Question to mama-fish9

[SARA777]

I WAS READING YOUR REPLY TO BLESSED-MOM. HER STORY IS SIMILAR TO MINE - ONLY I AVOID EVERYTHING. NO GLUTEN, NO SOY, NO DAIRY, NO EGG, ETC.

YOU MENTIONED THE FOLLOWING:

Supping zinc at anything under about 15mg/day isn't going to be an issue for any other nutrients - but she may not need it. Do you see signs of undigested food in her poop, or pink pee/poop after eating beets, or mouthing/chewing on things a lot?

I DO NOTICE SOME UNDIGESTED FOOD IN MY SON'S POOP, AND HE WILL TAKE FOREVER TO EAT ANYTHING, CHEWING AND CHEWING AND CHEWING EVEN WHEN IT'S ALREADY MUSHED UP.

WHAT DOES THE UNDIGESTED FOOD MEAN? WHAT DOES THE MOUTHING/CHEWING FOR AWHILE MEAN? WHAT SHOULD I DO TO HELP HIM EAT?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY INSIGHT!!!

[SARA777]

Mama-fish

What does the name mean?


my son must have sensory issues because your reply to blessed-mom reminded me of my son - he is sensitive to noise and startles easily. Clohtes don't bother him at all though.

He also avoids anything with a pureed texture, prefering things he can chew only.

What causes sensory issues? What is the cure? Is there a cure?

I am very tired because at night, he is up a lot and he definitely likes to "twiddle" while nursing.

[mamafish9]

The first thing I'd try is magnesium and zinc.

Mag often really helps with sensory issues. I give my guy 250mg/day, split into 3-4 doses. Any form except mag oxide is OK - I use mag glycinate, but mag citrate tastes less bad.

Zinc, I use zinc picolinate. When my son was little, I used a liquid zinc. Zinc lozenges are fine too, if your child will suck on them. Don't give zinc on an empty stomach, it causes nausea. Zinc deficiency causes low stomach acid, and then food doesn't digest as well. Mouthing things (or grinding teeth) is a common sign of zinc deficiency.

[rhesp1212]

Sara- how old is your child? Sometimes undigested food is just because of their age and they don't chew well. Some foods like corn, peas, etc. have a tough outer coating on them and they don't digest....same thing happens in adults too. It's not necessarily anything to worry about unless it's happening all the time.

Mouthing things can be any number of things....sensory related, teething or low muscle tone in the mouth. Same thing with only wanting certain textures or chewing things for a very long time. If they have low tone in the mouth, they cannot effeciently move things around the mouth and chew them effeciently. Resulting in longer chewing time and undigested foods. If it is a muscle tone problem, zinc is not going to help that. I would call and OT (occupational therapist) to evaluate before adding any supplements. They can watch your child eat and drink and tell you if there is a problem there. If there is, they can give you things to work on with him to improve it. If your child is on a limited or bland diet, they will often seek input from other things to give the mouth/brain feedback. Sensory issues can also be worked on by an OT as well.

I'm sorry, but I think sometimes people on these boards automatically jump to supplements when that may not even be the problem. There may be something else underlying. Wanted to throw a different perspective out there. and give you some other strategies to look into.

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by rhesp1212

I'm sorry, but I think sometimes people on these boards automatically jump to supplements when that may not even be the problem. There may be something else underlying. Wanted to throw a different perspective out there. and give you some other strategies to look into.

Ouch .

I think what we try to do in this forum is suggest an order of things to try that makes sense. We're pretty open minded around here - a quick glance at current threads will show us suggesting everything from removing foods to craniosacral therapy to flower essences to food ferments. Supplements come up often, because in the experience of mamas on this forum, they can make a real difference.

You are very correct that sensory issues can be a wide range of things, and I think it's great to suggest other possibilities to investigate. I also believe the OP has already tried a feeding clinic evaluation of her child. I suggested trying some basic mineral supps *first* because zinc & mag are easier to trial than OT. 2/3 of kids are at least somewhat deficient in magnesium, and magnesium deficiency is very tightly correlated with sensory issues. In my mind, that makes it a good first test.

[Blessed_Mom]

mamafish9 - can you suggest some brands of liquid zinc that you first supplemented your LO with?

[mamafish9]

I used brainchild nutritionals liquid zinc, they have a liquid mag we used and liked as well.

[rhesp1212]

mammafish- I'm so sorry, I honestly did not mean that as a slam to you at all!! I'm sorry if you took it that way. My post all together was not meant as an offense to anyone at all....I apologize if it sounded that way!! Ooops!! I also was not intending to say that supplements are a bad idea at all, just to throw a different idea out there in case the OP hadn't thought of it or explored it.

I do think, however, that people need to do supplements well informed and monitored. Incorrect dosages of some things can cause more damage than good, and that scares me, personally!

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by rhesp1212

mammafish- I'm so sorry, I honestly did not mean that as a slam to you at all!! I'm sorry if you took it that way. My post all together was not meant as an offense to anyone at all....I apologize if it sounded that way!! Ooops!! I also was not intending to say that supplements are a bad idea at all, just to throw a different idea out there in case the OP hadn't thought of it or explored it.

I do think, however, that people need to do supplements well informed and monitored. Incorrect dosages of some things can cause more damage than good, and that scares me, personally!

Thank you - I know sometimes things come across far differently than the writer meant. I'm very protective of the mamas here .

I agree that informing yourself with supplements is helpful - but I also think most of them, taken in normal doses, are very unlikely to do more harm than good. I think nutrient deficiencies are rampant, and cause far more harm than taking some basic supplements (even if unnecessary for that particular child) ever could. I do some supplements with my child in "therapeutic" doses (far higher than the RDA), and I think when you cross the line from nutritional support level doses to therapeutic doses, it's much more important to be well informed on the side effects of too high a dose, etc. But at the levels recommended in this thread, those types of concerns aren't an issue.

[SARA777]

Thank you both for the great suggestions!

I'm going to try the mag and zinc from brainchild.

If those don't help, we may need to find a new feeding clinic/ot as the feeding clinic we went to did not notice anything w/respect to his swallowing - they also didn't mention anything about low muscle tone in the mouth. I do doubt he has that prob though as he sure bites down hard on my finger sometimes.....he likes crunchy textures too...

Sigh. These babies are sooooo much work. I am exhausted every day. I just pray that our babies outgrow this difficult phase as soon as possible!!!