Swallowing difficulties
Eating, drinking and swallowing issues in premature babies, infants, children and young people can cause problems that seriously affect a child’s health and overall quality of life. Difficulties with swallowing can cause chest infections, pneumonia, choking, dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss. The medical term for swallowing problems is ‘dysphagia’.
Issues can include:
- problems with sucking, chewing or swallowing effectively and safely
- difficulties developing their feeding skills
- aversions to a particular taste, texture or method of feeding
- behavioural difficulties associated with eating, drinking and mealtimes