Melanie Potock

💦Worried your kid isn’t drinking enough water?

❤️Hi, I’m Melanie, a pediatric feeding specialist who not only helps kids eat, but makes sure they can drink enough water each day too!

💦It’s all in the video for you…but if you have older kids, then…

💦In general, Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends kids ages 8 and up should drink EIGHT 8-oz glasses of water per day. Keep in mind that hydration can come in many forms, like fruits, smoothies, and other beverages like milk. Always check with your child’s health care provider for specific recommendations for your kiddo.

🚽Hey, and don’t forget about PEE!
Yep, urine tells us so much about hydration. It should be almost clear to “straw” color. Darker urine throughout the day indicates they need more water.

❌And remember, no water for babies under age 6 months, unless it’s appropriately mixed into their formula at the recommended ratio.☺️

❓And how about you? How do you ensure that you get enough water to stay healthy and hydrated? Tell me your tricks in the caption, I really want to know!

🥂Raise your glass! 🥰Cheers!💦

🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock #waterforbabies #waterforkids #asha2024 #slpfeeding
Source: HopkinsMedicine.org

🥰Questions about picky eating, starting solids, feeding therapy, family mealtimes? GO!

❤️Melanie
#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #asha2024 #otfeeding #ARFID

🛑Stop. Let me tell you about the best Halloween I had as a kid…

👻I was 4, and a told my mom I just wanted to stay with her and give out candy. At the very last minute (seriously, as my 4 big brothers are walking out the door to go trick-or-treating) I screamed “I WANT TO GO!” and my mother didn’t even flinch. She ran upstairs, grabbed a white pillowcase off her bed pillow and quickly cut 2 holes in it for my eyes. “You’re a ghost, have fun.”

🎃That was it. Best Halloween Ever.

👉🏼My point? Take a breath. It’s ok if you don’t want to put up 10 ft. tall, $350 plastic skeletons in your front yard. (Seems to be the trend this year!) It’s ok if you decide to just buy one bag of candy and be done with the door bell ringing. It’s also totally ok if your family THRIVES on spooky and loves this holiday more than ever, with all the yard decorations and the incredible costumes and king-size candy bars for all. 🧡🍫🧡

🤍Keep in mind that most kids don’t need to have the full-blown experience to enjoy Halloween.

🤍🎃🤍AND…many kids can’t experience the same way as other kids. So if they don’t say “trick-or-treat” or “thank you” just smile and tell them you love their costume. They may have a developmental delay or have other special needs that make the rituals of Halloween a bit tricky.

📌💕Please share this post or tag a friend who may need to hear this today.

❓Tell me, what do you love (or hate) about Halloween?

🧡🎃🧡Happiest Halloween to you and yours,
🍫Melanie
#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #halloween2024

🤍Helping kids with ARFID and their families understand pediatric anxiety, feeding development and finding the right support for their individual needs is incredibly important to me.

✨Comment ARFID and I’ll send you resources and a discount code for on-demand learning.

🥰Hi, I’m Melanie, a feeding specialist who understands the nuances of pediatric anxiety and a child’s negative predictions about trying new foods. In some ways, it’s about the feeling more than the food itself.

✨Learn more by commenting ARFID – and drop questions in the comments too!

❤️Melanie
#melaniepotock #arfidrecovery #arfidawarness #asha2024

🦷👶🏻When it comes to baby teething (ouch!), I love a good silicone food feeder.

🥰Hi, I’m Melanie, author of 6 books on feeding babies, toddlers & big kids and here to help you navigate every.single.step…That includes teething.

✨Comment AMAZON for a link to my favorite feeding therapy tools – and that includes my 2 favorite ice pops for EVERY teething baby!

😁Silicone food feeders are also great for occasional practice munching up and down, just like the baby in the video. I like to fill mine with frozen fruit for more resistance and to encourage that “munching” action that develops baby’s facial muscles (especially the jaw) and provides deep sensory input to help calm baby too. PLUS – it sure does help those aching little toofers!

❓Questions? Drop them in the comments!

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #asha2024 #responsivefeeding #feedingtherapy

🎃Ready to shop for Halloween treats? Careful, some candy and toys can be deadly for young children.

📲You`re going to want to save and share this post.

😮Were you surprised by the lists in this post? Are you wondering why…

🍫MILK, not dark chocolate? It’s because it melts easier in the mouth and that`s important for toddlers.

🎈Balloons – Latex balloons are a MAJOR choking hazard for kids up to age 8! 👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼According to Nationwide
Children’s Hospital: “Children inhale latex balloons (mostly while trying to inflate them) or choke on their broken pieces. Latex is dangerous because it is a smooth material and can conform to the child’s throat, blocking the airway and making it impossible to breathe. Performing the Heimlich Maneuver is usually no help because the air that does get through can make the blockage worse by completely covering the throat. Using your fingers can easily push the balloon further back into the airway.”*

🐈‍⬛Small stickers – These get easily stuck on a child’s finger and they will use their mouth to try to get them off. Tiny stickers can then be inhaled.

🎃On the big day, as soon as you
get home, sort through your child’s loot for anything with loose wrappers, homemade treats (like popcorn balls – just toss ‘em) or the items in this reel.

🎃Have fun, but stay safe! Share this with someone you love.
💕Melanie💕

*nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/health-wellness-and-safety-resources
#melaniepotock #halloween2024🎃👻🕷️
#chokinghazards #kidsafety #feedingtherapy

❤️There are so many nuances to parenting a picky eater. I am not saying these six words will change picky eating overnight, but it’s an essential phrase to raise an adventurous eater over time…

❓Want practical tips on avoiding picky eating, solving picky eating, bottle weaning, pacifier weaning and so much more?

✨COMMENT VIDEO✨
& I`ll send you a discount code for my on-demand video library!

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock

🤦🏼‍♀️Does your kid refuse to drink different types or flavors of milk? You can use my method for any transition to a similar drink, just take your time and wait for “THAT LOOK”😉

💦You can even use this to eventually transition your hesitant eater to water, smoothies, whatever!

🥛I’ve been teaching this method for over 20 years, and the key to success is very careful measurement and writing it down.

✨Change is hard for a lot of kids and taking it very slow eases them into a new taste. Some kids don’t need this steady and consistent shift but if you have been struggling to transition your child to a new milk, give this a try!🥰 BUT, give it at least a few weeks…it takes time, and go slow!

❓Does your kid have trouble with new beverages, like a shift from breast milk or formula to a new milk?

🤍Drop questions in the comments and save this post for future reference too!

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #originalidea

#asha2024 #otmom #slpmom #pickyeaters #pickyeating #pickyeater #feedingtherapy #feedingtherapist #ashaigers #mytoddler #toddlertrouble #fussyeaters #fussyeater #milkforkids #drinkyourmilk #ashaigers #responsivefeeding

🍋Avoiding picky eating is like baby’s first bite of a lemon…

🤔Ever notice that those viral videos of “babies trying lemons” include TWO THINGS…a startled, scrunchy face and THEN, that little reach for “more lemon please”. What’s up with that?

💛It’s so easy for us to assume that the first response means they don’t like the taste. Learning to become an adventurous eater means learning to taste all kinds of new flavors – and then trying them again and again.

✨💛✨So, when your kid (of any age) tries something new, no matter what their response, always have more available, in case they request more. Little tastes over time add up! You can start just by having a tiny bit more on their plate and offer it periodically for months to come.

❓Want more tips on picky eating?

👋🏼Comment VIDEO and I’ll send you my on-demand course library, ranging from helping baby start solids to helping older, anxious eaters try new foods.

✨As always thanks for marking my page as a “favorite” so you never miss a tip!

🥰Melanie

(Note: Lemons are acidic, so best to try this particular taste only occasionally to protect baby’s teeth)
#melaniepotock #startingsolids #pickytoddler #ashaigers #ElevateatASHA, #ASHA24, #SLPeeps

❓Wait - Babies can have raw celery and raw carrots even before starting solids? BE SURE TO KEEP READING so you know how to do this safely.

🥕Teethers for 5-month-old babies can include hard, resistive food such as a fat carrot stick, or a wide stalk of celery. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Always supervise baby with food teethers.
2. Make sure their back/trunk is well supported so that their little hands can easily bring the food teether to their mouth ( just like a non-food teether).
3. Wash food teethers thoroughly before offering to baby.
4. Safety Test: Can you snap it in half with your thumb and forefinger on the same hand? Yes – don’t offer it. No – offer with supervision!

🥰Benefits?
Even before baby is ready for solids (closer to 6 months of age) they can get small tastes as they mouth these resistive foods, just like you can taste carrot if you lick a carrot! Babies are open to trying new tastes and programmed to explore with their littles hands to mouth, so this is the perfect time to introduce veggies in this manner.
👉🏼Like any teether, the munching (up and down repeated chomps) will strengthen their jaw and facial muscles. It will also offer sensory input in terms of different textures, cooler temperatures and because it’s food – flavor!
👉🏼All teethers help babies learn to manage their gag reflex, but in my professional experience, I notice that babies like to suck on food teethers as well as try to chew them. 👉🏼Both are great experiences for the mouth, and both “work” areas of the tongue that play a part in developing tongue lateralization skills, tongue protrusion skills (for spitting out food) and learning to manage the sensation of a gentle gag with no other food in the mouth.

🪥Think of it this way – if you experience a gagging sensation, do you find it easier to manage if you accidently did that with you toothbrush or if you accidently start gagging while eating? The toothbrush of course! Neither is comfortable at first, but the toothbrush is quickly removed and we can swallow to relieve the sensation.

❓Questions? Drop them in the comments!
❤️Melanie
#melaniepotock #foodteethers #ashaigers #babyfood #feedingtherapy

😳If you’re a parent of a picky eater, you know how stressful it can be! Me telling YOU to calm down is NOT going to help.🤦🏼‍♀️

🤍But was IS going to help, is putting on your best academy-award performance and modeling calm in the moment. Then, we can brainstorm together on which strategies to try at the next meal. Kids go through phases or picky eating, and some require feeding therapy to help them find the joy in food. It’s VERY stressful for the parents and the child – and the siblings & extended family too!

❓Want to learn strategies right now?

🗣️COMMENT VIDEO & I’ll send you a discount for any course that I teach on my on-demand course library.

✨DM me if you have questions about which course is best for your situation – and know that this will get better with the right support.

🧘🏼‍♀️Here’s to modeling calm in the moment.

🤍Melanie
#melaniepotock #pickykids #pickytoddlers #slpfeeding #ashaceus