Feeding Flashcards
Eating
Food in mouth and swallowing
Keeping food and fluids in the mouth, manipulating, and swallowing
Feeding process
Setting up (in adults)
Arranging, positioning, prepping
Bring food to mouth
Dysphagia
Difficulty at any stage of the swallow- oral to esophageal
How is mealtime is more than just about eating?
Opportunity to practice manipulations skills
- Finger feeding
- Using utensils
- Cutting meat
- Dipping food
Experience sensations
- Pudding, crackers, broccoli
Experience with communication and bonding.
- Bonding with mom
- Expressing desires (crying for bottle, please pass the pepper)
- Family table
- Lunchroom
Problems with feeding
10-25% of typically developing kids have issues
40-70% of preemies
Up to 80% of children with developmental disabilities and CP
Feeding is the corner stone of it all
- You have to grow a brain
Causes of feeding problems
Medical conditions: Cleft palate, GERD, Malformation
Food allergies and/or food avoidance
Oral motor function: delay, abnormal, inefficient
Sensory issues
Behavioral issues
When is an evaluation or consult needed for feeding?
Known diagnosis
- Cleft palate
- Premature
Idea there may be problems
- Are mealtimes taking more than 30 minutes?
- Are meals stressful?
- Does the child show signs of respiratory distress?
- Has the child not gained weight?
Contextual factors in eating
First 6 months fed in arms
7-24 months begin feeding independent
Adults - posture
Who is present at feedings
Culture
- When to allow self feeding – 6 months to 2 years
- Breast feeding
- Types of food and how you eat them
Socioeconomic status
What does eating require?
Motor ability - CNS, pulmonary, gastro
- Posture - muscle tone
- Hand control
Oral motor function
- Lip closure
- Jaw movement
- Tongue control
- Swallowing
Sensory perception
- Hot/cold
- Full/empty
- Liquid/solid
Social and cognitive
- Not eating with mouth open
- Knowing not to eat the garnish
Prerequisites to feeding
Oral integrity
- Remember the infant throat changes at about 9-12 months
- For children and adults consider teeth
* Ulcers
* Arthritis
Intact cranial nerves
Reflexes
- Swallow: regulates amniotic fluid
- Pharyngeal swallow: 10-12 weeks gestation
Secondary
- Bonding and parent and child issue
- Desire in older children and adults
Oral structures involved in feeding
Oral cavity
Pharynx
Larynx
Trachea
Esophagus
Oral cavity
Hard and soft palate, tongue, fat pads of cheeks, upper and lower jaws, teeth, lips
Contain food, chewing or mastication, and bolus formation
- Soup and things that fall apart are harder to swallow. Things that stick together like mac and cheese and mashed potatoes are easier to swallow when sicks.
Pharynx
Base of tongue, oropharynx, tendons, hyoid bone
Funnels food to esophagus
Air and food share this space
Larynx
Epiglottis and vocal cords
Valve to trachea that closes during swallow
Trachea
Tube below larynx
Cartilage rings
- Lacking these rings = chondromalacia
Airway to lungs
Esophagus
Thin and full of smooth muscles (involuntarily controlled)
Carries food from pharynx through the diaphragm and into the stomach
Swallowing process
Pre oral
Oral prep
Oral (oral transit)
Pharyngeal
Esophageal
What parts of the swallowing process are voluntary?
Pre oral, oral prep, and oral transit
Basic oral skills
Suckling
Sucking
Drinking from a cup
Munching
Chewing
Biting
Coordination of suck-swallow-breathe
Suckling
The back-and-forth motion of the tongue
At 32-34 weeks gestation, a normal child can usually sustain life
Present at birth
- Primary method of feeding until 8-10 months
- Nonnutritive (soothing)- rhythmic; not indicative of the ability to feed
- Nutritive- rhythmic with bursts and pauses
* Time to swallow
Sucking
Negative pressure, jaw movement, tongue can move up and down
True suck 4-6 months (negative pressure)
Tongue now moves up and down-can easily suck baby food
Cup may be introduced
Jaw stability is fair
6 months-as they move to a cup may have episodes of choking
9 months-strong suck from cup or bottle, minimal jaw excursion, stability is fair (physically able to move to chew soft foods, mashed foods)
12 months- jaw stability con’t to increase
Suck stops
May stabilize by biting cup
24 months-jaw stable, can drink from a cup
Drinking from a cup
In order to be effective, you must have jaw stability.
Have enough of this by a year old