The feeding squad had determined that Dexter was ready to try a bottle today--the Haberman Special Needs Feeder. But Dexter determined that he will not suck on anything but fingers and green pacifiers. We tried everything we could think of to coax him into giving the bottle a suck or two so he could taste milk and use the suck-swallow skills he's been working so hard on. But he refused to give it a chance. Since they were trying to move him past the finger feed, this taxed their creativity a bit. One of them got a bright idea of an inventive intermediary step between finger feed and bottle--we'll call it the pacifier feed. They cut a tiny hole in the end of the pacifier and stuck a skinny tube in it (the kind he'd been using with the finger feed) and connected the tube to a syringe of thickened milk. They taped the tube to the pacifier and gave it a try. Dexter loved it and took 36 ml through this unconventional means of oral feeding. He's a tricky one. They're going to try a bottle that's made by the makers of his favorite pacifier tomorrow. We're hoping that'll work because the pacifier feed is definitely only a temporary arrangement!
Xander and Elodie visited Baby Dexter again today. Xander was a very concerned older brother and asked just after they arrived, "Is Dexter breathing today?" Xander and Elodie were both glad to hear that he was. Elodie thought he looked so much better that she concluded, "he's not sick anymore," and Xander asked, "Why does the doctor say we can't take this baby home?" Refer to the previous paragraph if you need an answer to that question.
The feeding squad had determined that Dexter was ready to try a bottle today--the Haberman Special Needs Feeder. But Dexter determined that he will not suck on anything but fingers and green pacifiers. We tried everything we could think of to coax him into giving the bottle a suck or two so he could taste milk and use the suck-swallow skills he's been working so hard on. But he refused to give it a chance. Since they were trying to move him past the finger feed, this taxed their creativity a bit. One of them got a bright idea of an inventive intermediary step between finger feed and bottle--we'll call it the pacifier feed. They cut a tiny hole in the end of the pacifier and stuck a skinny tube in it (the kind he'd been using with the finger feed) and connected the tube to a syringe of thickened milk. They taped the tube to the pacifier and gave it a try. Dexter loved it and took 36 ml through this unconventional means of oral feeding. He's a tricky one. They're going to try a bottle that's made by the makers of his favorite pacifier tomorrow. We're hoping that'll work because the pacifier feed is definitely only a temporary arrangement! 
1 comment:
Wow, I can't believe it's been 16 days already! I'm sure it's seemed plenty long for you. I am amazed by the things I've taken for granted, like babies knowing how to suck. It must be hard to be patient, but I am so thankful that this is his only major obstacle right now. He'll get it!
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