As a parent, you want mealtimes to be enjoyable, comfortable, and successful for your child. If you have an infant who is having difficulty staying latched, a toddler who gags when trying solid foods, or an older child who eats only the same food at every meal, you may be wondering how to best support them, especially at a time when balanced nutrition plays an important role in your child’s growth and development.
If this is your experience, you’ve probably wondered if pediatric feeding therapy is right for your child. But what actually happens during a session? Understanding what to expect can help you feel more confident about taking the next step. Here’s a closer look at how feeding therapy works, what it may look like at different ages, and what typically happens during a session.
How Pediatric Feeding Therapy Helps Children of All Ages
Pediatric feeding therapists work with children at every stage of development. While every treatment plan is tailored to each child’s unique needs, the focus of therapy changes as children grow.
It’s important to note that some feeding challenges, including tongue thrust and pediatric dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), can occur at any age. However, the examples below highlight some of the more common feeding goals therapists address during different stages of development.
Feeding Therapy for Babies
As your baby learns to nurse or take a bottle, you may notice challenges with latching, keeping the nipple in their mouth during feeds, or feeding comfortably. Therapy focuses on helping your baby develop the skills needed for more successful feeding experiences.
Sessions may include:
- Optimizing breastfeeding or bottle-feeding positioning for a stronger latch
- Using teething toys and other age-appropriate oral motor activities to help babies coordinate the movements of the tongue, lips, and jaw during feeding
- Helping babies coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing during feeds
- Building endurance in babies so they can finish eating comfortably
Feeding Therapy for Toddlers
As your child begins exploring new foods, you may notice that certain tastes, textures, smells, or appearances are easier for them to accept than others. Therapy focuses on helping your child build comfort and confidence with new foods while developing the skills needed to chew and eat them safely.
Sessions may include:
- Touching, smelling, and engaging with foods in a playful way without pressure to eat them
- Practicing coordinated tongue, lip, and jaw movements for more advanced chewing
- Helping your child feel more comfortable around foods they currently avoid in a responsive manner
- Increasing willingness to explore different tastes, textures, smells, and appearances through a feeding hierarchy
Feeding Therapy for Older Children
As your child grows, feeding challenges may begin impacting school lunches, family meals, and other social situations. Therapy focuses on helping your child build the skills needed to eat safely, confidently, and independently in a variety of settings.
Sessions may include:
- Practicing safe swallowing and drinking habits to reduce coughing or gagging
- Learning to use everyday mealtime tools like utensils, open cups, and straws with ease
- Collaborating with your child to choose new foods they want to try and explore
- Finding ways to help your child feel more relaxed and confident when eating at school or in social situations
What to Expect During a Pediatric Feeding Therapy Session
Whether your child is learning to latch, trying new foods, or working on swallowing skills, therapy sessions are designed to help them feel comfortable while building skills one step at a time.
Step 1: Setting Goals for the Feeding Therapy Session
Sessions may begin with a conversation between the therapist and parent or caregiver. This is the time for you to share updates about how meals have been going at home, discuss recent successes or challenges, and identify concerns you would like to address. From there, you and your child’s therapist use this information to determine which skills and goals to focus on.
Step 2: Getting Ready
Before working on specific feeding goals (or even during!), your child may participate in activities that help them get comfortable and ready for the session. This might engaging in a playful activity with their therapist to help them feel ready and excited for a fun, engaging session.
Step 3: Practicing Feeding Skills Through Play and Exploration
This is where your child begins practicing new feeding skills through play and exploration. Based on your child’s age, feeding challenges, and therapy goals, the therapist will guide them through activities designed to build the skills they’re working on through modeling and encouragement. For babies, that may mean practicing latching or bottle-feeding skills. For children, it may involve exploring new foods, building chewing skills, or working on safe swallowing habits.
While the specific activities vary from child to child, feeding therapy is designed to be engaging, supportive, and fun. Many of the exercises and activities feel more like play than therapy, helping children build skills in a way that feels comfortable and encouraging.
Step 4: Continuing Feeding Therapy at Home
Feeding therapy doesn’t end when the session is over. Before you leave, your child’s therapist will share practical strategies and activities you can use at home to support the skills your child is working on in therapy. These simple exercises help reinforce progress between sessions and give you an active role in your child’s feeding journey.
Reach Out to Learn More About Feeding Therapy
With consistency, feeding therapy can help your child feel more confident around food and eating, making mealtimes safer and enjoyable for the entire family.
If your child is experiencing feeding challenges, call More to Say Pediatric Development & Therapy at (203) 828-6790 to schedule an evaluation at our Branford, Oxford, or Shelton, CT, clinic. We look forward to helping your child build the feeding skills they need to enjoy a wider variety of foods, get the nutrition they need to grow and thrive, and have the strength and energy to enjoy being a kid.
