with his tongue. We had a feeding evaluation done and he was recommended for feeding therapy. The speech/feeding therapist came to our home once a week. She did not really teach how to eat as much as she taught me how to teach him to eat. At first, I didn't think her advice was going to work, but I stuck with it and it worked! > > Basically, she said that children with DS do not like change. was not refusing to eat/swallow the food because the food tasted bad to him but because it was different than what he was accustomed to (the breast). She said I would have to make spoon feeding a routine part of his day and "help" him to get at least some of it down, regardless of how much he resisted, until he got used to it, which could take several weeks. The way I had to "help" him get some of it down was to place my left hand under his chin, and after placing the food in his mouth, I was to push up on his chin with gentle, but firm pressure to close his mouth and hold it closed. When I held his mouth shut this way, he could not get rid of the food in his mouth as he usually did and he had to do something with the food so he would move it around with his tongue and eventually swallow it. Let me warn you, he did NOT like this one bit! He would cry and try to push my hand away and try to pull his> head away. Sometimes, I'd have to quickly lay down the spoon so I could use my right hand on the top of his head to help hold it so he couldn't pull away. But some of the food did go down! We started with maybe only 1 Tablespoon of food, but did this 3 times a day, for no longer than 10 min. or so. Where before, he had just been passively refusing to swallow, after several days of this, he hated the sight of the spoon! By the end of the 10 min. session, he would be screaming mad, and I felt so mean. After 1 week, when Crystal came, I told her that it wasn't working and I was stressed out and the whole family was stressed out. She said, "Didn't I tell you that it would get worse before it would get better?" I said yes she had told me that but I didn't know it would be like this. She wanted to watch me feed him, and she commented that I was doing a good job and that although was plenty mad, he was not hysterical (like eyes rolling in terror hysterical), and> that if I would persevere, she promised it would get better. Then she told me that part of the problem was that was smart enough to sense that I felt sorry for him and was playing on my smpathy... because if he cried enough he figured I would rescue him and take him out of the highchair and nurse him! She told me I had to have a joyful attitude when I fed him. I needed to smile and say something like, "I know you are mad at me right now, but you are going to learn to eat! And when you learn to eat, you are going to love eating! Mommy and Daddy love to eat! _____ and ______ love to eat! (other family members) We love to sit down at the table and eat together! We love to eat pizza and lasagna and icecream! You will love pizza and icecream! > > I know it sounds weird, but it worked! When I adopted this joyful, positive attitude, yet continuing to be firm and in charge with his feeding, he still resisted and cried but a little less intensely each day... and after maybe 3 weeks, he no longer cried, but only tried to push the spoon away or pull his head away... and after maybe 4 or 5 weeks, he gave those tactics up and began to open his mouth for the spoon! I no longer had to hold his mouth closed; he had learned to swallow the food! And the amount of food he took at a meal was gradually increased until he was taking 4 oz. per meal!> > This speech/feeding therapist only came to our home for 4 months, and then our insurance terminated all 's home based therapies, saying he didn't qualify as home-bound any longer. has never had any feeding therapy since, although there have been times I have really wished for some help. When he was 2, he was still eating pureed baby food and baby cereal, and I thought he would be eating it forever! But moms in this group were helpful and also gave me links to other helpful sites on feeding issues. Plus, he finally got some teeth to chew with! And I'm happy to say that is finally eating table food!! Not everything, but anything that is soft enough for him. AND he is FEEDING HIMSELF! And he does love to eat!! > > This is assuming that there is no physical reason that the child cannot swallow. Sometimes there are other special challenges. I know a 4 yr. old who has been tube fed directly into her stomach all her life and just has no suck or swallow reflex. Yet, they are now having success teaching her to eat by putting pureed food in a large syringe and putting it on top of her tongue (holding her tongue down) all the way to the back of her mouth and pushing a small amount of food right to the top of her throat... she is swallowing!> > May God bless you and your daughter as you seek to help Cayden learn to eat. Believe me, it took a lot of praying to get through those early weeks. Maybe that is one reason God gives us these special children... so we will have to rely on Him and PRAY!> > GOD's BEST!> > > > My name is . I have a beautiful 13 month old grandson with DS. > His name is Cayden. My dauther (she's 22) and her son live with my > husband and I, and I am the caregiver while my daughter is at work. > > I have a question to throw out there. Hopefully someone will be able > to lend some advice...> > My grandson is having trouble eating food. All he is taking is his > bottle. When we put him in the highchair to eat...he takes in the > food...chews...then spits it out. I have tried to vary > textures...from applesauce to thick oatmeal, and it all comes out in > the form of a pretty strong "spit"...i.e. I end up wearing the food > which is no fun at all (smile). > > We've had him to the Childrens' Institute's feeding clinic, and they > said they've never encounter this before and had little helpful > advice as to how to overcome this feeding issue. > > Any ideas out there? Or has anyone else encounter a similar problem??> > Any help would be greatly appreciated...> > > > > > > > (one and only wife to Fred; mom to Kari, Melody, Faith, Heidi, Isaac, Josiah, , Alana, and ! Yes, they're all ours!)> > Is. 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."> > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.>

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

[Guest guest]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gait_(human)

different classifications of gaits

From: DownSyndromeInfoExchange

[mailto:DownSyndromeInfoExchange ] On Behalf Of Carlson

Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 6:09 PM

To: DownSyndromeInfoExchange

Subject: Re: [sPAM]Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there!

Judy,

I

had a typical that " scooted " . Recently I was talking to a

therpipist who said that Scooting IS a recognized way of " crawling

" .

Bear

walking is also one form. I tried to find this in print, but could not

YET.

Also..

I just got a ton of Speech/feeding stuff. I will type it out ASAP. FWIW

Steph

-----

Original Message -----

From: Bolduc

To: DownSyndromeInfoExchange

Sent: Sunday, April 06,

2008 1:38 PM

Subject: [sPAM]Re:

[DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there!

My

sister scooted on her butt for 30 years. She then learned how to walk using a

walker and still uses one. Every now and then she will still scoot but they try

to discourage her from doing that.

-----

Original Message -----

From: Judy

To: DownSyndromeInfoExchange

Sent: Sunday, April 06,

2008 12:13 PM

Subject: Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange]

Re: Hi there!

That is so true about " short cuts " ! Reece is so

stubborn. He doesn't crawl or walk so recently he adopted scooting.

He is scooting all over the house now!

wrote:

I read something somewhere (it

was about children with Down Syndrome

taking " shortcuts " in completing milestones) that offered

interesting research on how children with Down Syndrome will " skip "

or " fudge " (that was not the exact word used, but you get the

picture) certain steps in order to get the desired outcome. Being a

mother of five children, I have learned that no child, syndrome or

not, will do anything that you do for them instead.

With overexpression of the genes in our family, I have had

to " ignore " it when my children " skipped " steps or took the

easy way

out (sometimes, not always). Peer pressure is an effective method

that has been used (sometimes negatively) for years. <br>

Something I learned in nursing school was: NEVER DO FOR THE PATIENT

WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO FOR HIMSELF/HERSELF. I have employed this in

my parenting skills and it was EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE in getting my son

(who was born at 37 weeks) to walk at 14 months of age. He kept

wanting me to carry him from room to room. When I noticed he could

pull up to a standing position, I would walk out of the room (for

short periods only, of course) and return. eventually he began to

get the message and " MOTIVATION " took over. <br>

I am not trying to imply that our children are " lazy " , but i have

learned real fast that " you find out what motivates your child and

use it to your advantage " .<br>

Scooby-Doo motivates my 4 year-old; all he wants to do is indulge

himself in " Scooby-Doo " . If he wants to watch it now on tv or his

personal DVD player, I encourage (although I want to use the

word " make " here) him to speak and tell me. At first, he was allowed

to use just " Dooby-Doo " . Then he was permitted to use sign language

to express his want along with his word " Dooby-Doo " . NOW, he has to

be more verbal, even if he simultaneously uses sign. No, he does not

always cooperate; however, he does not get what he wants either.

Yes, he gets mad and he pitches a horrid fit (stomping, protesting,

and YES, VERBALIZING, even if it is just " No " or something like

that.) The undesirable behavior eventually replaces itself with more

words. Again, it all depends on how bad he wants to watch Scooby-Doo

and how motivated he is to get what he wants.<br>

I urge everyone to find out what your child really, really loves and

use it as leverage (do not use as punishment, though, only for good

behavior). Behavior modification has been used for years in many

types of therapy. (I want to add here NOT to use " food " or

" candy "

for any type of behavior modification, as it leads to eating

disorders later in life. All you are doing is promoting good

socially acceptable behavior.)<br>

Just some thoughts that might help some parents with getting your

child to accomplish that milestone more quickly.

<br>

P.S. Don't try this in public and try to pick a home-based event

that your child likes or everyone will look at you like you

are " abusing " your child. Be careful in your selection. trust me,

children with down Syndrome are not always " happy and complacent "

and they can scream just as loud as they can smile! :0))

<br>

> Hi !

>

> Welcome! (2 1/2) has DS, and is the youngest of 9, When

he was 12 mo., he would not eat any food at all or drink from a cup

or bottle. He was totally breast fed and that is all he wanted. He

didn't exactly spit food out, but he would not swallow it, so it

would all run back out or he would push it out with his tongue. We

had a feeding evaluation done and he was recommended for feeding

therapy. The speech/feeding therapist came to our home once a

week. She did not really teach how to eat as much as she

taught me how to teach him to eat. At first, I didn't think her

advice was going to work, but I stuck with it and it worked!

>

> Basically, she said that children with DS do not like change.

was not refusing to eat/swallow the food because the food

tasted bad to him but because it was different than what he was

accustomed to (the breast). She said I would have to make spoon

feeding a routine part of his day and " help " him to get at least

some of it down, regardless of how much he resisted, until he got

used to it, which could take several weeks. The way I had to " help "

him get some of it down was to place my left hand under his chin,

and after placing the food in his mouth, I was to push up on his

chin with gentle, but firm pressure to close his mouth and hold it

closed. When I held his mouth shut this way, he could not get rid

of the food in his mouth as he usually did and he had to do

something with the food so he would move it around with his tongue

and eventually swallow it. Let me warn you, he did NOT like this

one bit! He would cry and try to push my hand away and try to pull

his

> head away. Sometimes, I'd have to quickly lay down the spoon so

I could use my right hand on the top of his head to help hold it so

he couldn't pull away. But some of the food did go down! We

started with maybe only 1 Tablespoon of food, but did this 3 times a

day, for no longer than 10 min. or so. Where before, he had just

been passively refusing to swallow, after several days of this, he

hated the sight of the spoon! By the end of the 10 min. session, he

would be screaming mad, and I felt so mean. After 1 week, when

Crystal came, I told her that it wasn't working and I was stressed

out and the whole family was stressed out. She said, " Didn't I tell

you that it would get worse before it would get better? " I said yes

she had told me that but I didn't know it would be like this. She

wanted to watch me feed him, and she commented that I was doing a

good job and that although was plenty mad, he was not

hysterical (like eyes rolling in terror hysterical), and

> that if I would persevere, she promised it would get better.

Then she told me that part of the problem was that was smart

enough to sense that I felt sorry for him and was playing on my

smpathy... because if he cried enough he figured I would rescue him

and take him out of the highchair and nurse him! She told me I had

to have a joyful attitude when I fed him. I needed to smile and say

something like, " I know you are mad at me right now, but you are

going to learn to eat! And when you learn to eat, you are going to

love eating! Mommy and Daddy love to eat! _____ and ______ love

to eat! (other family members) We love to sit down at the table and

eat together! We love to eat pizza and lasagna and icecream! You

will love pizza and icecream!

>

> I know it sounds weird, but it worked! When I adopted this

joyful, positive attitude, yet continuing to be firm and in charge

with his feeding, he still resisted and cried but a little less

intensely each day... and after maybe 3 weeks, he no longer cried,

but only tried to push the spoon away or pull his head away... and

after maybe 4 or 5 weeks, he gave those tactics up and began to open

his mouth for the spoon! I no longer had to hold his mouth closed;

he had learned to swallow the food! And the amount of food he took

at a meal was gradually increased until he was taking 4 oz. per meal!

>

> This speech/feeding therapist only came to our home for 4

months, and then our insurance terminated all 's home based

therapies, saying he didn't qualify as home-bound any longer.

has never had any feeding therapy since, although there have

been times I have really wished for some help. When he was 2, he

was still eating pureed baby food and baby cereal, and I thought he

would be eating it forever! But moms in this group were helpful and

also gave me links to other helpful sites on feeding issues. Plus,

he finally got some teeth to chew with! And I'm happy to say that

is finally eating table food!! Not everything, but anything

that is soft enough for him. AND he is FEEDING HIMSELF! And he

does love to eat!!

>

> This is assuming that there is no physical reason that the child

cannot swallow. Sometimes there are other special challenges. I

know a 4 yr. old who has been tube fed directly into her stomach all

her life and just has no suck or swallow reflex. Yet, they are now

having success teaching her to eat by putting pureed food in a large

syringe and putting it on top of her tongue (holding her tongue

down) all the way to the back of her mouth and pushing a small

amount of food right to the top of her throat... she is swallowing!

>

> May God bless you and your daughter as you seek to help Cayden

learn to eat. Believe me, it took a lot of praying to get through

those early weeks. Maybe that is one reason God gives us these

special children... so we will have to rely on Him and PRAY!

>

> GOD's BEST!

>

>

>

> My name is . I have a beautiful 13 month old grandson

with DS.

> His name is Cayden. My dauther (she's 22) and her son live with my

> husband and I, and I am the caregiver while my daughter is at

work.

>

> I have a question to throw out there. Hopefully someone will be

able

> to lend some advice...

>

> My grandson is having trouble eating food. All he is taking is his

> bottle. When we put him in the highchair to eat...he takes in the

> food...chews...then spits it out. I have tried to vary

> textures...from applesauce to thick oatmeal, and it all comes out

in

> the form of a pretty strong " spit " ...i.e. I end up wearing the

food

> which is no fun at all (smile).

>

> We've had him to the Childrens' Institute's feeding clinic, and

they

> said they've never encounter this before and had little helpful

> advice as to how to overcome this feeding issue.

>

> Any ideas out there? Or has anyone else encounter a similar

problem??

>

> Any help would be greatly appreciated...

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> (one and only wife to Fred; mom to Kari, Melody, Faith, Heidi,

Isaac, Josiah, , Alana, and ! Yes, they're all ours!)

>

> Is. 40:31 " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their

strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run

and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. "

>

> ---------------------------------

> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of

Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of

Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

>

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one

month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

[Guest guest]

That is really interesting!!!! Thanks for posting.Kathy Ratkiewicz wrote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gait_(human) different classifications of gaits From: DownSyndromeInfoExchange [mailto:DownSyndromeInfoExchange ] On Behalf Of CarlsonSent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 6:09 PMTo: DownSyndromeInfoExchange Subject: Re: [sPAM]Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there! Judy, I had a typical that " scooted" . Recently I was talking to a therpipist who said that Scooting IS a recognized way of " crawling ". Bear walking is also one form. I

tried to find this in print, but could not YET. Also.. I just got a ton of Speech/feeding stuff. I will type it out ASAP. FWIW Steph Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there! That is so true about "short cuts"! Reece is so stubborn. He doesn't crawl or walk so recently he adopted scooting. He is scooting all over the house now! <agirlnamedsuesshotmail> wrote: I read something somewhere (it was about children with Down Syndrome taking "shortcuts" in completing milestones) that offered interesting research on how children with Down Syndrome will

"skip" or "fudge" (that was not the exact word used, but you get the picture) certain steps in order to get the desired outcome. Being a mother of five children, I have learned that no child, syndrome or not, will do anything that you do for them instead.With overexpression of the genes in our family, I have had to "ignore" it when my children "skipped" steps or took the easy way out (sometimes, not always). Peer pressure is an effective method that has been used (sometimes negatively) for years. <br>Something I learned in nursing school was: NEVER DO FOR THE PATIENT WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO FOR HIMSELF/HERSELF. I have employed this in my parenting skills and it was EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE in getting my son (who was born at 37 weeks) to walk at 14 months of age. He kept wanting me to carry him from room to room. When I noticed he could pull up to a standing position, I would walk out of the room (for short

periods only, of course) and return. eventually he began to get the message and "MOTIVATION" took over. <br>I am not trying to imply that our children are "lazy", but i have learned real fast that "you find out what motivates your child and use it to your advantage".<br>Scooby-Doo motivates my 4 year-old; all he wants to do is indulge himself in "Scooby-Doo". If he wants to watch it now on tv or his personal DVD player, I encourage (although I want to use the word "make" here) him to speak and tell me. At first, he was allowed to use just "Dooby-Doo". Then he was permitted to use sign language to express his want along with his word "Dooby-Doo". NOW, he has to be more verbal, even if he simultaneously uses sign. No, he does not always cooperate; however, he does not get what he wants either. Yes, he gets mad and he pitches a horrid fit (stomping, protesting, and YES, VERBALIZING, even if it is just "No" or

something like that.) The undesirable behavior eventually replaces itself with more words. Again, it all depends on how bad he wants to watch Scooby-Doo and how motivated he is to get what he wants.<br>I urge everyone to find out what your child really, really loves and use it as leverage (do not use as punishment, though, only for good behavior). Behavior modification has been used for years in many types of therapy. (I want to add here NOT to use "food" or "candy" for any type of behavior modification, as it leads to eating disorders later in life. All you are doing is promoting good socially acceptable behavior.)<br>Just some thoughts that might help some parents with getting your child to accomplish that milestone more quickly.<br>P.S. Don't try this in public and try to pick a home-based event that your child likes or everyone will look at you like you are "abusing" your child.

Be careful in your selection. trust me, children with down Syndrome are not always "happy and complacent" and they can scream just as loud as they can smile! :0))<br>> Hi !> > Welcome! (2 1/2) has DS, and is the youngest of 9, When he was 12 mo., he would not eat any food at all or drink from a cup or bottle. He was totally breast fed and that is all he wanted. He didn't exactly spit food out, but he would not swallow it, so it would all run back out or he would push it out with his tongue. We had a feeding evaluation done and he was recommended for feeding therapy. The speech/feeding therapist came to our home once a week. She did not really teach how to eat as much as she taught me how to teach him to eat. At first, I didn't think her advice was going to work, but I stuck with it and it worked! > > Basically, she said that children with DS do not like change. was not refusing to

eat/swallow the food because the food tasted bad to him but because it was different than what he was accustomed to (the breast). She said I would have to make spoon feeding a routine part of his day and "help" him to get at least some of it down, regardless of how much he resisted, until he got used to it, which could take several weeks. The way I had to "help" him get some of it down was to place my left hand under his chin, and after placing the food in his mouth, I was to push up on his chin with gentle, but firm pressure to close his mouth and hold it closed. When I held his mouth shut this way, he could not get rid of the food in his mouth as he usually did and he had to do something with the food so he would move it around with his tongue and eventually swallow it. Let me warn you, he did NOT like this one bit! He would cry and try to push my hand away and try to pull his> head away. Sometimes, I'd have

to quickly lay down the spoon so I could use my right hand on the top of his head to help hold it so he couldn't pull away. But some of the food did go down! We started with maybe only 1 Tablespoon of food, but did this 3 times a day, for no longer than 10 min. or so. Where before, he had just been passively refusing to swallow, after several days of this, he hated the sight of the spoon! By the end of the 10 min. session, he would be screaming mad, and I felt so mean. After 1 week, when Crystal came, I told her that it wasn't working and I was stressed out and the whole family was stressed out. She said, "Didn't I tell you that it would get worse before it would get better?" I said yes she had told me that but I didn't know it would be like this. She wanted to watch me feed him, and she commented that I was doing a good job and that although was plenty mad, he was not hysterical (like eyes rolling in terror

hysterical), and> that if I would persevere, she promised it would get better. Then she told me that part of the problem was that was smart enough to sense that I felt sorry for him and was playing on my smpathy... because if he cried enough he figured I would rescue him and take him out of the highchair and nurse him! She told me I had to have a joyful attitude when I fed him. I needed to smile and say something like, "I know you are mad at me right now, but you are going to learn to eat! And when you learn to eat, you are going to love eating! Mommy and Daddy love to eat! _____ and ______ love to eat! (other family members) We love to sit down at the table and eat together! We love to eat pizza and lasagna and icecream! You will love pizza and icecream! > > I know it sounds weird, but it worked! When I adopted this joyful, positive attitude, yet continuing to be firm and in charge with his

feeding, he still resisted and cried but a little less intensely each day... and after maybe 3 weeks, he no longer cried, but only tried to push the spoon away or pull his head away... and after maybe 4 or 5 weeks, he gave those tactics up and began to open his mouth for the spoon! I no longer had to hold his mouth closed; he had learned to swallow the food! And the amount of food he took at a meal was gradually increased until he was taking 4 oz. per meal!> > This speech/feeding therapist only came to our home for 4 months, and then our insurance terminated all 's home based therapies, saying he didn't qualify as home-bound any longer. has never had any feeding therapy since, although there have been times I have really wished for some help. When he was 2, he was still eating pureed baby food and baby cereal, and I thought he would be eating it forever! But moms in this group were helpful and

also gave me links to other helpful sites on feeding issues. Plus, he finally got some teeth to chew with! And I'm happy to say that is finally eating table food!! Not everything, but anything that is soft enough for him. AND he is FEEDING HIMSELF! And he does love to eat!! > > This is assuming that there is no physical reason that the child cannot swallow. Sometimes there are other special challenges. I know a 4 yr. old who has been tube fed directly into her stomach all her life and just has no suck or swallow reflex. Yet, they are now having success teaching her to eat by putting pureed food in a large syringe and putting it on top of her tongue (holding her tongue down) all the way to the back of her mouth and pushing a small amount of food right to the top of her throat... she is swallowing!> > May God bless you and your daughter as you seek to help Cayden learn to eat. Believe me,

it took a lot of praying to get through those early weeks. Maybe that is one reason God gives us these special children... so we will have to rely on Him and PRAY!> > GOD's BEST!> > > > My name is . I have a beautiful 13 month old grandson with DS. > His name is Cayden. My dauther (she's 22) and her son live with my > husband and I, and I am the caregiver while my daughter is at work. > > I have a question to throw out there. Hopefully someone will be able > to lend some advice...> > My grandson is having trouble eating food. All he is taking is his > bottle. When we put him in the highchair to eat...he takes in the > food...chews...then spits it out. I have tried to vary > textures...from applesauce to thick oatmeal, and it all comes out in > the form of a pretty strong "spit"...i.e. I end up wearing the food

> which is no fun at all (smile). > > We've had him to the Childrens' Institute's feeding clinic, and they > said they've never encounter this before and had little helpful > advice as to how to overcome this feeding issue. > > Any ideas out there? Or has anyone else encounter a similar problem??> > Any help would be greatly appreciated...> > > > > > > > (one and only wife to Fred; mom to Kari, Melody, Faith, Heidi, Isaac, Josiah, , Alana, and ! Yes, they're all ours!)> > Is. 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."> > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster

Total Access, No Cost. > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

[Guest guest]

Steph, Reece's PT was pretty happy to see him scoot. He's so much happier having that independence! I'd love to read about the speech/feeding stuff whenever you get a chance to write. JudyCarlson wrote: Judy, I had a typical that " scooted" . Recently I was talking to a

therpipist who said that Scooting IS a recognized way of " crawling ". Bear walking is also one form. I tried to find this in print, but could not YET. Also.. I just got a ton of Speech/feeding stuff. I will type it out ASAP. FWIW Steph Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Re: Hi there! That is so true about "short cuts"! Reece is so stubborn. He doesn't crawl or walk so recently he adopted scooting. He is scooting all over the house now! <agirlnamedsuesshotmail> wrote: I read something somewhere (it was about children with Down Syndrome taking "shortcuts" in completing milestones) that offered interesting research on

how children with Down Syndrome will "skip" or "fudge" (that was not the exact word used, but you get the picture) certain steps in order to get the desired outcome. Being a mother of five children, I have learned that no child, syndrome or not, will do anything that you do for them instead.With overexpression of the genes in our family, I have had to "ignore" it when my children "skipped" steps or took the easy way out (sometimes, not always). Peer pressure is an effective method that has been used (sometimes negatively) for years. <br>Something I learned in nursing school was: NEVER DO FOR THE PATIENT WHAT THE PATIENT CAN DO FOR HIMSELF/HERSELF. I have employed this in my parenting skills and it was EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE in getting my son (who was born at 37 weeks) to walk at 14 months of age. He kept wanting me to carry him from room to room. When I noticed he could pull up to a standing position, I would walk

out of the room (for short periods only, of course) and return. eventually he began to get the message and "MOTIVATION" took over. <br>I am not trying to imply that our children are "lazy", but i have learned real fast that "you find out what motivates your child and use it to your advantage".<br>Scooby-Doo motivates my 4 year-old; all he wants to do is indulge himself in "Scooby-Doo". If he wants to watch it now on tv or his personal DVD player, I encourage (although I want to use the word "make" here) him to speak and tell me. At first, he was allowed to use just "Dooby-Doo". Then he was permitted to use sign language to express his want along with his word "Dooby-Doo". NOW, he has to be more verbal, even if he simultaneously uses sign. No, he does not always cooperate; however, he does not get what he wants either. Yes, he gets mad and he pitches a horrid fit (stomping, protesting, and

YES, VERBALIZING, even if it is just "No" or something like that.) The undesirable behavior eventually replaces itself with more words. Again, it all depends on how bad he wants to watch Scooby-Doo and how motivated he is to get what he wants.<br>I urge everyone to find out what your child really, really loves and use it as leverage (do not use as punishment, though, only for good behavior). Behavior modification has been used for years in many types of therapy. (I want to add here NOT to use "food" or "candy" for any type of behavior modification, as it leads to eating disorders later in life. All you are doing is promoting good socially acceptable behavior.)<br>Just some thoughts that might help some parents with getting your child to accomplish that milestone more quickly.<br>P.S. Don't try this in public and try to pick a home-based event that your child likes or everyone will look

at you like you are "abusing" your child. Be careful in your selection. trust me, children with down Syndrome are not always "happy and complacent" and they can scream just as loud as they can smile! :0))<br>> Hi !> > Welcome! (2 1/2) has DS, and is the youngest of 9, When he was 12 mo., he would not eat any food at all or drink from a cup or bottle. He was totally breast fed and that is all he wanted. He didn't exactly spit food out, but he would not swallow it, so it would all run back out or he would push it out with his tongue. We had a feeding evaluation done and he was recommended for feeding therapy. The speech/feeding therapist came to our home once a week. She did not really teach how to eat as much as she taught me how to teach him to eat. At first, I didn't think her advice was going to work, but I stuck with it and it worked! > > Basically, she said that children with DS do not like

change. was not refusing to eat/swallow the food because the food tasted bad to him but because it was different than what he was accustomed to (the breast). She said I would have to make spoon feeding a routine part of his day and "help" him to get at least some of it down, regardless of how much he resisted, until he got used to it, which could take several weeks. The way I had to "help" him get some of it down was to place my left hand under his chin, and after placing the food in his mouth, I was to push up on his chin with gentle, but firm pressure to close his mouth and hold it closed. When I held his mouth shut this way, he could not get rid of the food in his mouth as he usually did and he had to do something with the food so he would move it around with his tongue and eventually swallow it. Let me warn you, he did NOT like this one bit! He would cry and try to push my hand away and try to pull

his> head away. Sometimes, I'd have to quickly lay down the spoon so I could use my right hand on the top of his head to help hold it so he couldn't pull away. But some of the food did go down! We started with maybe only 1 Tablespoon of food, but did this 3 times a day, for no longer than 10 min. or so. Where before, he had just been passively refusing to swallow, after several days of this, he hated the sight of the spoon! By the end of the 10 min. session, he would be screaming mad, and I felt so mean. After 1 week, when Crystal came, I told her that it wasn't working and I was stressed out and the whole family was stressed out. She said, "Didn't I tell you that it would get worse before it would get better?" I said yes she had told me that but I didn't know it would be like this. She wanted to watch me feed him, and she commented that I was doing a good job and that although was plenty mad, he was not

hysterical (like eyes rolling in terror hysterical), and> that if I would persevere, she promised it would get better. Then she told me that part of the problem was that was smart enough to sense that I felt sorry for him and was playing on my smpathy... because if he cried enough he figured I would rescue him and take him out of the highchair and nurse him! She told me I had to have a joyful attitude when I fed him. I needed to smile and say something like, "I know you are mad at me right now, but you are going to learn to eat! And when you learn to eat, you are going to love eating! Mommy and Daddy love to eat! _____ and ______ love to eat! (other family members) We love to sit down at the table and eat together! We love to eat pizza and lasagna and icecream! You will love pizza and icecream! > > I know it sounds weird, but it worked! When I adopted this joyful, positive attitude, yet

continuing to be firm and in charge with his feeding, he still resisted and cried but a little less intensely each day... and after maybe 3 weeks, he no longer cried, but only tried to push the spoon away or pull his head away... and after maybe 4 or 5 weeks, he gave those tactics up and began to open his mouth for the spoon! I no longer had to hold his mouth closed; he had learned to swallow the food! And the amount of food he took at a meal was gradually increased until he was taking 4 oz. per meal!> > This speech/feeding therapist only came to our home for 4 months, and then our insurance terminated all 's home based therapies, saying he didn't qualify as home-bound any longer. has never had any feeding therapy since, although there have been times I have really wished for some help. When he was 2, he was still eating pureed baby food and baby cereal, and I thought he would be eating it

forever! But moms in this group were helpful and also gave me links to other helpful sites on feeding issues. Plus, he finally got some teeth to chew with! And I'm happy to say that is finally eating table food!! Not everything, but anything that is soft enough for him. AND he is FEEDING HIMSELF! And he does love to eat!! > > This is assuming that there is no physical reason that the child cannot swallow. Sometimes there are other special challenges. I know a 4 yr. old who has been tube fed directly into her stomach all her life and just has no suck or swallow reflex. Yet, they are now having success teaching her to eat by putting pureed food in a large syringe and putting it on top of her tongue (holding her tongue down) all the way to the back of her mouth and pushing a small amount of food right to the top of her throat... she is swallowing!> > May God bless you and your daughter as you

seek to help Cayden learn to eat. Believe me, it took a lot of praying to get through those early weeks. Maybe that is one reason God gives us these special children... so we will have to rely on Him and PRAY!> > GOD's BEST!> > > > My name is . I have a beautiful 13 month old grandson with DS. > His name is Cayden. My dauther (she's 22) and her son live with my > husband and I, and I am the caregiver while my daughter is at work. > > I have a question to throw out there. Hopefully someone will be able > to lend some advice...> > My grandson is having trouble eating food. All he is taking is his > bottle. When we put him in the highchair to eat...he takes in the > food...chews...then spits it out. I have tried to vary > textures...from applesauce to thick oatmeal, and it all comes out in > the form of a pretty

strong "spit"...i.e. I end up wearing the food > which is no fun at all (smile). > > We've had him to the Childrens' Institute's feeding clinic, and they > said they've never encounter this before and had little helpful > advice as to how to overcome this feeding issue. > > Any ideas out there? Or has anyone else encounter a similar problem??> > Any help would be greatly appreciated...> > > > > > > > (one and only wife to Fred; mom to Kari, Melody, Faith, Heidi, Isaac, Josiah, , Alana, and ! Yes, they're all ours!)> > Is. 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."> > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why

Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.