Rex Sucks

I bet you never thought you'd read this title on our blog... no worries, it's all good.

Rex was born with a cleft lip and palate and, therefore, was unable to latch on to bottles and suck as an infant. He dropped in weight from the 50th percentile at birth to the second percentile at a few months old. Finally, a donation of a cleft nurser arrived at the orphanage and Rex was able to eat and gain weight... without sucking. Up until now, we believed that Rex had lost his reflex or even inclination to suck due these circumstances.

On Friday Rex got past the child locks on the kitchen cabinet and took out a big sippy cup with two handles and a spout that has continuous flow. It's the very same sippy cup that I bought for him in Armenia and that he refused to use because he wanted a bottle. He looked at it and then put the spout in his mouth. As soon as I saw his interest, I grabbed the cup, filled it with juice, and handed it back to him. Lo and behold, he put it back into his mouth and started milking the spout just like he had done with his bottle nipples. Not ideal, but I was happy for a start and ready to practice more with this cup.

By Saturday, Rex had learned to close his mouth around the spout and tip up the cup to initiate or increase flow, holding it all by himself. He was also, to our great surprise, sucking instead of milking the spout by gnawing on it. We heard loud and clear and strong suction noises. We hardly trusted our ears.

So, this morning Rex took his sippy cup to OT to show off his skills. Ms. Kristen confirmed that he was, in fact, sucking. He did the best ever getting a tight seal with his lips and having very little juice spill. And in the end, instead of just letting go of the cup, he turned it spout up and held it in his hands until someone could take it from him. With a bit more practice, I see a great improvement for Craig and me in keeping Rex hydrated, especially in the car or when we are out and about.

Hurray, Rex sucks!