You may not be able to tell from this picture, but our son, Caleb has serious problems with feeding. This spaghetti dinner was a huge victory for our family and he only took a few bites! He is beyond the typical picky toddler; he simply is not interested in food.

From the time we introduced solids at 6 months he refused them. Our pediatrician at the time told me that some babies are just picky and to keep trying. So we did. We tried everything. At his 9 month check-up the doctor still wasn’t overly concerned being he was getting all his nutrients from the formula. We then switched pediatricians because we were sick of the condescending attitude this man had toward concerned first time parents. Not to mention my son was terrified of him, and he normally loves everyone. At Caleb’s 12 month check-up his new pediatrician said that his feeding problems were atypical and referred us to a speech therapist. Though he hadn’t lost any weight, he was only in the 10th percentile. I was shocked. I thought to myself, how could he have been “just a picky eater” a few short months ago, and now this is a serious problem?

I was not aware that speech therapists handled things of this nature. My thoughts went back to when my younger brother went to a speech therapist for a lisp in kindergarten. Well, I had come to find out they do much more than just help people pronounce words correctly. They also deal with the structure or the mouth, swallowing, and muscle tone in the lips, tongue, and cheek.

Soon after that visit we made an appointment with a SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) in our area. She asked questions about my pregnancy and his birth. She also told us how feeding problems are common in babies who were in distress at birth or were premature. Our son was in distress at birth, which resulted in an emergency cesarean. We were also told that he had poor oral motor tone in his mouth. The muscles we use to chew are weak and it is difficult for him to manage food in his mouth, so he avoids eating altogether.

My husband and I were somewhat relieved that there was an explanation for his troubles and it was something that therapy could correct, but at the same time, we still felt helpless. At first the SLP focused on his speech, which was close to average for his age at that point. We told her that we wanted to focus on his eating now. The therapy sessions were basically the SLP showing us how to do stretches and exercises for his mouth. He would scream. This was heartbreaking to see him in such distress. Progress, if any at this point, was slow and we were paying tons of money for the therapy. Soon after we heard about the Early Intervention Program and decided to apply.

The ECI Program took on a different approach. His new SLP from ECI did not detect any poor oral motor tone. This makes me wonder what happened. Did the exercises really work (because he really would not tolerate them, so it was hard to do them properly), or did he not have poor tone at all? His new SLP, Ms. Sasha, was great with him and really gave me new ideas and techniques at every session. She thought his feeding issues may be behavioral. So we took that approach. We tried everything from setting a timer while he sat in the high chair and when it went off he could get down, to letting him watch his favorite Wiggles video and distract him to get him to eat. This last one worked best, but he still wasn’t where he should have been as far as eating goes.

When Sasha left the ECI program, we were assigned another SLP, Carrie. Carrie focuses more on speech and felt Caleb was a little behind, which usually is tied to the eating issues. She recommended an Occupational Therapist come see him because he displayed some textural aversions. He did not like his hands to be messy and he would avoid foods of certain textures. We met with the OT yesterday and she seems like she will be extremely helpful. She noticed that he drools a little (this has improved drastically that past year, almost to the point that I don’t notice). She said that maybe he has some sensory issues and that he craves bold flavors, etc. She gave me a list of foods like beef jerky and licorice, that will exercise his jaw and strengthen those muscles. This will help speech and the ability to eat. I mentioned that he was late in getting his teeth. He has the two bottom ones, but the side ones are just now coming in at two. Colleen said that children who don’t do much chewing may be delayed in getting teeth in. This was the first time I had heard this and was so relieved to learn that once he starts using the jaw muscles, the teeth will come in all at once.

My family prayed constantly for Caleb to eat the way a normal toddler should. And I feel that this prayer was answered (more on this later). Caleb is doing much much better, though still extremely picky. At 2, he now eats chicken and beef (cut up into small cubes), breads, and he has even tried bites of corn and salad. His weight is now in the normal range. It has been a long and stressful year and a half, but I remain optimistic. I thank God everyday for my healthy son and I believe he will fully heal him in time.