South Mountain Speech and Feeding

12/15/2021

It’s time to buy a high chair - but there are so many choices! Which ones are the best for baby now and as they grow?

There are a few things you want to look for in a chair.

* Easy to clean - Babies learn about their environment through ALL their senses, and play can definitely be messy! Make sure that your seat can be easily wiped down.

* Straps - They might seem like a pain to buckle and unbuckle, but a fall is traumatic and can make your kid resistant to getting back in the chair for mealtime on another day. Strap them in for their safety and your peace of mind.

* Removable tray - Babies learn from watching those around them and mealtime is social, so don’t leave your baby on their own highchair island. Make sure their seat allows them to pull right up to the table to join the family fun!

* Positioning - Baby will get the main stability for a safe swallow from their feet and hips being stable. That means once their knees reach the edge of the chair they need a secure place to rest their feet. A 90* angle at their knees and good hip support make babies and toddlers comfy enough to stay in their seat a bit longer.

12/11/2021

hi there. I took a long break to care for my family during COVID, and now I'm back helping little eaters and families enjoy all their meals again! I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself. I'm Rachel. I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist, a feeding therapist and a mom to two girls. I live in Maplewood, NJ and love wandering in nature, muffin baking, dog snuggling and really good coffee.

Helping families work through feeding struggles is so personal to me. My younger daughter was unable to nurse or take a bottle as a newborn and I recall all the frustration, sadness and exhaustion I felt in those early days. My older daughter was a great nurser and early eater, but transformed into a picky eater around 4 years old and we have worked through mealtime struggles for the past 8 years.

I understand your struggles. I have lived your struggles. And now I'm here to help the whole family overcome them.

03/06/2019

Stuck in a food rut? Feel like you or your kids are eating the same boring foods over and over. Is your child resistant to change?

I gave some of my clients (and my own kids) a challenge this week: take foods you already like and combine them to make a new food. I was really impressed with some of the results!

For lunch today, my picky and hesitant 9 year old took a sweet potato waffle and added peanut butter, bananas and honey. In the end; she had a delicious, and very messy sandwich that she happily devoured. Even though she is generally hesitant to try new things, she knew that all the ingredients "weren't scary" and she was very willing to try. For dinner this weekend, my kids worked together and invented a burrito pizza on naan. The possibilities are endless!

Trying new things can be scary, but using ingredients that are already preferred takes away some of the panic and resistance. The kids were also given complete control of the foods they chose which eliminates the power struggle when we try to give new foods to picky kids.

Try it out and share your creations!

03/04/2019

Exposure, Exposure, Exposure!

Did you know that It can take young kids up to 15 exposures to the same food before it isn't new or scary to them anymore. And that number doubles when you kids are older than 8 😳

Present a variety of foods over and over to your kids. Remember that little ones learn through their senses, so multiple exposures to a food need to look the same each time, not just be the same ingredients (bbq chicken, breaded chicken and rotisserie chicken all look, smell and taste very different!)

03/02/2019

How do you know if your child is "just picky" or if they have a feeding problem and would benefit from feeding therapy?

Here are a few red flags you can looks out for:

💙Is your child slow to grow or have sharp drops on the growth charts?
💜Are you having difficulty transitioning babies off of pureed solids?
💙Does your child refuse all foods with a specific texture or in a food group?
💜Does your child eat fewer than 30 foods?
💙Does your child drop favorite foods from their diet but not resume them after a short break?
💜Does your baby cry or arch during most meals?
💙And most importantly, are mealtimes stressful or result in constant battles?

If you find yourself nodding along as you read through the list, be sure to contact a feeding therapist to see if their treatment style would be a good fit.

03/01/2019

New parents always ask when to give their baby a bottle for the first time.
For parents that need their baby to take a bottle in order to return to work or to leave for an afternoon or night out, introduce the bottle to your little one between 3-5 weeks old. The bottle doesn’t need to replace a full feeding, it can be just an ounce. Give one bottle each day so that your baby can get used to having milk from a bottle.

🍼 Just remember! If you are using formula in the bottle, be sure to pump to tell your body to make more milk in order to keep up your supply.

11/23/2017

The best part about feeding therapy- I get to play with my food again! The best way to make new foods seem less scary is to let kids explore and make a mess! One of my preschool-aged clients is incredibly anxious about any new foods; smelling them, touching them or even having them on the table. So we turn them into his favorite playthings. This session was a race track with cracker crumb gravel, mango applesauce mud pits, pretzel logs, mashed potato quicksand and marshmallow sticky tar pits. He drove the cars around and around, and then washed them down in a "car wash" at the end. This was the first time he touched any of these foods with his fingers and not a tool or utensil, and even put one thing in his mouth - his first new taste of food in over a year!

11/15/2017

Now that my pickier eater is getting older, she is given more responsibility for helping to choose her new foods to try. Each week she is asked to pick 3 new foods from the grocery store - 1 protein, 1 vegetable and 1 freebie. When we first started this, I encouraged her to find something she already liked and to try a new variation or flavor (new yogurt flavor, a different type of cheese, a green apple instead of red). So far this year, she has added more than 20 new foods to her list, and found some favorites that surprised both her and me (turkey, brie and apple sandwiches are the new lunch favorite!) Start slow, asking kids to pick a new flavor of a food they already know and like. If the differences are small, it will ease the anxiety of something new - and it all becomes easier over time.

10/25/2017

Dinner in my house! Soba Buckwheat noodles with peanut butter sauce, broccoli slaw and teriyaki tofu. All in separate bowls- everyone selects the amount from each bowl and decides to mix it or keep it separate (and some add cheese?!?) We give the kids some control over their meals and make sure there is something on the table for everyone. One mixes it all together, another insists on separating it into piles.

10/19/2017

SOMA Friends: Parents Circle This Friday October 20th at 10am! Hoping to raise an adventurous eater? Join me at this meet-up for tips and tricks to help set your child up for a lifetime of healthy eating starting from the very beginning - and how to make some changes to toddler mealtimes to help expand your child’s diet.

RSVP not required All are welcome. The event is free. Maplewood Memorial Library 51 Baker St, we meet in the Durand room in the Children's Library. We'll be there from 10am - Noon, feel free to drop in as your little one's schedule allows :)
SOMA Families Meetup members can RSVP here https://www.meetup.com/SOMA-Families.../events/244004449/

The Parents' Circle is an ongoing discussion group open to all parents and caregivers of children ages 0-5 years. We cover a range of topics and offer a supportive, non-judgmental space for parents/caregivers to share their experience, wisdom, and learn from one another. Children 0-5 are welcome. Location details in comments. Questions? Please email: jenniferburlesonlcsw@gmail.com

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