I am serious here. Iain has always needed to be stroked but the last year it has become very excessive.

I was with an old friend today and she had not seen Iain at her house for at least 6 months or more (I had my kiddos babysat with her daughter today while we installed floors) and she noticed a lot of things about Iain.

It was great to hear the kudos for his weight and other great things we have going but not so great to hear about the constant stroking. I KNOW he is excessive in this and he is supposed to go in for a developmental screen (referred by our SLP after the Hanen program as she has druthers about this too) but I am now curious if there are any other Moms out there with this? Literally, Iain needs to be stroked or massaged for extended periods of time. He will crawl onto you and pull up his shirt for a belly rub, put his hands in yours for a hand rub, then the other hand, then pull up a foot at a time for foot rubs. It is awfully cute and I did think he was doing it for attention but as he has done it from before he was concious of attention seeking now I am begining to wonder.

She is a good friend and I trust her opinion. She is also a teacher (high school mind you) and has kids of her own. She knows of our battles with Iain and was astounded to see him actually eat today as she has not seen him past the chew and spit stage.:wink:

Anyway, it was just interesting to talk to her about the massage and it got me wondering if there are others like that on here?

Hmmm...Brandon likes his back and feet rubbed at bedtime, but nothing too major. It's more a part of his relaxation routine than anything. Neither of the boys like firm massages though. Evan, on the other hand, needs lots of hugs and back rubs, especially when he's upset or hurt. It makes a huge difference in helping him to calm his central nervous system, but it also helps when we need to stimulate his nervous system.

I'm sure it felt great to hear a friend compliment Iain's weight and eating!

I obviously have never had experience with a child Iain's age, but I have never heard of this issue until you told us about it. I'm glad you're having it checked out. I'm sure some of the other mothers that know more about sensory issues will have some better insight, Leigh. I'm just not much help on this subject, although my little man obviously has some sensory issues of his own--we just haven't gotten that far, yet.

Oh, it is much, much worse when he is upset or hurt. He is practically frantic for a rub. Tonight when I brought him home to our chaotic livingroom (we were about 90% completed but it was still a mess) he freaked and needed about 30 minutes of rubbing. He needed rubbing from our babysitter today too.

I don't know. I do know all my boys do love contact and hugs but it is funny that Iain is so very different in this regard. Hugs as per se do not work for him. Just massage.

I'm sure it felt great to hear a friend compliment Iain's weight and eating!

I obviously have never had experience with a child Iain's age, but I have never heard of this issue until you told us about it. I'm glad you're having it checked out. I'm sure some of the other mothers that know more about sensory issues will have some better insight, Leigh. I'm just not much help on this subject, although my little man obviously has some sensory issues of his own--we just haven't gotten that far, yet.

Sorry to double post!

YES! It was great to hear her say so many great things about Iain and how far we have come. She reminded me of a few things that she witnessed over the years and it was something to hear and reminice about as we are so much farther ahead of where we were as far as feeding and weight goes.

It was just the fact that she said we are still battling and with this sensory issue and his lack of speech. She is right. I can not help but think that somewhere along the line severe non-eaters get way behind in the sensory department and have fallout like this. I may be totally off the mark here but I wonder about that.

Guess I just want to blame everything on GERD.:smt047

We went through something similar with Jessie although I wouldn't have called Jessie excessive in her need for massage. I actually used it more to calm Jessie down. When she would go into one of her fits (this was mostly around 18-36 months and she had no/little speech), I would take her to a quiet room and just rub her... back, legs, arms, shoulders... and I would rub/massage her pretty hard. Her OT told me it was actually calming to her. Even now Jessie will occasionally ask me to rub her back, legs, etc, but it seems it is more for attention than anything.

Jessie had quite a few sensory issue going on at the time and massage worked great for her.

James also has sensory issues going on to, but he isn't much into massage although I do try when he gets upset.

We don't have anything too drastic at our house. I'll rub Lauren's face, legs, and feet before she gets out of bed in the morning... she obviously just lays there and takes it all in. But that's about it. I just do it because it's a great way to get the blood flowing.

Oh, it is much, much worse when he is upset or hurt. He is practically frantic for a rub.
It sounds like he's needing it to help calm his central nervous system, Leigh, and also to alert it as necessary.

Sarah has sensory problems and the OT has us "brush" her every two hours. They said it helps reorganize her nervous system. It is a special brush- the kind they use in the OR to wash their hands. It is a firm brushing on legs, arms and back followed by joint compressions. It definitely helps because she now lets me hold her hands

Does he relax quickly with the massage or does it slowly calm him down. No special reason other than curiosity. Steph massages Jayden after his bath at night and he just lays there and accepts it very willingly, any other time he doesn't stop moving. I guess I'm just wondering what the massage is doing that is so calming. I know it is calming for adults because we know what it is and that were supposed to relax, but kids don't know that. I find it very interesting.

My daughter who is now 4 constantly wanted skin to skin contact especially when she was tired or upset. She still likes to have her back rubbed or scratched all the time. I also used the brush for her and that worked really well.

wow thats interesting maybe he finds it relaxing i knpw i would never turn down a massege, good on him.
miki is the complete oppisit she hates any one even goiong near her she will only be held one way and is verry fussy as to who holds her
and thats great news about your friend complementing his weight and eating way to go ian

xxxx