Learning to eat a variety of foods is something that is often taken for granted. As with most things, this process can take longer for babies and children with Down syndrome due to low muscle tone, muscle coordination problems, sensory issues, or a variety of medical complications. Many families find it takes years for their children to progress to eating a variety of table foods and they express frustration when their child has trouble moving past a particular food texture. Though most parents accept that many skills take longer for their child to master, they didn’t expect the progression to crunchy table foods to take eight, nine, or ten years. As I meet parents of children with Down syndrome from around the country, this concern is always a topic and sometimes is the predominant concern of a workshop or group.
In a perfect world, families in this situation would contact a feeding team to receive guidance, coaching, and support. Looking back, it would have been very helpful for me to have a feeding team evaluation when my son with Down syndrome was young. I now realize that others would find it helpful as well. However, the feeding issues most commonly seen in children with Down syndrome do not scream: “Send me to the feeding team!” In addition, there may be financial, time, and client-demand limitations to feeding team referrals.
The following article is written with all of these issues in mind. It is written for parents of children with Down syndrome to provide insight about the process of learning to eat, hints for encouraging the necessary development for eating, and suggestions regarding when to seek a referral to the feeding team. Although this information is designed as a parent education tool, it is also useful for professionals working with children with Down syndrome and related disabilities. Information is powerful. Providing parents with tools that can diffuse worry in any area of parenting a child with a disability is a wonderful gift we can offer. It also strengthens the collaboration and teamwork needed to build successful, healthy adults who have special health care needs.
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FROM MILK TO TABLE FOODS: A Parent’s Guide To Introducing Food Textures
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