Feeding Therapy
We know feeding issues are concerning and stressful. Let us help.
Our highly-trained Speech and Occupational Therapists work with children on a wide range of eating and feeding issues. We believe the involvement of everyone who cares for your child is an important part of the feeding therapy process. We collaborate with parents, caregivers, pediatricians, lactation consultants, dentists and other professionals to achieve the best outcomes for your child.
NEWBORNS & INFANTS
Premature and full-term infants can have difficulty with breast and bottle feeding. Our team treats children with poor weight gain, tethered oral tissues (commonly referred to as tongue and lip ties,) difficulty with coordination of suck-swallow-breathe, disorganized feeding patterns, cleft lip and palate, nasogastric tubes, G-tubes, Down syndrome and more.
Evaluations are performed in our clinic or your home and generally take one to two hours. They include a detailed birth and feeding history, thorough examination of the oral-structure, observation of bottle and breastfeeding, therapeutic interventions and a plan of care.
Since this is a time-sensitive issue, if your baby is struggling to feed please contact us and we will get you in as soon as possible, even while we are on a wait list.
PRESCHOOL - SCHOOL AGE
Daily struggles at mealtimes do not have to be the norm. Our preschool through school-aged clients have struggled for years with extreme picky eating, oral-aversion and sensory processing disorder. Other therapies may have gained momentary success, but failed to generalize to home. Our assessment and therapy takes place in your home with your foods and you present to maximize improvement. Oral-motor skills are assessed and treated accordingly. Sensory and behaviorally-based feeding disorders are often treated using a combination of the Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S) and Food Chaining approaches. Our focus is to expand the diets of the child at their own pace - never forcing them to eat anything. Gardening, cooking and food play are often used to increase positive exposure to foods. Food targets are established by both the parent and therapist. For the best results, parents participate in every session and carry-over therapy meals at home each week.
For this age group therapy is intensive and a strong parental commitment is required.
TODDLERS
Toddlers who are having difficulty transitioning to solid foods, slow weight gain or who have developed aversions and behavioral issues surrounding mealtimes are frequently treated by our team of therapists. Many times these children were difficult to feed as babies, may have been premature, colicky, have suspected issues with sensory integration or possible weakness of the lips, tongue and cheeks. Small problems can grow into larger problems as babies become toddlers and mealtimes can become a battle. We see children with failure to thrive, picky eating, sensory processing disorder, sensory-oral aversion, tube feeding as well as those with syndromes and medical conditions.
Your therapist will conduct a full evaluation tailored to your child's needs which includes a detailed history, review of reports from other professionals on your child's team, an oral-motor assessment, feeding observation and assessment, discussion and plan of care.
Oral-motor weakness and discoordination can be treated through oral-motor therapy. Sensory and behaviorally-based feeding disorders are typically treated using a combination of the Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S) and Food Chaining approaches. Our focus is to expand the diets of the child at their own pace - never forcing them to eat anything. Gardening, cooking and food play are often used to increase positive exposure to foods. Food targets are established by both the parent and therapist. For the best results, parents participate in every session and carry-over therapy meals at home each week.