Helping Children Develop Appropriate Eating Habits

Feeding Therapy

At LEAPS Therapy Clinic, an occupational therapist or a speech therapist can evaluate your child, formulate a plan, and establish goals to help meet your family’s feeding needs.

Feeding difficulties can happen in any child but are more likely to occur in those born prematurely, diagnosed with failure to thrive, autism, have a feeding tube, and others. Or your child could be a picky eater who could benefit from positive experiences around mealtimes. Feeding therapy assists those who have difficulties with the physical act of eating or swallowing. Our therapists work with your family and your child to improve the motor, sensory, and physical barriers to increase your child’s ability to safely eat the least restrictive diet possible. We want to help your child make mealtimes fun!

During infancy, babies can show signs of feeding issues by refusing bottles or the breast, difficulty holding liquids in their mouth, swallowing difficulties, and/or gagging, coughing, and choking. As they get older and start to experiment with different foods, children might show difficulties in self-feeding, chewing, holding food in their mouth, or holding utensils and cups. Children can show behaviors around mealtimes, eat few varieties of foods, show slow physical growth, and/or weight gain. Some children might experience aversions to different types of textures or foods and only have very few preferred foods.

Our occupational and speech therapists at LEAPS Therapy Clinic can assist your child with these feeding issues. They can evaluate and treat your child to help support your family’s feeding goals. Our therapists can provide oral motor exercises to increase strength and range of motion of the tongue, jaw, and cheeks. They can increase fine and gross motor skills in the arms to help your child hold utensils and have an appropriate posture for safe feeding. They can increase coordination in your child to address chewing, swallowing, and more. Our therapists can also address the sensory difficulties your child might be experiencing to help increase the variety and textures of foods to help expand their diet. In addition, our therapists can help to build a child-led plan and strategies to use at home to decrease anxiety and increase enjoyment around mealtimes.

If you would like one of our therapists to evaluate your child for feeding therapy, please speak to your child’s pediatrician for a referral. Once our office receives this referral, we can get your child on the path to happier and safer mealtimes.