Has anyone else had occupational therepy for feeding? Our 3 month old is a horrible eater, and usualy only eats 2-3 ounces at a time, and if we get 18 ounces in him a day, we are doing cartwheels. He sucks without breathing or swallowing until his little mouth is full, then he gulps, sucking air, and getting gassy :mad: . After that he turns his head to the bottle, or takes 2 sucks and screams, repeat for up to an hour. My DH works at a rehab clinic and was talking about our issues, and the ped therapist thinks she can help him. We called the ped and got a script and he starts on Monday. What exactly do they do? Could it really help? I guess she said he might have an aversion, because he knows after drinking so much, it starts to hurt, so he stops after just an ounce or two. TIA.

There are probably a lot more people who can write about a FT, but I did want to say that your sons symptoms sound a lot like the ones my son had. I found that the best chance I had of him eating and having good days is when his reflux was under control. Try a little mylanta before a bottle, say 5 min and see if he feeds any better, if he does it may suggest that his reflux isn't totally under control.
I think at his age, a FT would be able to eval his feeding and make sure nothing is preventing him from it, but if the reflux is still hurting him, I don't think she will be any better at getting him to eat.
Ahh I just see that you are giving him the mylanta supreme before feeds- how does this go? Also have you tried the plain mylanta... there has been some posts on the differences but I am not too sure.

We went to an OT, Jackson was eating pretty much like your little one. Not much at all, at one point it was down to around 11 oz. a day. *sigh* so our ped. recommended it.
She gave me some good tips, just basically watched me feed him. Was able to tell us that he had no sensory problems, he could in fact swallow, etc. Just behavioral. she suggested we try to supplement w/solids, since he was totally refusing his bottles, then it got so bad that we ended up going to a GI and he was not happy with her suggestion of more solids and less milk. To make a long story short, we only went one time, I cancelled my next appt. because I felt like the one thing I was worried about, the swallowing, she answered, and he is doing better. So, I don't know, it couldn't hurt to take yours and see what they have to say.:wink:

Rachel is right -- the first thing to do is make sure the reflux is under control. Otherwise you're trying to get your son to do the thing he knows hurts him, and it's still causing him pain.

We worked with a feeding therapist when Daniel was about that age, and she suggested different bottles and nipples, feeding positions, and distractions. (My son also had a cleft lip and palate, which meant he couldn't suck, so feeding was extra difficult.) Now that D is almost 2.5, we are working with an OT and our first task is helping him get his tongue is in the right position. We have had lots of therapists in between these two, and I admit it's kind of a guessing game. Some of their suggestions seemed to help, others didn't, and what works for one baby doesn't necessarily work for another. But since it sounds like feeding is getting pretty stressful for you, I'd see a GI to make sure he's on the right meds and then give the OT a try.

By the way, I'm moving your thread to a different forum where you might get some better answers.

Here is a link describing feeding therapy and the feeding problems associated with GERD.

http://www.reflux.org/Reflux/webdoc01.nsf/(vwWebPage)/Feedingtherapy.htm?OpenDocument

I am a feeding therapist and it sounds like the flow out of the nipple may be too fast as often when the flow is too fast the infant can't coordinate breathing and swallowing at the same time. They exhibit behavior exactly as your son- they hold the liquid in their mouth then gulp as it gets full often swallowing air with the gulp. He may be giving up after a couple ounces b/c feeding this way is tiring. The feeding therapist should help you with the selection of the right nipple for him.

Thank you for the replies. I know his reflux is not under control, and I had him back to the ped yesterday. She switched him off Prevacid, and put him back on Zantac at the highest possible dose, and advised giving Mylanta Supreme prior to every other feeding (opposite the Zantac). It's been a day on this new routine and already we are seeing some improvemment. Instead of screaming between 5-11 pm, tonight he has only been fussy an hour and is now asleep :smt026 . Even if he is doing better, I think I will keep the appt. I will take all the help I can get.