Because of the prevalence of picky eating, I have created a free, parent training to look at tips and tricks for working with the picky eater. These tips and tricks are standard tips that can be used with the "typical" picky eater and with a child who has true feeding difficulties or a feeding disorder.
As a speech pathologist that specializes in feeding therapy, I encourage families to stick with a solid meal/snack schedule. As a mom, I encourage you to stick with listening to your child. Remember, your responsibility is to decide what they are given and when. Their responsibility is to decide which of those items they eat and how much they eat.
As I have said many times, eating does not start with the first bite. Eating starts with knowing you can tolerate the texture of food on your finger tips, then the palm of your hand, then the back of your hand, and all the way up to your mouth. Many of us take this tolerance for granted.
By providing comprehensive and compassionate therapy, I hope to allow children an opportunity to show love to others through their speech, their language, and their feeding. If you see someone who is sad, you talk to them. If someone needs comforting, you bring them food or share a meal together. Children with speech, language, or feeding delay may not be able to show love in those same ways. I want to help change that.
If you want to learn more about food chaining, checkout this great book: Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet.
