Feeding Therapy
Emily specializes in feeding therapy for "picky eaters", which may be characterized by:
Feeding your child is one of the first and most basic tasks of parenting a child. It is how we bond with a newborn, nurture our growing children, teach them manners and social skills, celebrate milestones and lay down a lifetime of memories. Feeding establishes the first relationship in a child’s life, a relationship ideally based on trust and mutual respect for both parent and child. Meals and mealtimes are the basis of many family, community and social interactions. When your child has difficulty eating or gaining weight, these important relationships, routine social interactions, and important life cycle events may be interrupted, and you may think you are not being a "good enough" parent. Your identity as a parent may become disrupted and give rise to continuing distress, anxiety or guilt. A child’s feeding difficulty may develop into adult feeding disorders, emotional problems, learning and social skills problems, or wide spread family distress.
However, feeding therapy by an experienced speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist can help. Remediation of concerns with feeding focuses on seeing the child as a whole person and carefully assessing a child’s history, skills, family and social situation and their individual preferences. Emily helps families with feeding therapy for picky eaters and problem eaters. The guiding principles of this feeding therapy incorporates a triad of components that address motor skills, sensory tolerance and behavioral responses.
Eating is much more than just putting food into our mouths and swallowing. Likewise, feeding therapy is more than a focus of just what and how much a child eats. Feeding therapy requires participation of the child and family as active members of the team. The family’s mealtime habits and attitudes about food, the family’s and child’s food preferences, and the extended family and community as they impact the child’s eating are all examined as possibilities for growth and change.
Our job as parents is to nurture our children to become successful, independent, happy adults. A Talmudic story compares a child to a quiver of arrows on a bow. To launch, a child must first be pulled toward us, but to soar they must be released. It is important for parents to find the balance between control and permissiveness, as our children are moving from dependence toward autonomy. Learning to eat should be seen as a journey, not a final product. The goal is to help your child learn to be a Lifelong Food Explorer!
Contact Emily today to discuss how she can help you with your child's feeding and eating needs.
- Reduced or limited intake
- Food refusal
- Food selectivity by type and/or texture
- Mealtime tantrums
Feeding your child is one of the first and most basic tasks of parenting a child. It is how we bond with a newborn, nurture our growing children, teach them manners and social skills, celebrate milestones and lay down a lifetime of memories. Feeding establishes the first relationship in a child’s life, a relationship ideally based on trust and mutual respect for both parent and child. Meals and mealtimes are the basis of many family, community and social interactions. When your child has difficulty eating or gaining weight, these important relationships, routine social interactions, and important life cycle events may be interrupted, and you may think you are not being a "good enough" parent. Your identity as a parent may become disrupted and give rise to continuing distress, anxiety or guilt. A child’s feeding difficulty may develop into adult feeding disorders, emotional problems, learning and social skills problems, or wide spread family distress.
However, feeding therapy by an experienced speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist can help. Remediation of concerns with feeding focuses on seeing the child as a whole person and carefully assessing a child’s history, skills, family and social situation and their individual preferences. Emily helps families with feeding therapy for picky eaters and problem eaters. The guiding principles of this feeding therapy incorporates a triad of components that address motor skills, sensory tolerance and behavioral responses.
Eating is much more than just putting food into our mouths and swallowing. Likewise, feeding therapy is more than a focus of just what and how much a child eats. Feeding therapy requires participation of the child and family as active members of the team. The family’s mealtime habits and attitudes about food, the family’s and child’s food preferences, and the extended family and community as they impact the child’s eating are all examined as possibilities for growth and change.
Our job as parents is to nurture our children to become successful, independent, happy adults. A Talmudic story compares a child to a quiver of arrows on a bow. To launch, a child must first be pulled toward us, but to soar they must be released. It is important for parents to find the balance between control and permissiveness, as our children are moving from dependence toward autonomy. Learning to eat should be seen as a journey, not a final product. The goal is to help your child learn to be a Lifelong Food Explorer!
Contact Emily today to discuss how she can help you with your child's feeding and eating needs.
