Toddler saved from starvation

ST. PETERSBURG - Meal time proved to be one of the most stressful times for one Bay Area family -- almost a life-and-death situation, because their little girl had such an aversion to eating.

Maria Lauren Dean suffered from reflux around the time she was born, and her fear of eating became severe.

"She was actively starving herself…we were fearful for her life," said Michael Dean, Maria Lauren's Dad. "Our main concern was making sure she would live until tomorrow."

By the time she was 9 months old, Maria weighed only 13 pounds. ( Statistics show the median weight for 9-month-old girls is around 19 pounds.)

Her parents went through six pediatricians, months of feeding tubes and no solutions.

"They would say oh it's your breast milk offer her more formula oh do more rice cereal try bananas. says Robin

Finally, the last pediatrician sent the Winter Haven family to All Children's Hospital where Maria Lauren found Happy Mealtimes.

"Happy Mealtimes is a four-week intensive feeding program," says Cara Drumm, Maria Lauren's feeding therapist.

"Because they met with her everyday breakfast lunch snack, we established we are going to eat!" Robin said.

Happy Mealtimes at All Children's is the only intensive feeding program in Florida. Cara Drumm was Maria Lauren's therapist. They started with a toy Maria Lauren seemed to like: a ball popper.

"It was, 'to make the ball popper go, you need to take a drink.' And then she took a sip," Robin said.

That sip turned into a drink, and the drink turned into 25 Cheerios, then a hot dog -- all in two months time.

"It was like, now I know what to do instead of sitting here going, 'ahhhh!' I have techniques to help her along," Robin said.

Now, 2-year-old Maria Lauren has a palate for lots of things.

"She did an amazing job through the therapy. She responded quickly and positively to a lot of the treatment techniques, and her family was amazing," Cara said.

Thanks to All Children's and Happy Mealtimes.

"She's a miracle in many ways," Michael said.

Meal time with the maria lauren is now filled with smiles. Part of that success is that Maria Lauren's reflux condition is now controlled through medication.

If you would like more information on All Children's Happy Mealtimes program, here is a link: http://www.allkids.org/body.cfm?id=484