Feeding my Toddler

We have waited for 6 months for our appointment with The Feeding Clinic & the Children's Hospital of Richmond.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I was incredibly anxious about what this appointment would entail.  The clinic is on the complete opposite side of town, so we loaded up and started the journey!

I had never been to this Children's Hospital campus, and it is really quite beautiful.  There was a beautiful courtyard in the middle of everything, that made me want to unpack a picnic lunch with my sweet boy!
Maybe on our next visit, I will plan better, and bring lunch!

Looking out into the courtyard...

It looks like a page from a magazine!  So beautiful

We found the waiting area of the Feeding Program, and Brady immediately fell in love with a spinning toy mounted on the wall of the kid's area!  He had so much fun, and was in such a great mood.  I was in such fear that his day would be ruined soon, and let him have as much fun as he wanted!

Spinning the wall wheel!

My sweet & happy boy!

Once we were called back, we headed into a room to get Brady's weight & height.  The nurse even let him play with a stethoscope!  Brady loves stethoscopes!

Finally, we were led to an Exam room.  

A nutritionist, and a nurse practitioner asked us a million questions, to get a general idea of what Brady's world is like. Once they were done, we met Mrs. Cynthia!  Mrs. Cynthia is an Occupational Therapist who specializes in Feeding, and she was accompanied by a Behavioral Psychologist.  They both evaluated Brady while he ate! We were told to bring 2 things that Brady enjoys eating, and 2 things he refuses.  They had him eat a snack he enjoys first, and watched his biting, chewing, and swallowing.  Then they asked us to present something that Brady usually refuses... so I handed him a grape.  To my complete surprise, he ate it!  Not only did he eat it, he also ate another grape when it was presented!!  2 grapes... this was madness!  He has never touched grapes, and when we did let him try them, he would bite into one and spit it out.  The 2nd snack of refusal presented was a cheese stick.  I was stunned when he took the cheese stick when I held it out, but even more surprised when he put it to his lips.  He has NEVER eaten cheese, and in fact... holding the cheese stick is something that floored us!  He didn't take a bite, and the therapists were able to see his reaction of refusal.  We were given 2 instructions until we are able to get outpatient therapy... which could be months.  (The waiting list is crazy long.)
1 - Stop forcing food on Brady that he is refusing.  We can put it on the plate, but we can't encourage it at all.  Apparently fighting with him to try it, only encourages his will to fight with us.  They want meal time to be all pleasant until we can get into therapy and learn the correct ways of encouraging him to try food.
2 - THIS ONE THREW ME!  No more mixing of consistencies.  We have been adding canned mixed veggies to veggie baby food, and also purchasing the "Gerber Lil' Bits" foods, and learned today that this is a terrible thing to allow.  This type of food, allows Brady to learn how to swallow food that he should chew.  It poses a choking risk as well, but that isn't the key issue.  If we do not teach Brady to chew food correctly now, it will be impossible to reverse it later.  So... back to purees, and solid, stand alone foods.

It sounds like we have been put on the waiting list, but I am not sure if this is official.  I was so proud of Brady this morning!  He sat patiently and quietly for more than 30 mins in the exam room.  He never made a sound, and when presented with 4 different foods, he was calm, and ate them like a big boy!

I am glad that we visited the Feeding Clinic, and am looking forward to what else we learn from them! Please pray that Brady is put on the waiting list, and we are able to get outpatient therapy services soon.  He will benefit so much from this!