The Thing I Hate To Love ...

The picture of this plate brings a lot of smiles and happiness to my little boy. But it sure hasn't always been like that. Carson has had feeding/eating troubles since the day his little 4.5-pound body arrived. He had a feeding tube for almost 3 weeks and aggressive feeding therapy every day (sometimes twice a day) until he left the hospital. But it was after he came home from the hospital that the work really began. Car needed constant chin and cheek support every time he sucked from a bottle. And if I nursed him, it was instant frustration and truly one of the hardest things I have ever done. We had to place him on Zantac right away for reflux issues.

As Carson grew, the feeding problems changed. Sometimes he couldn't find his mouth or he would choke/gag on the simplest of items. In October 2007, Carson had surgery to remove his oversized tonsils and adenoids. We have seen leaps and bounds of improvement since October, but he still has lingering feeding issues and slow weight gain.

So in January 2008, Allison (Occupational Feeding Therapist) came into our lives. She introduced all of us to the "Circle Plate". I seriously hated this thing from the minute she suggested it. Not only did it seem "juvenile" for Carson (weird to say that considering he was 24 months at the time), but also it increased my workload for each meal considerably (I'll spare you the details on how this thing "works"). But over time, we have worked through the MANY challenges Carson has had with eating. We came from 100% of our meals ending in tears to almost 100% of our meals ending in a well-fed and happy boy. This has NOT been easy, and we still have our daily struggles feeding Carson. But he is gaining weight now and gets excited to have a HAPPY PLATE at every meal! Who would have known that this simple looking plastic-sectioned plate would bring so much happiness to the Buckwalter home - but it has - and for that reason (although I hate to admit it) - I love this plate.