Melanie Potock

😳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

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🤍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

Picky eater not eating at school?

⏰On average, kids in the USA have LESS THAN 20 minutes to walk to ENTER, EAT and EXIT the school cafeteria*. BTW, most states require at least 30 minutes for a lunch break for ADULTS at work!

🤔Wondering what lunchboxes and beverage bottles I recommend for kids? Just comment AMAZON for the link to my TESTED & TRUE FAVORITES -🥰

👉🏼now let’s talk strategies…

❤️If YOUR goal as a parent is to ensure your kid gets a nutritious lunch but YOUR KID’S goal is to get a break and chat with friends…(both great goals!) then here are strategies from my book, Raising a Healthy Happy Eater:

👉🏼Use an easy-open Bento box, so no time is wasted asking for help to open individual baggies, containers, etc.

👉🏼Cut the food into what I call “grab and gab” food so that kids can pop a piece in their mouth and keep chatting. You’d be surprised how much more a kid will eat when there are small pieces of all kinds of food to pop in their mouth!

👉🏼Make sure their drink is also in an easy-to-sip straw bottle.

👉🏼Practice at home – have lunchbox dinners occasionally!

👉🏼👉🏼When you practice, include the school lunch routine. Some schools bring all the lunchboxes to the cafeteria in a wagon or bucket and then the kids search for theirs among all the others! Tie a bright ribbon on your kids’ so it’s easy to spot to save time!

💕Melanie
#melaniepotock #lunchbox #slpfeeding #pickyeaters

*Source: School Nutrition 2022 State Mandate Report