Feeding Therapy

Feeding Therapy - Feeding Evaluations - Feeding Consultations

Are you having trouble with breast or bottle feeding, or is the transition to solid foods a challenge? Do you notice your child pocketing foods or gagging when eating? Are mealtimes becoming particularly stressful for your family? Have doctors told you for years that your child will “grow out of it” but you are concerned that the endless cycle of chicken nuggets and french fries is impacting your child’s nutrition? If so, your child may benefit from a feeding evaluation. We specialize in the evaluation and treatment of a wide variety of feeding and swallowing impairments. We offer services in your home, the most natural environment in which to target mealtimes. These evaluations will address concerns related to your child’s feeding, swallowing, and oral-motor skills including picky eating, concerns with weight gain/growth, food or bottle refusal, difficulty breast feeding, issues transitioning to solids, texture aversions, oral motor weaknesses, gagging/coughing during eating, and any other difficulties leading to stressful and/or prolonged mealtimes.

Feeding and swallowing disorders can result from motor weakness, sensory difficulties, and behavioral issues, or most often, a combination of these factors. These disorders can make it difficult for children to get the nutrition they need or to transition to age-appropriate foods. We have specific training in feeding premature and fragile infants, breastfeeding, oral motor techniques, the SOS approach to feeding, behavioral feeding, and neuromuscular feeding impairments, and have extensive experience working with a variety of diagnoses impacting feeding skills, including the following:

  • history of prematurity

  • autism spectrum disorder

  • developmental delay

  • gastroesophageal reflux disease

  • food allergies or intolerance

  • craniofacial anomalies/cleft palate

  • genetic syndromes

  • neurological impairment

    Have questions or concerns regarding your child’s current feeding skills? Contact us today for a free phone consultation to discuss your child’s needs and preliminary recommendations.