PROVIDING PERSONAL CARE: Feeding
It was amazing to us that, even though the vast majority of personal care is provided by parents, when we searched the Internet we at first found, literally, thousands of articles on personal care attendants and how to get payment for others to provide personal care services. What most parents need, though is more information on how to do it yourself.
Feeding is the most basic need for young children, and, for children who have difficulties eating or swallowing due to disabilities, this can be a major stressful activity for a parent. As one parent said, she felt that her worth as a parent was being decided when she took her child to the doctor and put him on the scales. Did she succeed in raising his weight or not?
Practical advice from experienced parents include:
- Make feeding a game. We are all familiar (I think) with the silly way parents pretend the spoon is an airplane going into a child's mouth. Other games include moving the food around like a hocky puck and then, he shoots, he scores - and into the mouth!
- Let children play with their food. Yes, we know your mom told you not to play with your food, but we won't tell her. Put a few cooked noodles on a tray and let the child pick them up and put them in her mouth. Put cheerios in a bowl. These are great for developing eye-hand coordination.
- One mother recommends frosting on a spoon for children who need to get more calories. We all know how much young children like to put things in their mouths and suck on them or bite them.
- If your child has trouble eating, chewing or swallowing, try putting the food in different places in his mouth - in the back or sides of the mouth instead of the front.
Absolutely terrific site on feeding issues for children with disabilities from Children's Disabilities Information site
