For over a year and a half we have been working with Ashlyn on drinking from a straw. It is true, there are many things, even simple things, that can take kids with Down Syndrome longer to get. And, for Ashlyn, this was one of those things. When she turned a year, I knew I had to get her off of a bottle or I was afraid she would be on it forever. By fourteen months, she no longer used a bottle and we had transitioned her to a baby sippy cup. It had a soft spout and a little handles on the sides. I was thrilled that she started drinking from it. However, as time passed, I wanted to start trying other, more "big kid" cups with her. She resisted and resisted at every point along the way. Our therapists and doctors assured me that it wasn't the worst thing that she was drinking from that cup and that she needed her liquids. There were a couple of times that I thought we should just take the baby sippy cup away from her cold turkey and make her drink from something else. Well, one of those times after refusing to drink for almost 48 hours and being so uncomfortable, I had Troy digging through the trash to get it out. We were desperate and back to the baby cup we went.
I wanted her to learn to drink from a straw, because once she got that we wouldn't have to bother with sippy cups anymore. So, all this time while she was using the baby sippy cup, we would work on the straw. I would put it to her mouth and make the liquid come up for her to try to drink it. Over time she could tolerate that better and there wasn't liquid running all down her chin. The bottom line is that it is really difficult to teach someone to drink from a straw. And for the longest time I could tell that Ashlyn just wasn't getting it. She would put her mouth on it but not really know what to do with it. All the while, I would see 18 month olds walking around drinking from a straw and it would stress me out and make me sad. And I had the memories of just giving Kyla a straw cup one day and she just did it. Drinking from a straw seems like such a little thing, but when you work on it for over a year and a half, it becomes a big thing.
In recent days, when I would offer Ashlyn a cup with a straw, I could tell her lips were more rounded and I could see liquid starting to come up. Well, last week during a typical everyday lunch at home, I gave her the straw cup we had been working with and up the liquid came....right into her sweet little mouth. And she kept going!! She got it!! I am not kidding, I cried happy tears right there at the table. It was such a relief and I was so proud of her for always hanging in there with me.....trying, trying and trying some more. Things come a little harder, but the victories are so sweet.
I caught her on video, drinking away with her straw. Honestly, I don't think it will ever get old seeing her do it. And that is the crazy thing. For as much as I wish it wasn't hard sometimes, I really do thank God every time I see her do it. I don't think it is going to get old. Every time I see those little lips round around a straw and drink it in I remember the therapy appointments that I cried in because we were trying everything and the prayers I prayed over this little issue that God knew was big to me. It may seem little to you, but to us, it is huge. We kept trying and she got it.
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