Babies with Eating Disorders

[Kim&Chris]

My niece, who will be 2 next month, has been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

She cannot, or will not, swallow food.

The doctor said that this MAY have come from a scary experience with food, like choking. After hearing the doc say this, my sister recalled that the baby had a very bad choking experience about 6 months ago, where my sister actually held her upside down to get the food out of her throat. This probably left some sort of emotional, psychological scar, and the child cannot force herself to try to swallow.

The doc recommended taking the baby to a 'child eating disorder clinic' in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. However, after doing some research, my sister has found that their program is poorly rated.

Do any of you have any experience with this? Is there a clinic you can recommend in the Philadelphia/New Jersey/Delaware area?

This is really upsetting. The poor baby only eats babyfood and formula, and won't even eat soft, mashed food like potatoes.

 

[Kimberle]

I have heard of this. It's pretty common with preemies.

Taking her to a eating clinic/specialist is a very good thing to do.

Best of luck.

 

[LMC]

Alot of kids have sensory issues. They just don't like the texture of things and they should see a therapist who works on swallowing (like a physical therapist would work on rehabilitating the body). My son has sensory integration dysfunction and had difficulty feeding as an infant. He did not root or have a good sucking reflex. (He has some other issues as well) He should have gotten the swallow therapy but didn't and we struggled w/ food (choking and gagging for many years) he still has some trouble but not as much; he can't swallow pills yet so medicating him is hard sometimes (he is now 9yo). Perhaps your sister can "water" down the table food some more to get it in a softer texture. This will help it be more like baby food but she will begin getting the taste of table food. Call the genetic department at CHOP (Child Hosp of Phil) and see what feeding clinic or therapist they recommend. Some of the kids that have the same syndrome my child has see doc's there and I am sure they have someone they can refer you to for this problem.

 

[Piglet]

My DD sees doctors at the Childrens Hospital in Phila. Though she doesn't have any eating issues, I have met and email frequently a parent of a child with the same disease my DD has and she also has feeding issues (mostly with textures, but some swallowing due to being tube fed for a long time). She has been to the Seashore House there and went through therapy and it has helped her a great deal.

Melinda