OT: Week 4, Pacifier

I can’t believe we are half way through our OT sessions already. Presenting milk in the syringe is going well. Averi will usually take about 10 mls of milk with the syringe as compared to the 3-4 mls she takes while chewing on the bottle nipple.

She still doesn’t really do much with the puffs and I just barely found biter biscuits that don’t have soy in them so we haven’t tried them out yet. We also introduced oatmeal with apples and bananas in it this week and she did well with it. I’ve even noticed that she starts sucking on her tongue when it’s time to eat which means she’s anticipating it and maybe even getting hungry.

I’m really excited because yesterday during church I decided to try giving Averi her pacifier again. She used to suck on it really well but we slowly stopped giving it to her because she sucks her thumb to go to sleep. This turned out to be a problem because now she doesn’t suck on a bottle. Anyways, I worked with her for a while, rubbing it on the roof of her mouth, and she started sucking on it. Not only was she sucking on it, but she would keep it in her mouth. I think that maybe after a month of oral stimulation she is finally starting to be more aware of her mouth. Last night I even tried sticking a syringe in the side of her mouth while she was sucking on her pacifier but every time I squirted some milk in her mouth she stopped sucking.

Today Francis wanted to try using a crosscut nipple (a nipple with a bigger hole) with water. Sometimes this tricks kids into swallowing better because the water just mixes in with the spit. Averi took about 10 mls. We also introduced applesauce.

At the end of the session I asked if it’s ever okay to add something to the milk in her bottle since she does better with thicker consistencies. Francis said that they actually make a breast milk thickener and she would bring some next week. In the mean time I could try using the applesauce with the crosscut nipple to see if she liked it or it helped at all.

The Haberman Feeder ring is on backorder so we still haven’t been able to try it. I talked to my mom about it after OT today and she called her Medela Rep. He said that he would send 2 to me this week. Sometimes it pays to have connections. :)

Tonight, after a week of phone tag, GI finally called me back and told me to keep Averi’s feedings the same and not to worry about adding bolus feeds. I think staying the same doesn’t help with progression so I might change her feeds anyways.