Expert Feeding Advice for Parents & Professionals – Page 25

Raise a Healthy, Happy Eater

feeding advice for parents and professionals

Feeding Babies

4 Signs Your Baby Is Ready for Solid Foods

by Alice Callahan on May 28, 2015 My last post went into great detail about the research on age of starting solids and health outcomes, including nutrition, growth, illness, and...

Challenges at School, Feeding Toddlers to School Age

Picky Eaters in the Preschool Classroom: 7 Tips for Teachers

As a pediatric feeding therapist, part of working in the child’s natural environment is making regular preschool visits to offer teachers and staff guidance when a child is not eagerly...

Feeding Therapy

Pediatric Feeding Tops the Charts in 2014

ASHA Leader Pediatric Feeding Tops the Charts in 2014 From stuttering to aphasia, hearing loss to hearing aids, early intervention to telepractice and more, ASHA’s blog posts are written by...

mymunchbug_melaniepotock

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Apr 24

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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 ...

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Apr 23

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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 ...

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mymunchbug_melaniepotock

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Apr 22

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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 ...

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