We all know that eating a variety of different foods, textures, and a range of nutrients is important for your child’s health development. Food gives your child the energy they need to grow, learn, and play. Eating is more than just energy and nutrition. Sharing meals with others is also really important for your child’s social and emotional well-being, and for connecting your family.
As your child grows, they will go through many stages of feeding development. From breastfeeding or bottle feeding, to first solids, to chewable foods, drinking from an open cup, and learning how to use a spoon or fork. Learning how to eat and drink is quite a complicated process! While most children progress through the skills smoothly with just a bit of practice mess along the way, many children have feeding and eating difficulties and need more help to learn the skills for eating.
Children with feeding difficulties find it particularly difficult to learn how to eat and drink. Research has found that between 25-40% of children experience difficulties with feeding.
These feeding challenges can include:
- fussy eating
- difficulty managing different food textures
- difficulty with swallowing
- shows a lack of interest in food
- food refusal – refuses certain food groups or food textures
- difficult mealtime behavioursÂ
More severe eating difficulties can include the following:
- limited food range
- poor weight gain
- dehydration and malnutrition
- frequent choking and gagging
- risk of developing pneumonia
- some children with feeding disorders may need tube feeding
Does your child have feeding difficulties?
Are you worried about your child’s eating? Do you feel like mealtimes are a battle? Your child may have a feeding problem if he or she experiences one or more of the eating and feeding difficulties listed above.
At Clear Communicators Speech Therapy we understand that feeding difficulties can be very challenging and stressful for families. We have speech pathologists with experience and special training in the area of children’s feeding difficulties, including the evidence-based SOS Approach to Feeding program. Our therapists can assess your child’s eating skills, taking into account their oral skill development (including biting and chewing), swallowing, feeding and medical history, sensory preferences, and mealtime behaviours.Â
We can work with you and your child to support their feeding and to achieve your mealtime goals. Depending on your child’s feeding needs, we may suggest therapy to:
- Help your child learn how to bite and chew
- Support your child to try new foods and drinks
- Help your child swallow safely by changing the texture of foods and drinks, or using special utensils or positioning
- Improve your child’s behaviour during mealtimes, such as staying at the table for meals and accepting foods rather than refusing to eat
- Help your child to tolerate different food textures in the mouth
- Support you and your child to have better interactions around mealtimes within your family
Our focus is on supporting you to implement simple strategies at home that can help your child eat better. But you don’t have to wait to have an appointment with us before working on your child’s eating skills! Have a look at our simple tips you can try at home to get started improving your mealtimes.Â
How Online Feeding Therapy Works
Did you know that we can do feeding therapy and feeding assessments online? Our therapists are experienced in using video chat platform Zoom to offer online therapy and assessment services.
Our online feeding services work in a similar way to traditional face-to-face services, but you don’t have to travel to our clinic! We conduct our online sessions using live video so that we can hear, see, and interact with you and your child. You will need a good internet connection, a computer, tablet or phone, and the Zoom app – then you’re ready to go!
Benefits of Feeding Assessment and Therapy Online
Online feeding therapy means that you can access support for your child’s feeding difficulties from the comfort and safety of your own home. It’s an engaging, fun, and convenient option for families. Online feeding therapy lets our therapists observe your child eating in their normal, home surroundings – where you and your child feel most comfortable. From experience, we often find that children will eat more and try more new foods when they are in the comfort of their own home.
When we do feeding assessment and feeding therapy on Zoom, this allows us to observe your child’s typical mealtime environment and positioning, so that we can provide practical suggestions and strategies that will work in your family home with the equipment and foods that you have available. Many parents find that practising feeding therapy strategies at home during online therapy sessions helps them to feel more confident to use these strategies during mealtimes.
What funding can I use for online feeding sessions?
If your child has an NDIS plan you can access online speech therapy services (including online feeding therapy) using their NDIS funding. Medicare and private health rebates may apply for online speech therapy sessions online, just get in touch to check if this applies to your situation.
Early feeding intervention with a Speech Pathologist can help your child to overcome their feeding difficulties so they can eat a varied, nutritious diet and enjoy mealtimes. If you are interested in finding out more about how we can help your child’s eating using online feeding therapy, please get in touch. Ask us below!
References:
Bryant-Waugh R, Markham L, Kreipe R E, Walsh B T. Feeding and eating disorders in childhood. Int J Eat Disord. 2010; 43(2): 98-111.
https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589934965§ion=Overview
sosapproachtofeeding.com
Let us know your questions for your child’s feeding and eating development. Get in touch below!