Author Topic: Tongue Thrust Reflex at 8 months (Read 18206 times)

L76 · « **on:** January 26, 2011, 22:56:43 pm »

Ok so has anyone else experienced this?

Surely it should have gone by now? He's been on solids exactly 3 months and still hardly eats a thing. What I do get it gets pushed out a lot by his tongue reflex.

Should I be worried? Any suggestions?

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #1 on:** January 27, 2011, 00:22:39 am »

I don't think you should be worried yet. Some babies are really slow to get going with it. Are you doing purees or finger foods? I think he'd do better with finger foods as he'll be able to control and figure it out on his own, kwim? Keep trying, he's bound to get it one of these days!!

FWIW, F was really slow to get going with solids, he really didn't show any interest until around 8mos and only now is he actually eating proper amounts of it!

L76 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 29, 2011, 21:25:07 pm »

We are doing both Martina. But it is the purees that he eats then some gets pushed back out.

He's really struggling at the moment. Point blank refusal of everything. As soon as you approach with the spoon, he turns his head away and cries. Finger food he picks up plays with then drops. Not interested at all. Not really eaten anything since last Monday.

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #3 on:** January 29, 2011, 21:39:20 pm »

TBH, I would abandon the spoon altogether. I think it is a lost cause and continuing might put him off eating altogether. I know he isn't doing much with finger foods, but I think it's a better approach for him. No pressure, you know?

Most babies will start refusing the spoon by 9mos anyway. Here's a link if you haven't seen it already:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70142.0

I know it's stressful when they don't eat. Is he gaining ok otherwise? How's the milk going? I know you've had issues with milk feeds too.

(((hugs)))

Roseii · « **Reply #4 on:** January 29, 2011, 21:58:53 pm »

(((hugs))) Leanne I have a similar thread (Martina helped me too

DD is a bit younger but we have very similar issues, she'll barely touch finger food but she IS hungry so I often find myself making her laugh so I can sneak a spoonful of baby rice in

Martina has made me feel much better about relaxing about it and how she is still so young to really get going on solids.

Can I just ask, what finger foods are good to try? DD out and out refuses to touch toast

She will nibble on a biscuit but I'd rather not encourage that too much

Sorry Leanne hope you don't mind me asking and that it might help you too xx

Bex09 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 29, 2011, 21:59:02 pm »

Hi hun, this is going to sound really stupid... but it works for us so will share. When C won't take her food off a spoon she will
usually take it off other food, so fingers of cheese, sticks of cucumber or celery, toast fingers, etc. I dip them in her purees and she will often eat the puree off the sticks of food but not a spoon! She does often want to take the food herself and then we end up with a right mess but it gets her to eat it. Also sometimes if I give her a spoon of her own in each hand to practise with it keeps her busy and she will eat from me feeding her then. If you haven't tried that already it might be worth a go.

*Liz* · « **Reply #6 on:** January 29, 2011, 22:01:29 pm »

Agree with Martina

.

When J wasn't eating (and at 8 mths he certainly wasn't) he ended up under the feeding team at the hospital and all they every really said was food play. Plenty of food play to breed comfort and familiarity and one day they will eat. Avoid excessive milk so there is some appetite left (but not to cut it at this stage). Loads of different textures and experiences.

Jacob was closer to 12 mths before he really ate anything, and he was never really spoon fed. He just learnt to feed himself sloppy stuff at an early age. We taught him how to dip bread into soups et. To get some veggies in. He was about 12 mths then - refuses now as a stroppy toddler of course

.

He always just clamped his mouth and turned his head.

Isn't he puking though Hun? He might just not want it in there if he feels sick (whether that is viral ro the reflux changing form)

Bex09 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 29, 2011, 22:04:26 pm »

Charli my LO loves banana, steamed brocolli and carrots and also really ripe fruit slices like pear or mango. Oh and also avocado, she loves that! And cheese as I said above. I just cut them to about the size of your thumb so she can grip them and put them into her mouth herself. I just make sure they are soft enough to be easily 'gummed' as she still has no teeth. lol HTHs.

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #8 on:** January 29, 2011, 22:41:11 pm »

Anything can be a good finger food!

F isn't big on toast. Sometimes he'll go for it but I think he finds it boring. Bagels are a little more popular.

There's not much I don't give, TBH. So instead of rattling off what I give Charli, if you want just ask what you think is ok and we can say yes or no!

Leanne, he may just not be eating much now because he's been vomiting and teething. Hopefully his appetite will return soon.

L76 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 30, 2011, 10:43:02 am »

Hey ladies

Managed to get him to take some porridge this morning which was good. Still spilling out of his mouth - about a third of each spoonful that goes in.

I do give him finger food with each meal. Rice cakes, toast, fruit, veg fingers, pasta pieces - anything really. But he's been off them too so no doubt the teething and vomiting. I can just about feel a rough patch on his gums when he lets me get near them!!!

I've not tried avocado - will have to get some. DD loved cheese but we are trialling dairy free so can't give it to DS.

Playing is a good idea Liz but his idea of playing at the moment is simply chucking it on the floor

*Liz* · « **Reply #10 on:** January 30, 2011, 11:25:49 am »

Have you tried just one or two pieces? Some kids throw if there is too many - they lose focus

. Even if he is lobbing it he is still experiencing texture through touch.

Foods spills out of Ms mouth as well. Didn't occur to me to be worried about it really.

Bex09 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 30, 2011, 14:31:13 pm »

Leanne maybe try mashing the avocado in with banana too! Sounds horrid but C absolutely LOVES it. But she will eat any sweet stuff until it is coming out of her ears though... it is savoury we struggle with. She has got Mummy's sweet tooth I think.

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #12 on:** January 30, 2011, 15:43:20 pm »

We used to do avocado with banana or pear for T as well.

Agree with Liz, one or two pieces if often a better approach, and throwing is still playing!

L76 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 30, 2011, 20:28:25 pm »

I tend to only give one piece at a time but he still enjoys throwing it! Boys eh!

L76 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2011, 17:20:37 pm »

OMG, this is driving me to distraction. He WILL NOT eat a thing. Now just over a week and hardly a mouthful has been taken. It was tough getting him to take some before, but seriously, this is impossible. No purees no finger food, nothing. He will not entertain anything.

Can teething really stop them eating altogether?
He is so grumpy when I sit him in the chair to eat - I don't know if its because he hates eating, or teeth, or wind or ... well could be anything.... he is beyond me.

I think I am so exhausted from being up with him every night for three hours or so that I have lost sight of any resemblance of normality during the day!

I've tried everything today. Porridge, pear puree, pear pieces, rice cakes, toast, steamed carrots, steamed courgettes, peas, broccoli, you name it, I've tried it.

Please tell me this will end?

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #15 on:** January 31, 2011, 17:41:17 pm »

(((hugs))) Leanne, I'm sure it will end at some point. Not sure when though!!

I would really stop trying. Just stop, take a break, and wait. He's not eating anyway, no point in forming negative associations with it by getting frustrated.

F HATED sitting in his chair up until very recently. We also decided to switch chairs and I think it's made a difference.

I'm sure teeth really can put them off eating altogether. It might be too painful for him to want to do right now.

Really, don't worry. Solids are not that important yet, and they are useless anyway if he won't eat them! Focus on the milk until he feels better.

L76 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 31, 2011, 18:19:35 pm »

Thanks Martina. Just so hard when everything is rubbish. Fixing that seemed much easier that all our other issues. Not quite so it seems!

Just didn't want him to go completely back to square one. It just seems he's never quite got the whole solids thing!

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #17 on:** January 31, 2011, 18:30:31 pm »

The thing is, you have to look at the big picture. And taking a break now might be the difference between him getting the hang of it soon, or having problems later on, kwim? Give it a few days to start where you do very little. Definitely put the spoon away. If he is watching you guys eat then of course offer, but if he's showing no interest then don't bug him about it. When you start trying again will depend on him, and you. You'll have to get an idea for that, but I'm sure after a few days or a week you can at least offer, and I would offer only finger foods. If he says no, put it away and wait again. Then keep offering, but don't push. You want it to be more like "oh you're not interested? Ok, no big deal! maybe later then" and not "why aren't you interested already? you should be!" Kids pick up on this stuff, yk? It's ok, you will get there. When I look at F and now he is eating now, he is eating the way many moms expect their kids to eat right off the bat. It's like he's starting new, but he's 9mos!! He just needed that much time to be ready. I put the spoon away as soon as he started refusing. Then I always offered finger foods, but TBH he didn't even want that. If he didn't want to sit in the highchair, I took him out and he either sat on my lap or once he could he sat on the floor (I swear he spent every meal in my lap for months!

).

Having a tricky eater has taught me so much more about solids (and patience!). T was so easy, well he was textbook. Even eating was textbook with him, he followed every natural progression the way the books said, from single purees, to different combinations and textures, and finally to finger food. But with F I can finally, truly understand why some babies need to wait to be ready, and why it takes them so long to get it. Remember you still have so much practice time before a year when solids are 'supposed' to be the main focus, and a lot can happen in even just a month's time.

BTW, I don't believe there is such thing as a square one.

*Liz* · « **Reply #18 on:** January 31, 2011, 18:57:47 pm »

Honey I agree with Martina. J sat on my knee and ate those organic corn snacks or rice cakes for months. Sometimes pear puree - then he went off that and for a while we had nothing.

I got really worried and actually it was when I gave up that he started to eat. Only a few things, all of them kiddie type food, but he did eat.

And that is what I do to this day - I offer food and TBH I don't care what he does with it.

And yes - J goes on major hunger strikes with teeth - doesn't eat anything.

How much milk is he getting? J would never eat full of milk no matter what the guidelines day.

((hugs)) Megan is so easy with solids compared to Jacob and I can imagine how hard it is to have had it the other way round.

I actually ended up going to 3 bottles before he was eating solids to stimulate some hunger. He was about 10.5 mths then. And it did help (also got rid of a lot of bottle fights as well as he was resisting his as well).

L76 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 31, 2011, 21:14:30 pm »

Awww you ladies really are lovely you know that!

You make us all feel so much better about things.

He's taking 4 daytime bottles - the first three are 7oz bottles - he sometimes takes it all - sometimes 5-6oz. Bedtime bottle is 8oz and normally he takes the lot. So perhaps a total daytime amount of 20-25ish. Nighttime he takes one (sometimes two on a bad night) - usually 4-5oz. So plenty definitely.

Milk has actually got a lot easier to give him (on most days). Hope I don't jinx that now! I did wonder about when to drop the AM bottle to stimulate some hunger. A close friend of mine who's LO is 2 months older had a problem with him eating and as soon as she dropped the bottle he started eating his lunch. Perhaps his little tummy can only take so much (especially with all that wind in there too!).

I can't remember when I dropped the AM bottle with DD. I think it was not long after she started nursery which was about 8-9 months. But like you she was an angel eater (and still is - her most used sentence is "mummy, I'm still hungry"!!!).

Some days I've not even bothered to try the food. Others I think, ok todays the day he'll get it and persevere with it. I think I am just desperate for him to eat more during the day to try and stop the 4hr NWs every night!

I keep trying to get a look in his mouth and even shone a tiny torch in there earlier to see if I could see the teeth. I can see one of the front teeth and the one beside it - you know when you can see the clear bit breaking through. The other front tooth - well , the gum is bulging white so no doubt enroute and about to make an entrance!

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #20 on:** January 31, 2011, 22:07:38 pm »

Oh sweetie, you do know he could be eating great and still having horrific NWings, you just never know!

Great news on the milk intake though. He's at least getting enough in that respect which makes it easier to relax on the solids front. I'm sure Liz and others could help you with dropping bottles over on bottle feeding when you get to that point.

L76 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 01, 2011, 08:16:20 am »

I think he'd need to be back taking some solids before I attempt to try and drop the night feeds. We are doing slightly better as not all NWs are fed now but he does still have one feed at least.

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #22 on:** February 02, 2011, 03:11:03 am »

Leanne, I was reading my baby/toddler nutrition book and saw a little blurb that stood out and reminded me of your thread. Not sure if it would help, but here it is:
"Help for Gagging - Osteopathy can help with the premature or hyperactive gag reflex, which may have something to do with a forceps birth."
I can't remember if you tried osteopathy, but just thought I'd put it out there for you.

L76 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 02, 2011, 08:36:12 am »

No forceps birth but I did wonder about trying osteopathy again. He had it when he was a few weeks old but not since. Wondered if it would help with the wind issues too?

~inbalance~ · « **Reply #24 on:** February 02, 2011, 13:07:06 pm »

It did help with F's wind issues. It's one of those things too that you might need to go a few times to see a difference. I would definitely take R back. Our osteopath always commented on how tight F's diaphragm was which was likely trapping wind. He'd always get so many burps out of him! Last time we went back he said it felt so much more relaxed than it had previously.

News:

Author Topic: Tongue Thrust Reflex at 8 months (Read 18206 times)