When we got there, her first comment was about how small she thinks Rachel is and asked when her last weight check was. Of course it was before our last session, and she should be able to see that in Rachel's medical record that was right in front of her. She kept asking me what I feed her and how much milk she is drinking. Is she drinking out of a regular cup yet? Um WHAT? Isn't the therapist the same person who told me to keep Rach on bottles until she eats better since we don't want her to lose out on her milk consumption??? She told me to start feeding her more of the foods she likes. DUH... I've been doing that. I was also told to start using pediasure to add calories to her milk and to give her more food. Um yeah, what am I supposed to do??? Shove it down her throat? Last time I checked, "Miss Therapist" was not a pediatrician. I don't know. It's hard to explain. This session just upset me. I felt like I was being judged as a mother because Rachel is on the small side and I haven't had 30 minutes PER MEAL to work with her. I do the best I can. She is making improvements. I felt like our therapist just doesn't realize that I am alone for 95% of the girls' meals and I don't have an entire 30 minutes per meal to devote to Rachel every single day. Especially when I'm seeing Rach eat more foods and make improvements.
So I ended up leaving the pointless appointment practically in tears and headed to the over priced baby/toddler specialty shop and spent almost $40 on 3 suction toddler bowls that are supposed to be the best ones out there and some regular cups because I'm a horrible mother if I don't buy exactly what I'm told. Yeah....ridiculous. I would return them except these bowls are actually really awesome.
Since it's been a few days, I'm starting to calm down. I was so angry all day Friday about how the session went. It didn't feel helpful at all. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue these appointments. I'm not sure they are 100% needed. I could probably do a lot of the exercises on my own with the help of my friends who's toddlers have been through this.
Who knows....it's just something to think about.
Rachel is a beautiful, healthy toddler, and you are doing an excellent job of feeding, taking care of, loving and nurturing her, Sophia and Morgan. They are happy and active, and learning new things all the time. You are an awesome mom!
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating. Don't let Miss Therapist get you down. You see first-hand the improvements Rachel is making, no thanks to her. You are the mommy, you know Rachel through and through. She's making big improvements all the way around. You amaze me every day my dear!
ReplyDeleteAny professional therapist would work *with* you and encourage you instead of making you feel inadequate.
ReplyDeleteOur GGGs all receive feeding therapy (reflux-related) and our therapist said the kids struggle most with stage 3 food because it's a combo of lumpy and liquid/purees. Many do much better with finger foods only, or fully pureed stuff, but not the combo foods like pasta and sauce, or soup with pieces. She encouraged us to skip stage 3 altogether.
My girls are only 10 months, but if you have questions for our speech pathologist/feeding therapist, I'd be happy to ask - she is phenomenal. She doesn't place pressure on me or the girls.
It's all about making mealtime happy and fun to reinforce that eating is a positive experience. Not only is the therapist your insurance covers not helping, but it seems she's working against you.
You're probably way past this point, but maybe Rachel can benefit from some of the basics our therapist told us to start with? The finger foods she recommended we begin with are things that all have the same texture: bananas and avos, cooked diced carrots and cooked diced apples, sweet potato and potato - baked then diced, etc.
Hang in there - you're a great mom!