Down Syndrome and Eating

A little bit about Ds and eating... and then a HUGE brag on Miss E :)

"Do all kids with Ds have trouble eating? Brianna had a feeding tube and now Emma and Micah eat just bottles, is that what you expect with Ds?"

Although it's not considered unusual to have some feeding issues related to Down syndrome, it is NOT the norm, by any means! Here are a few of the different situations and I'm sure there are innumerable more! Feel free to add your own experiences in the comments! Everyone has their own story :)

1. A child eats fine, from nursing or bottle to sippy cups, straws, baby food, table food... no different progression than any typical child (I believe this is the case for MOST kids with Ds)
2. A child has trouble initially with gaining weight, usually due to a medical condition such as a heart defect and requires some sort of intervention- whether a tube through the nose for feedings (NG), a feeding tube in the stomach (Mic-Key button or G-tube), or maybe just a higher calorie formula or breast milk supplement. After the medical condition is cleared up often children are back on oral feeds and continue to progress, possibly a bit delayed, but similar to their typical peers.
3. A child has a difficult time tolerating oral feeds or cannot suck. This is a more unusual difficulty, but it happens. These little ones generall have an NG or G-tube and go through therapy to learn to suck, chew, swallow, etc. and their liquids are often thickened to keep them from aspirating (having fluid go into their lungs). I'd venture to say that a HIGH MAJORITY of these problems through therapy and maturing are able to overcome most of their difficulties and are eventually on a regular diet as well.
4. A child has never had exposure to feeding with anything but a bottle and doesn't accept any other foods orally. This is the case with a lot of children that have been in orphanages/institutionalized settings. There are so many varying degrees of this that it's hard to explain without overgeneralizing here. My two are even very different. Micah has great oral motor skills but a strong tongue protrusion (sticks it out when you try to put food in). He is beginning to eat when you put food into the side of his mouth and he's much like a child that was NOT in an institutional setting might be at a younger age. He just doesn't want the solids yet but has the skills and ability to eat purees as soon as he decides he WANTS to :) Emma, on the other hand, does NOT have the skills orally needed to eat food well. She doesn't move her tongue from side to side and her cheeks are "thick". She has a long way to go to learn to do those things and to strengthen and become more 'aware' of her mouth muscles and movement. She is beginning to like food, but it will take some time even after she wants it for her to be proficient at eating other than a bottle. Both kids have some weird fears of food and different cups especially so there will be a lot of 'overcoming' in the near future.
   

Of course there's MANY other situations, please feel free to comment and add your own!

Now for my EMMA BRAG! SHE ATE! Not just a lick of potato salad or a few spoonfulls of purees, but pieces of BREAD, and CHICKEN SALAD, and CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE, and NACHO CHEESE! She even took a BITE of my sandwich during lunch! Still a long way to go with learning to chew and move food, but WOW MISS EMMA'S EATING!!!!! I'm going to try to get some video later. We were at church and didn't have the camera ;)