Experiences of feeding young children with Down Syndrome: Parents’ and health professionals’ perspectives

Silvana Mengoni; Bobbie Smith; Helena Wythe; Samantha Rogers

doi:10.1080/20473869.2023.2269321

Experiences of feeding young children with Down Syndrome: Parents’ and health professionals’ perspectives

Silvana Mengoni, Bobbie Smith, Helena Wythe, Samantha Rogers

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Abstract

Background: Children with Down syndrome are commonly reported to experience feeding problems in the early years. This study aimed to explore and synthesise the experiences of feeding young children with Down syndrome from parents and professionals, and the support needed and received during this time.
Methods: Eight mothers and twelve healthcare professionals took part in semi-structured interviews. All par-ticipants had, or had supported, a child(ren) with Down syndrome aged 0–5years.
Results: Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in two themes and seven subthemes. Mothers had clear feed-ing goals and adapted their journeys to meet their child’s individual needs, with support from professionals and peers. Professionals could empower parents by building confidence and offering proactive support, although a lack of knowledge about Down syndrome and difficulties accessing support undermined mothers’ confidence in services.
Conclusions: Breastfeeding and family mealtimes held significant value to mothers, and specialist and trusted support may be needed to help families achieve these goals.

Original language	English
Number of pages	9
Journal	International Journal of Developmental Disabilities
Early online date	6 Dec 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2023.2269321
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 6 Dec 2023

Keywords

Down syndrome
breastfeeding
eating
feeding
mealtimes

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10.1080/20473869.2023.2269321Licence: CC BY

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© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Final published version, 1 MBLicence: CC BY

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abstract = "Background: Children with Down syndrome are commonly reported to experience feeding problems in the early years. This study aimed to explore and synthesise the experiences of feeding young children with Down syndrome from parents and professionals, and the support needed and received during this time.Methods: Eight mothers and twelve healthcare professionals took part in semi-structured interviews. All par-ticipants had, or had supported, a child(ren) with Down syndrome aged 0–5years.Results: Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in two themes and seven subthemes. Mothers had clear feed-ing goals and adapted their journeys to meet their child{\textquoteright}s individual needs, with support from professionals and peers. Professionals could empower parents by building confidence and offering proactive support, although a lack of knowledge about Down syndrome and difficulties accessing support undermined mothers{\textquoteright} confidence in services.Conclusions: Breastfeeding and family mealtimes held significant value to mothers, and specialist and trusted support may be needed to help families achieve these goals.",

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AU - Wythe, Helena

AU - Rogers, Samantha

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N2 - Background: Children with Down syndrome are commonly reported to experience feeding problems in the early years. This study aimed to explore and synthesise the experiences of feeding young children with Down syndrome from parents and professionals, and the support needed and received during this time.Methods: Eight mothers and twelve healthcare professionals took part in semi-structured interviews. All par-ticipants had, or had supported, a child(ren) with Down syndrome aged 0–5years.Results: Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in two themes and seven subthemes. Mothers had clear feed-ing goals and adapted their journeys to meet their child’s individual needs, with support from professionals and peers. Professionals could empower parents by building confidence and offering proactive support, although a lack of knowledge about Down syndrome and difficulties accessing support undermined mothers’ confidence in services.Conclusions: Breastfeeding and family mealtimes held significant value to mothers, and specialist and trusted support may be needed to help families achieve these goals.

AB - Background: Children with Down syndrome are commonly reported to experience feeding problems in the early years. This study aimed to explore and synthesise the experiences of feeding young children with Down syndrome from parents and professionals, and the support needed and received during this time.Methods: Eight mothers and twelve healthcare professionals took part in semi-structured interviews. All par-ticipants had, or had supported, a child(ren) with Down syndrome aged 0–5years.Results: Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in two themes and seven subthemes. Mothers had clear feed-ing goals and adapted their journeys to meet their child’s individual needs, with support from professionals and peers. Professionals could empower parents by building confidence and offering proactive support, although a lack of knowledge about Down syndrome and difficulties accessing support undermined mothers’ confidence in services.Conclusions: Breastfeeding and family mealtimes held significant value to mothers, and specialist and trusted support may be needed to help families achieve these goals.

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Experiences of feeding young children with Down Syndrome: Parents’ and health professionals’ perspectives

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