Infant & Pediatric Feeding

Make mealtime great again.

We can help.

  • Picky eating can be a complex challenge, often linked to sensory sensitivities or difficulties with food textures and tastes that affect a child's willingness to eat a variety of foods. Our therapy program addresses these issues head-on by incorporating sensory integration techniques and positive, stress-free mealtime strategies. We work closely with families to create customized approaches that expand the child's food repertoire and improve their nutritional intake, ensuring meals are enjoyable and balanced. Our supportive environment encourages children to explore new foods at their own pace, fostering healthier eating habits for life.

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  • Pediatric dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, can affect a child's ability to eat, drink, and sometimes breathe properly, impacting their nutritional status and overall development. Our practice specializes in diagnosing and treating swallowing disorders in children. We utilize a comprehensive assessment process to understand the specific nature of each child's condition. Our tailored therapy strategies may include exercises to strengthen oral muscles, techniques to improve swallowing coordination, and safe eating practices. We collaborate with a team of healthcare professionals to ensure a holistic approach to care, supporting your child's health and growth.

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Our Approaches + Trainings

  • AEIOU- Acceptance, Exposure, Independence, Observation and Understanding – it’s a framework for addressing pediatric feeding disorders that prioritizes child autonomy, family relationships, and authentic connections.  It’s an integrated, evidenced-based, and responsive feeding approach that is trauma-informed, and neurodiversity-affirming.

  • Comprehensive Feeding Disorders

  • Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play an increasingly significant role in the treatment of children with feeding disorders (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2009). Physicians often refer children for feeding therapy secondary to what is seemingly a behavioral issue. This assumed diagnosis usually reflects a child's refusal to eat; a self-limited diet based upon taste, texture, and visual appearance; or difficulty progressing from breast or bottle to pureed or solid foods. However, a child's case history review may reveal gagging, choking, or vomiting incidents with the introduction of pureed or solid foods, in addition to possible medical and developmental issues. Food refusals can develop secondary to these concerns. Additionally, the child's motor skills may not be adequate to handle the food, and the resulting sensory reaction can be described as “fright, fight, flight” (Overland, 2010). Interactions between the sensory and motor systems cannot be ignored (Fisher, Murray, & Bundy, 1991). The use of a purely behavioral approach to treat these children negates the impact of sensory-motor issues on the oral phase of feeding. Though behavioral issues may develop secondary to sensory-motor problems in the mouth, we need to consider the child's refusal as an adaptive, communicative response to a negative experience, rather than as the primary disability to be addressed. Assessment and treatment of the underlying sensory-motor issues should, in many cases, precede behavioral interventions.

  • Parent offers a spoon, loaded with nutritious food; Baby turns their head away and starts crying. Enter responsive feeding. Recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Academy of American Pediatrics, and UNICEF, responsive feeding is learning how to read your baby’s communication cues and your toddler’s often-very-strong preferences (hello two-year-olds!) rather than feeding them a predetermined amount. Think of responsive feeding as a dance. For parents, it’s about engaging your baby, anticipating their moves, and taking turns to lead the choreography. The parent responds to baby’s communication and baby responds to parent. Because the parent is in-tune and present in the moment, they will connect and flow, making for a joyful experience! Using evidence-based strategies, feeding therapist and speech-language pathologist Melanie Potock explains how to read your child’s cues to ensure happy mealtimes with happy kids.

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