Melanie Potock

🍌🤦🏼‍♀️Bananas going brown? Try my hack!

👉🏼Peel and break into 3 inch pieces BUT THEN (here’s the best part) roll them in hemp seeds for a boost of nutrition and freeze. I stack a bunch in a glass container and grab one to add to kids’ smoothies. The hemp seeds will blend in wonderfully as the frozen banana is pulverized in your blender. I use @manitobaharvest hemp seeds often – love the taste!

🩷I also love my @Blendtec blender – it’s a beautiful BEAST! You could throw a shoe in there and make shoe soup. (JK, don’t do that please.) Mine is ten years old and still says nice things to me like “Ta-Dah!” on the display after I hit the “clean” button. Love a blender that makes you feel like you’re special.

🥰Hope you’re having the best day – and thanks for following me!

✨Melanie✨

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #pickyeaters #hempseeds #blendtec #notanad

This food that’s a choking hazard is going to surprise you! Chia seed pudding, overnight oats and other foods that contain thickeners always need to be “pourable” to be safe for kids under the age of 3.

Hi, I’m Melanie, a pediatric feeding specialist and thick chia seed pudding scares the heck out of me. Just like a glob of peanut butter, it’s highly chokable for little kids when put in their mouth in a “glob” off a spoon, from their fingers or as a thick gummy dip.

Always stir in more liquid the next day, and if needed, warm for a few minutes in the microwave to help loosen that “congealed” quality.
Smash ALL the lumps – we don’t want any gummy globs floating about.

Texture is GREAT, globs are not.

Share this with a friend by clicking the paper airplane below, you just might save a life.

Thanks for following me for feeding safety tips!
Melanie

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #startingsolids #toddlersafety

🤦🏼‍♀️A lot of misunderstandings about Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)!

🩷Hi, I’m Melanie, and feeding specialist who educates health professionals and parents worldwide on how to help kids with extreme selective eating, or ARFID. Let’s chat about it…

👉🏼”SLPs don’t treat ARFID” We need to be careful not to overgeneralize like this, or kids won’t get the help they need. That’s like saying “Psychologists don’t treat pediatric feeding disorder” as if they are never involved in PFD treatment. Interdisciplinary treatment is ideal for every child, and just like SLPs need to have a clear understanding of how to support an OT’s goals of improving sensory integration (etc.) it is our responsibility to be very clear on the role of anxiety in kids with ARFID, and our essential role supporting their journey to finding joy in food.

👉🏼”ARFID is an anxiety disorder.” No, it’s not. It’s an eating or feeding disturbance fueled by anxiety.

👉🏼”Nobody cares, just eat it.” (I can’t really respond appropriately I’m so mad when I hear that) - We DO care. Enough said about that.

👉🏼”Just keep offering…and eventually they will eat it.” No, not true. Kids with ARFID are skilled at avoidance, because anxiety FEEDS on avoidance. The more we help them avoid, the stronger their anxiety becomes. Offering is great, but a skilled clinician known just how much to nudge to help them interact with the food, and eventually, find foods they love.

✨To learn more about ARFID, comment ARFID and I’ll send you a link to all my courses, plus a discount code for the on-demand offerings! My LAST ARFID MASTERCLASS of the year is coming soon, so be sure to comment “ARFID” to get the info.

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #pickyeaters #feedingtherapy #arfidawareness #ARFID

“If only my picky eater would drink a nutritious smoothie!” I hear that often from parents.

🍯It’s tempting to add sweeteners like honey or maple syrup (yum!) but try adding a sweetener that also contains IRON, like @sunsweetgrowersinc prunes! My friend & RDN @laurenlovesnutrition tells me that prunes are not only a source of fiber but are a terrific source of IRON – and so many kids are not getting enough iron.

💩PLUS, constipation often contributes to picky eating - that`s a fact. And if you don`t know about prunes and their benefits for GI health...well, call me. I`ll fill you in.😉

💕I especially love prunes in chocolate smoothies, have you tried that? Prunes are an important source of nutrition for adults too!

🤔What’s your take on prunes in smoothies? I think you’ll be surprised at the added sweetness PLUS the added health benefits too!

🥰Melanie
#notanad #melaniepotock
#slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #pickyeaters #arfidawareness

🧂What’s up with picky eaters who enjoy salty foods, no matter what their age?

👋🏼Hi! I’m Melanie, author of 6 books on how to help you raise a healthy, happy eater! 🧂When I was in Hawaii last week, there were so many types of salt to enjoy! That got me thinking…why does salt make food taste better?

🧂”Salt imparts more than just a salt taste to overall food flavor. In work with a variety of foods (soups, rice, eggs, and potato chips), salt was found to improve the perception of product thickness, enhance sweetness, mask metallic or chemical off-notes, and round out overall flavor while improving flavor intensity (Gillette, 1985).”*

🤔AND, salt suppresses bitter tastes. Since babies are predisposed to liking sweet tastes at birth (breast milk is sweet for a reason!) isn’t it fascinating that salt makes bitter foods taste LESS bitter, and thus, closer to the taste of “sweet”.

❓Tell me, does your child prefer foods that are already salty, like frozen chicken nuggets or processed foods? Could it be that the salt plays a role in some way?

Hmmm…could be!

💕If you’d like to learn more about picky eating, comment COURSE for a direct link to my on-demand course library, with ten courses to help you! Oh, and I’ll send you a discount code too!

🥰Melanie

*More resources here: Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake; Henney JE, Taylor CL, Boon CS, editors. Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2010. 3, Taste and Flavor Roles of Sodium in Foods: A Unique Challenge to Reducing Sodium Intake. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50958/

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #ashaigers #pickyeaters #arfidawareness

🤍By creating a calm and joyful space at mealtimes, you’re taking the first steps to raising a healthy, happy eater. That’s something to feel good about. I hope you’re proud of all that you do.

🤍You’ve got this — even the tiniest wins are worth celebrating.

🤍I’m here to help. Thanks for following me and have the most wonderful week with your kiddo!
❤️Melanie

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #pickyeaters #ashaigers #responsivefeeding #arfidawareness

🍼Bottle weaning doesn’t have to be hard, but it’s best for baby’s facial development (how their face forms) to wean shortly after baby’s first birthday.

👋🏼Hi, I’m Melanie, speech and feeding specialist with more than two decades of experience to help you raise healthy, happy eaters.

❓Why does repetitive bottle use impact how your toddler’s face forms? It interferes with how babies learns to swallow, preventing the tongue from rising up and pushing on the palate. The tongue expands the palate, which in turn forms the upper face and impacts the lower jaw formation too.

👉🏼Once you’re down to just one bottle before bedtime, offer just 3 ounces before bedtime with a story book and a favorite lovey. Quietly brush teeth, return for one more book and kiss goodnight.

💦Provide a spill proof water bottle beside the bed if needed – then eventually, stop the milk bottle altogether. Parent bravely – you can do it!

👉🏼Need more? Comment BOTTLE for a discount code for my on-demand Bye-Bye Bottles course! How about pacifiers??? Yep, got a course for that too. I’ll send you both!
🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #ashaigers #bottleweaning #toddlertroubles

Kids under the age of 4 are at risk of choking on foods that require repeated CRUNCHING to break down. WHY? Because…

⏰Crunchy foods like chips (even thick potato chips ) or pretzels need time to begin to melt in the mouth, and lots of time to chew to help that process happen.

😳Kids don’t have great attention spans at this age to pay attention to chewing, and even if we give them smaller pieces of the same foods, the harder texture makes them more likely to lodge in the throat, block the airway, or even be inhaled.

🤔If you want to serve your younger child a crunchy snack, try a cereal like @cheerios that melts easily in the mouth after a few chews, or a meltable buttery cracker, or for kids over the age of two, a low sugar animal cookie.🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

🤍Everybody loves a crunchy snack! Just make sure to choose ones that are safe for your Littles.

🥰Melanie
PRO TIP: Encourage kids to swish with water after their crunchy snack. This helps to reduce the risk of cavities when it’s not possible to stop & brush teeth.🪥

#melaniepotock #notanad #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #ashaigers #pickyeaters

Parents hoping to prevent picky eating before it hits hard in the toddler years can use this easy strategy: Stir in some texture!

Sure, no strategy is full proof but doesn’t this make sense? 🤔 Is it the ONLY strategy? NO BUT, an extensive review of the literature indicated that “The texture of food plays a key role in food acceptance” is a “profound driver for food aversion.”* So, offering safe textures early and often is an easy, proactive habit that may pay off when toddlers enter that picky eater phase!

👋🏼Hi, I’m Melanie, author of six books on helping you raise an adventurous eater! One of my favorite and easy ways to offer mixed textures is to offer @mush oats with chopped fruit - super nutritious and delicious!

More👇🏼
“Texture of food plays a profound role in children’s food preferences and acquiring healthy eating habits. Food texture acceptance is learned from an early age…For young children, timely exposures to foods with varying textures (e.g., hard, lumpy, and gritty) facilitate the acceptance/preference development of those textures”.

👉🏼Tell me, what foods do you mix together for your kiddo? Anybody use chia, or chopped veggies in eggs? A little bit of texture helps kids be flexible with food preferences.🤍

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #notanad #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #ashaigers #responsivefeeding #startingsolids

📕*Chow, C. Y., Skouw, S., Bech, A. C., Olsen, A., & Bredie, W. L. P. (2022). A review on children’s oral texture perception and preferences in foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 64(12), 3861–3879. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2136619

“Having kids — the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical,
responsible human beings - is the biggest job anyone
can embark on.” ✨Love that wisdom from @mariashriver ✨Gosh, no wonder we worry that we’re are not enough…this is a huge responsibility and…the best thing that ever happened to me.🤍

👉🏼🩷I’m here to tell you that you are MORE than enough…and you’ve got this.🤍💕🤍💕🤍💕🤍💕🤍💕🤍

✨Happy Mom’s Day✨

🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock

#slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #pickyeaters #arfidawareness #startingsolids

And just like that, it’s Mai Tai time.🌺

Have you ever been to Hawaii? I’m at the @ritzcarltonkapalua and it’s breathtaking!

👉🏼Also, don’t let this video fool you. It took me 3 hours to pack.😉

Hope your weekend is spectacular.🥰

🤍Melanie
#melaniepotock

#slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #pickyeaters

But ✨Mom✨and ✨GiGi✨ are my favorites (no offense Babe🤍)

Such a fun trend! Do you have a nickname?

#melaniepotock #nicknametrend #nicknames #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #responsivefeeding