Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

My friend dd is 9 months and not onto stage 3 food or any textured food yet. She is hearing form various people that it could be a sign of problems later with talking and maybe to get evaluated for speech, anyone ever hear of this?

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

The two COULD be related down the line but not definite. However I don't know how they would do speech therapy on a 9 month old..expectations at this age are pretty much babbling. I would think feeding therapy would be the first step but i am very unfamiliar with it.

At 9 months it's hard to tell what is a problem though. A lot of babies are eating everything without a problem and some babies are just adjusting to diff. textures. I would prob give it to one year before i made calls but thats just me!

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

I would definitely wait till past 12 months. I don't think all 9 month olds like the stage 3 or lumpy textured food. By 12 months I would say the majority of babies can handle some texture.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

I agree. I don't think she would qualify for services.

Ironically, DS1 is speech delayed and at 9 mo ate everything. Only later did he become picky.

DS2 is not speech delayed and started on baby food and solids much later because he just wasn't ready and didn't like the textures and whatnot.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

DS wouldn't eat anything with texture at 9 months, I think he started eating Cheerios a little bit afterwards... but, would say "Hi" as clear as day.

He's now almost 16 months and he's got numerous words.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

my 11 month old is only on stage 2's and oatmeal, very few table foods (plus cheerios and puffs) and our Ped has not mentioned this. actually, he is very vocal!

i think they need a second opinion!

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

My 2nd DD never ate stage 3 she didnt like the texture of chunks mixed with mush and i dont blame her. She just wanted real food and thats what she got.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

DD didn't like stage 3 foods and she speaks and spoke fine.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

I don't know how he would qualify. Probably revisit at 12 months.

Our PED asked us to wait for 15 months.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

The two could definitely be related, but I think 9 months old is way too young to even be talking about either speech or feeding services.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

Speech therapy? No. BUT feeding therapy is a specialty/license/discipline within speech and language pathology. SLPs (and often OTs) do feeding therapy because it involves oral motor skills.

ETA: Many pediatricians and feeding therapist advise AGAINST stage 3 foods because it has too many textures - giving too much sensory input at one time - confuses the child. You could give the same stuff to the child separately.

Message edited 4/13/2011 9:16:57 AM.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

Feeding therapy is very difficult to qualify for with EI. Usually you need to have another delay. You pediatrician could recommend it through insurance if she though you needed it.

My ds had a feeding therapist (who is a speech therapist trained in feeding) because he has a medical diagnosis and we skipped over stage 3 foods because the texture is very inconsistent. They recommended just starting with small pieces of table food instead.

Such as puffs, small pieces of fruit, very soft cooked carrots to help with chewing.

Re: Did you ever hear of speech therapy for a 9 month old bc she is a picky eater

yup. both of my boys started then. fm me if u want more info.