Melanie Potock

Spouted Sippy Cups! The no-spill feature is so tempting for parents! The sucking (like on a bottle or a thumb) is so hard to resist for kids!💕 Try your best to skip the spouted sippy cups (or limit them to RARELY using them). Here’s why:

😛Babies gradually learn to lift up their tongue tip to swallow by about the first birthday. But if spouts hold down the tongue, they don’t get the practice I think they need. It’s also just one of the reasons we start bottle weaning when baby starts solids so they are off the bottle right after their first birthday. 🍼

🥤What to use instead? Comment #bestcups for a link to my Amazon shop (#affiliatelink) to see my tested and best options. BTW, If were a businesswoman who didn’t care about your child’s mouth development, I’d LOAD that Amazon store with spouted sippy cups because they’re so darn convenient & marketed by baby companies as the next step in learning to use a cup (um, no!) but I can’t sell what I don’t believe in…even if we promise to use them only occasionally.

👉🏼When it comes to how your child’s palate and face forms in the early years, there are many factors to consider – but they always come down to 1) frequency of use 2) duration or how long it’s used and 3) intensity or pressure on the structures. Can we measure that with every influential factor? It’s unlikely – but we can consider the advice of top professionals who SPECIALIZE in mouth development:

✨”Sucking on a rigid piece of plastic … can actually misshape the oral cavity and result in problems later in life like speech, airway, sleep quality, and facial form and aesthetics.” - Mark Burhenne, DDS

✨”Many if not most of these “no-spill” cups are just bottles in disguise” American Dental Association

✨”Many experts suggest that orofacial myofunctional disorders may develop as a result from…extended use of a pacifier and/or long-term use of sippy cups” -International Association of Orofacial Myology

❓❓Questions? Ask away!
❤️Melanie

*note - kids with medical issues related to aspiration may need spouted sippy cups #melaniepotock

#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #ashaigers #pickyeaters #originalidea

Crushing it. #feedingtoddlers #melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #feedinglittles #reallife

🤦🏼‍♀️Got a picky eater who always wants the same thing for dinner?

🩷Sometimes, some kids need a little bit of their preferred food on their plate, as it’s truly the only thing they can eat.

👉🏼But for many kids, especially if you’re trying to avoid more extreme picky eating, it’s ideal to teach about WAITING.

✨You’re in charge of what gets served at mealtimes, but of course you can get your kiddo’s input. In our family, each child got to pick their favorite for everyone to enjoy one time per week.

💕You do you – because you know you kids best. I hope these scripts are helpful.

❓Want to learn more about how to avoid the mac n cheese rut? COMMENT COURSES for a discount code to my entire course library – sent straight to you DMs!

And, as always, thank you for following me, and trusting me to help you raise healthy, happy eaters.
🥰Melanie

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

Having a picky eater can feel overwhelming .

Take care of ✨you✨

You’re a wonderful parent and they are going to get better, because of you.🤍

💕Melanie
#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #ashaigers #feedinglittles #pickyeaters #responsivefeeding #startingsolids

Without even realizing it, are you raising your kiddo to be a picky eater?

Here are 3 mistakes I still make, and I’ve written 6 books on raising healthy happy eaters.😳🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

🤍It’s just so easy to do, but the key is give yourself grace, and try not to do these too often. So, in the interest of reminding myself to STOP IT😉, I am confessing that I sometimes (not "all the time" like I said in the video - I`m being way to hard on myself today)...

1.✨Have trouble sticking to a mealtime/snacktime schedule. So, I have a copy of my OWN Hungry Not Hangry Schedule printed and posted where I can see it as a reminder that kids are often bored, tired, or just “in the kitchen” and all of those may prompt requests to eat.

👉🏼(COMMENT SCHEDULE to download your free copy).

2.✨They may actually be thirsty, and toddlers tend to request snacks even if they are feeling thirst. It’s a reminder for me to keep their water bottles within reach and offer water frequently.

3.✨I admit it – it’s so easy for me to reach for something I’m sure they will eat, because honestly, it’s easier on me too. And occasionally, that’ totally fine! But if I reach for favorites too frequently, and I don’t focus on exposures to all kinds of foods – I’m going to regret it.
✨❤️✨Exposure is everything when it comes to raising a healthy, happy eater.

✨Rather than trying to follow all the rules you find in books (including mine!) – just know that following those suggestions most of the time is good enough.

🥰Melanie

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

My kid likes to look at a book while they’re eating…
🤔Is that ok?

✨COMMENT TABLE✨ for 3 links to the best mealtime books, but first, 👉🏼let’s breakdown the YES and NO:

👉🏼Here are 3 reasons I’d say YES and 3 reasons I’d say NO:
1)✨YES, because it’s “while they’re eating.” If they are enjoying a book and enjoying their meal at the same time, that’s wonderful!
❌AND NO, if it’s interfering with them eating. If it’s too distracting and gets in the way of focusing on the food, then no, it’s not ok.

2)✨YES, it it helps them pace themselves. Toddlers are especially notorious for grabbing large handfuls of food and overstuffing, rather than picking up one piece at a time and chewing, then swallowing and taking another piece. A book is often a wonderful solution for this!
❌AND NO, if it appears that they are not eating mindfully. In other words, the book is the main focus, and the food is somehow just finding their way to their mouth. Like eating in front of a screen, occasionally a book can make kids zone out, especially if it’s an interactive book with buttons and sound effects.

3)✨Yes, if it’s only on occasion, and they aren’t dependent on it. Mealtimes are an important time for connection and to build cognitive and language skills.
❌AND NO, if they cannot be flexible and come to the table without a book. That dependency on an object at the table signals to me that they need something to keep their mind off their anxiety at the table, or around some foods.

🤍TIP: The more you can sit with your child, engaged and connecting, the better! Reading a book to them while they eat, pausing several times on each page to comment, point out the pictures and pause, waiting for their response, is a lovely way to get that mealtime conversation going!

🥰Tell me, do you have favorite books to bring to the table? I have an entire list of favorite books about food on my Amazon Shop. ✨COMMENT TABLE✨for 3 links to the best books to bring to the table and more!
🩷Melanie

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

Solving picky eating starts with fun! Think about it…

🤔 The best teachers make the lesson fun! Go from fun to YUM with 100 activities and recipes in Adventures in Veggieland!

✨And don’t forget…

✨Smile✨Research shows that when YOU smile when presenting a new food, kids are more likely to try it. 🙂

👉🏼🔗COMMENT VEGGIES for 3 links that will help you with the tools to raise more adventurous eaters.

🥰Melanie
#melaniepotock #slpfeeding #feedingtherapy #ashaigers #feedinglittles #pickyeaters #responsivefeeding #adventuresinveggieland

Preventing picky eating is best done by focusing on …

✨VARIETY✨

✨VARIETY - even if they don’t eat it.
✨VARIETY - tiny portions of a variety of flavors, about a tablespoon each… then more if they want it.
✨VARIETY - include texture variety too- smashed, meltable, safe crunchies, etc.

👉🏼✨👉🏼Let’s jump back to flavor for a minute… even if you are serving only mac & cheese (because that’s all you have time for), take one minute to divide out some of the portions and add some dried herbs (dill is a great one) or a bit of pepper, or quickly stirring in some canned pumpkin...well done! 🥰

😎Save this post to help you remember that one word: VARIETY.

I’d love to know what questions you have…please ask away, I’m here to help!

🤍Melanie

Oh, and can we prevent picky eating in every child? No. But even if you`re kiddo is in feeding therapy for hesitant eating, our goal is variety, one step at a time!

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

#sponsored The @gobekids cup teaches your toddler how to drink properly from an open cup the way nature intended. As a speech language pathologist specializing in mouth and feeding development in children, that’s important to me, and here’s why:

Some circular “360-style” open cups require young children to jut their jaw forward, brace their mouth and apply pressure or suck very forcefully to get the liquid to flow. In my professional experience, that’s not an oral motor pattern we want to teach little kids, and it has nothing to do with drinking from an open cup. We want kids using the correct muscles of the face to comfortably drink from an open cup in the same manner that adults do – and BONUS if we can reduce spills!💦

Choose a cup that truly teaches the correct motor pattern for open cup drinking. I choose the @gobekids cup because it was designed to support your child’s mouth development and speech and feeding milestones. PLUS, and you’ll love this – it automatically closes if your kid drops it on the floor (because they will).😉

Cheers!
🥰Melanie

#melaniepotock #toddlers #toddlermom #parentingtips #toddlersnacks #parentinghacks #dadlife #ashaigers #slpfeeding #otfeeding

🐇Marshmallow candies are a THING in Easter baskets, and many adults have no idea how easy it is for a child to choke on even a piece of a marshmallow.

✂️You can’t cut them smaller than a child’s airway and they are so lightweight and fluffy, they are easily inhaled. The stickiness and squishy texture acts as an ideal plug – making them extremely difficult to dislodge.

👋🏼🤍👋🏼Hi, I’m Melanie, as speech language pathologist and swallowing specialist devoted to helping you with your child’s feeding development…and that includes food safety. SAVE THIS POST under “holidays” on your phone and now is the time to share with friends and family.

✨Most major health organizations recommend waiting to serve a child marshmallows (yes, even in hot chocolate) until age 4. Why not age 3 you ask?

👉🏼The size of a 3 vs a 4-year-olds airway isn’t that different and can vary depending on the overall size of the child…BUT, the attention span of a 4- year-old is typically better than a 3-year-old. It’s simply too easy to laugh or inhale before starting a sentence and that sticky little pillow of a marshmallow is now a plug in your child’s airway.

❓Tell me, did you know this about marshmallows? Also, anybody ever play that marshmallow game where you stuff as many marshmallows in your mouth and try to talk? Stop it. Don’t play that. Don’t model that for kids. I’m serious. 🤍

🥰Thanks…good talk. Have a lovely holiday!
🤍🐇🤍Melanie
#melaniepotock #eastersunday #eastercandy #easterbunny #chokinghazards
#feedinglittles #feedingtherapy #pickyeaters