Re: @WL mouth stuffing/choking

[Guest guest]

Hi Debi,

This has come up often. Lots of the RSS adults, and parents of older kids,

have talked about how their kids " pouch " their food in their cheeks and walk

around for hours that way! does this with his Stage 2 foods, and I

have to remind him to swallow.

We taught to chew using a nubby NUK toothbrush. First, we would dip

it in ice water, and rub it around in his mouth, to desensitize it. Then, we

would dip the tip of the brush in a small amount of pureed food, and slide

the brush in his cheek pouch and encourage him to bite on the brush. The

more we did this, the more he would use his tongue to explore his cheeks.

This seemed to help him to learn to move food around his mouth.

We were also told to have him take a bite of food, and then encourage him to

take a sip of water. This helps him to " wash " the food down. In the

beginning, he would alternate food, water, food, water. Now he can do 3-4

bites of food before he needs a sip of water to clear the back of his

throat. If he doesn't drink while eating, and clear his throat periodically,

he will gag.

Hope this helps!

Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 3 yrs 6 months old, 23#, 33 " , G-tube, GHT)