[Dysphagia] Medela SoftFeeder

[sem at new-vis.com (Suzanne Morris)]

Velvet,

Medela's SoftFeeder does not accept thickened liquids with a more  
pureed consistency.  It is structurally not designed for this.  The  
SoftFeeder is basically a Haberman Feeder that has a specialized  
nipple-spoon rather than a nipple.  The body of the feeder, the ring  
and the small valve disk that controls the liquid is identical to the  
Haberman feeders.   If the child you are working with is using the  
Haberman bottle, you may be able to purchase just the end part of the  
SoftFeeder.  Medela doesn't advertise this, but they do sell  
replacement parts of the Haberman system separately (i.e. bottle,  
disk, nipples).  I don't know if this also applies to the SoftFeeder  
but I can find out if you already have a bottle that could be adapted  
by adding the SoftFeeder end instead of the Haberman nipple.

I use the SoftFeeder as a transition from the bottle to cup drinking  
primarily with children who need the extra control that the feeder  
can provide for moving into thin liquids.  There are some kids who  
need help in transitioning to a spoon for purees or to a cup and.   
Some children will take the bottle but refuse to take a spoon.  The  
feeling of the nipple-spoon end on the SoftFeeder and the ease with  
which I can regulate the feeding of the child's formula through a  
spoon-like utensil often makes that transition much easier.  Other  
kids also seem to need the familiar feeling of the nipple to make a  
transition from the bottle to a cup.  Since the portion of the  
SoftFeeder which enters the child's mouth is essentially a nipple,  
this makes the learning to drink in a slightly different way much  
easier.   For these kids I don't know a better alternative than the  
SoftFeeder (in spite of its cost).

With most kids I am able to use a regular open cup with thicker  
liquids in making the initial transition from the bottle to cup  
drinking.   I use an open cut-out cup such as the small pink Flexi- 
Cut Cup.  I begin essentially by thinning down pureed foods.  If the  
child is also taking pureed foods from the spoon, I will make them  
thinner and thinner and give them by spoon before I introduce  
thickened liquids from the cup.

Suzanne
__________________________________
Suzanne Evans Morris, Ph.D.
Speech-Language Pathologist
New Visions
1124 Roberts Mountain Rd.
Faber, VA 22938
(434) 361-2285 ext. 5
www.new-vis.com


On Jan 4, 2007, at 2:19 PM, Velvet Balmer wrote:

> Suzanne,
> Thanks for your reply.  Essentially I want all of the control that  
> the feeder gives, but at a more economical price and it would be  
> nice if it would hold more.  We are using this for a transition  
> step away from bottle use for a 25 month old using thickened  
> liquids.  I haven't used this for pureed consistency, will it work  
> just as well?
> Velvet
> On Jan 4, 2007, at 9:37 AM, Suzanne Morris wrote:
>
>> When you say "comparable to the Medela Softfeeder" what do you  
>> mean?   What features are you specifically trying to compare?
>>
>> Suzanne
>> ____________