Melanie Potock

❓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

🥰I’m adding more feeding and kid’s toy deals as you read this…so keep checking back!#amazonaffiliate #ad

✨COMMENT DEALS and I’ll send you a link so you can shop right away!

💙👩🏼‍🍳💙I had fun making this list for you, and I hope you find it helpful. Also…that blue play kitchen. Did you spot it? ✨Gorgeous!✨

😘Melanie
#melaniepotock #amazonbigdealdays #feedingkids #feedingtherapy #pickyeaters

🎉It’s going to be an incredible year!
✨DM me to learn how your #pediatrichospital #speechtherapyclinic or #conference can book my courses in 2025!
🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #ashaigers #feedingtherapy

Serious play happening!🤍Lovevery Play Kits are designed by child experts to for your child’s stage of development, but don’t be surprised if they continue to play with toys from various kits for many months to come!

🫶🏼COMMENT LOVEVERY for a link to learn more & get free shipping! #affiliatelink

🤍This little man is playing with…

🫶🏼Stainless Steel Tip & Turn - just one of the toys from The Explorer Play Kit
✨Practice bilateral coordination with two-handed play.

🫶🏼Ball Drop Box - just one of the toys from The Inspector Play Kit
✨Build gross motor skills while learning that something can be there even when you can`t see it.

🫶🏼Spinning Rainbow – just one of the toys from The Sensor Play Kit
✨Perfect for practicing fine motor skills and reaching with both hands at once.

🫶🏼Race & Chase Ramp – just one of the toys from The Adventurer Play Kit
✨Explore motion and direction with our unique side-by-side racing ramp.

🥰DM if I can help you choose which is best for you! Have you tried @lovevery Play Kits yet?

❤️Melanie

#melaniepotock #LoveveryGift #Lovevery

🍁3 easy & inexpensive fall food favorites for your baby & toddler!

🎃Pumpkin is a squash, but most often we scoop pumpkin puree right from the can this type of year! Be sure to get 100% pure pumpkin & not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar. Try stirring in a dash of cinnamon and serving it straight from the spoon or stirred into various pasta sauces, like marinara. Your kids will get an extra boost of micronutrients, vitamins & carotenoids so important for good vision!

🍂🍁🍂Squash is plentiful right now, and can stay fresh in a cool, dark place for months to come. So stock up when it’s on sale & buy lots of varieties! My favorite way to prep it for any age is to roast till soft & then cut into soft cubes for baby to self-feed. It’s nutritious & loaded with fiber, so terrific for kids’ gut health too!

🍎Apples – did you know there are over 2,500 varieties grown in the USA? Raw apples are a choking hazard for babies and toddlers, but you can still grate bits of raw apple for babies if they have developed their pincer grasp. Try roasting a whole apple in the oven to serve over several days in soft, safely cut cubes or thin slices or to stir into other foods, like oatmeal. Apples last for weeks if stored in the fridge but even longer in a cool, humid & slightly dark place.

❓🍂🍁🍂❓Tell me, what’s your favorite – pumpkin, squash or apples this time of year???
🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock #foodforbabies #toddlerfood #responsivefeeding #slpfeeding

#ad @ellaolaofficial is the tasteless, undetectable vitamin recommended by pediatricians and RDs because kids get that nutritional boost with no added sugar.

🤍Hi, I’m Melanie, a pediatric feeding specialist with over 30 years experience helping the pickiest of picky eaters. When I ask pediatricians and nutritionists what vitamin they approve of for my clients, it’s EllaOla.

✨Tasteless, odorless, undetectable
✨19 vitamins AND MINERALS
✨15 Superfoods, fruits & veggies
👏🏼And so easy to stir into food/drinks!

🫶🏼I’ve partnered with @ellaolaofficial because I’ve tested it, and I want you to know that this is a game changer for any kid, but especially our picky eaters.❤️

🥰Melanie @mymunchbug_melaniepotock

🫶🏼 #aap2024 #ellaolaofficial #ellaolavitamin
#pickyeater #arfid #autism

🤍Negative reinforcement is more common than you think…in fact, parents do it quite often.

🤍And, it’s not a bad thing, nor is positive punishment. Confused?

🤷🏼‍♀️Most people are by these terms!

🫶🏼Hi, I’m Melanie, and I help parents raise healthy, happy eaters. Let’s break down what “negative” and “positive” refer to – it’s all about MATH. Here’s just one example, and there are more in the reel for you to screenshot.

👏🏼Let’s start with “YAYYYY!”

👏🏼👍🏼Seems like a positive thing, right? Clapping and saying “YAYYYY!” for your child? If it is, then when you ADD IN THE YAY, you are using positive reinforcement because you ADDED IT and it reinforced the behavior, making it more likely to occur again.

👏🏼👎🏼BUT, what if you’re kid hates loud attention like that, and I clap and loudly exclaim “YAYYYY, you did it!”…that’s actually positive punishment. I ADDED IN something they don’t like, making the behavior less likely to occur.

🤔So, “YAY!” can be a reinforcer or a punishment, but either way, when you ADD IT IN, it’s going to be called “positive” punishment or “positive” reinforcement - it’s about ADDITION. The term positive has very little to do with emotion and everything to do with addition vs. subtraction.

📸I hope you’ll screenshot where prompted in this reel…then… let it digest. Then drop your questions in the comments – I’m here to help!

🥰Melanie
#pickyeaters #feedingtherapy #parenting #parentingtoddlers #parentingpreschoolers #myfirstkid

👶🏻When baby starts solids, that’s the time to teach the word “chew”.

🫶🏼Hi, I’m Melanie, pediatric feeding specialist here to help you with learn about feeding babies, toddlers & so much more! Also - I can’t spell exaggerate. Did you catch that?🤦🏼‍♀️

✨As a speech language pathologist, I can share with you that kids understand more words than they can say.

✨While seated across from baby, exaggerate your chewing (open mouth, big chews!) and say “chew, chew” slowly.

✨First, they’ll learn what the word chew means, when YOU do it.

✨Later, they’ll learn how to imitate the up-and-down movement of your mouth. Babies start with a munching pattern (up-and-down pattern) anyway, and we don’t expect a more circular chew at first. So munch, up and down, and say “chew, chew, chew” as you do!

✨Not every food requires this modeling, but when you begin to offer small meltable crackers or meltable O’s or Puffs (or freeze-dried fruits that start crunchy and melt quickly, as seen in this video) then you’ll be glad you introduced the concept early.

❓Questions? Need more tips? Drop them in the comments!

📌Save this post – or share – or both! I hope you and your friends find it helpful!

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #ashaigers #feedingbaby #firstbaby

Because Fridays are for pool time and snacks 🤍💦

🥰 Wishing you the best weekend!
🫶🏼Melanie

#melaniepotock #onceuponafarm #firstgrandbaby #snacksfortoddlers #notanad

🗣️📚Comment BOOKS for my latest books on raising healthy, happy eaters and climbing out of the chicken nugget rut.

☹️I know so many of you are disappointed that Adventures in Veggieland is no longer in print BUT you can still get it via Kindle AND at your local library. There are used copies too – just comment BOOKS to see options and …don’t forget these 3 books below - all available in print and digital versions!

📘Responsive Feeding: The Baby-First Guide to Stress Free Weaning, Healthy Eating and Mealtime Bonding

📗The award-winning Raising a Healthy Happy Eater, co-authored with pediatrician Dr. Yum! If you have the old version, it’s time to update by commenting BOOKS.

🦦My children’s book, YOU ARE NOT AN OTTER! It’s all about adventurous eating (and lots of cute animals!)

❓Tell me, do you have any of these?

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #experimentpublishing #pickyeater #healthykidsfood #healthykidsmeals
#feedingtherapy