Note: The sideways feeding technique actually first came from Tristan’s occupational therapist and his speech therapist. They work for Optimum Rehab in Lake Mary, FL and we highly recommend them.
Feeding a baby or child with tongue thrust due to cerebral palsy can be difficult at first. I even still struggle with our son Tristan at times when trying to feed him a simple meal. Due to the tongue thrusting (which is a natural baby motion for sucking) it can be very difficult for the baby or child to chew because the tongue gets in the way of the food entering the mouth and thus keeping it from the chewing action of the teeth.
One technique that we use with Tristan is to turn the spoon sideways (so the spoon is going in the wide way), and when he begins to tongue thrust, try to push the food to one side or the other. The problem for us is we usually feed Tristan in our laps as if he were still a baby because that seems the best way for him to get the nutrients he needs. The problem with this is that he only gets one side actively chewing (his left side) because Mom and I are right handed and we tend to tuck Tristan’s right arm behind our left arm so he can’t wiggle away. However, we do practice feeding him in a sitting position using his stroller (we used to use the kid kart but as explained here that’s an even bigger challenge), and in so doing makes it easier to work the food one side or the other.
The hardest thing is patience, learning patience with your child takes time, they’re not going to start chewing right away like you would expect a “normal” child to do, and you’re not going to understand how to feed your child right away either. It is a learning process, if you find yourself frustrated, take a break and try again in a few minutes. Practice makes better, not perfect, there’s always room for learning and growth.
The problem later lies in finding a sitter that can actually feed your child, once you get it down, it may take the sitter just as long to acquire the skills you have as a special needs parent. It does not matter who the sitter is, family or not they will have to learn your child the same way you did, and your child will have to learn them.
So if you have a child with cerebral palsy and tongue thrusting is an issue, try the sideways spoon technique and I hope it works as well for you as it has for us.
Tags: apgar, birth injury, Cerebral Palsy, Learning disability, occupational therapy, physical therapy, Special Needs, speech therapy