Feeding and Swallowing
Our feeding and swallowing services support infants, children, and, when appropriate, teens and adults who are working hard to eat, drink, or manage mealtimes. We look at how the mouth, muscles, and nervous system are working together, and how that affects comfort, safety, nutrition, and family routines. Therapy is collaborative and family centered, with a focus on making everyday eating feel more manageable.
Picky Eating and Mealtime Struggles
Picky eating and mealtime struggles services support children who eat a very small range of foods, get upset when new foods are offered, or find mealtimes stressful. This may show up as refusing most textures or colors, difficulty sitting at the table, or big feelings when something changes on the plate.
In therapy, we look at the whole picture, including sensory preferences, oral motor skills, and past experiences with eating. Sessions focus on helping children feel safer and more successful with food, at a pace that respects their comfort while gently expanding their options. Parents are part of the process so that small gains in the clinic can carry over to family meals.
Infant and Toddler Feeding (Breast, Bottle, and First Foods)
Infant and toddler feeding services support babies and young children who are working hard to feed at the breast, drink from a bottle, or move from milk to purees and table foods. Concerns may include long or stressful feeds, coughing or sputtering with milk, difficulty coordinating sucking, swallowing, and breathing, or trouble accepting a wider range of textures. This can also include little ones who have had medical challenges or a history of tube feeding.
As speech language pathologists, we focus on how the mouth and body work together for feeding, including oral motor skills and swallowing. We help families adjust positioning, pacing, and textures and collaborate with lactation consultants, pediatricians, and other providers so support for infant and toddler feeding feels coordinated and practical.
Swallowing and Oral Motor Skills
Swallowing and oral motor services support children, teens, and adults who seem to work very hard to eat or drink. Families may notice coughing or choking with foods or liquids, long or tiring meals, avoiding certain textures, or worries that food or drink is not going down smoothly. This can also include some learners who are beginning to eat more by mouth after a time of tube feeding.
In therapy, we look at how a person is chewing and swallowing and what is making eating feel difficult or unsafe. We help find safer, more comfortable ways to manage foods and liquids by adjusting posture, pacing, and textures and by building the underlying skills needed for mealtimes to feel more manageable.
What to expect
We begin with a conversation about your concerns and a careful review of medical and feeding history. Then we watch how feeding is going now, whether that is your baby’s bottle or breast feed, your toddler’s snack, or a typical meal for an older child, teen, or adult. We look for what is already working and where eating or drinking seems hard, stressful, or unsafe.
From there, we talk through what we are seeing in clear, everyday language and create a plan together. Therapy sessions are calm and supportive, with changes made in small, manageable steps. We focus on comfort, safety, and skill building over time, not forcing bites or rushing progress. Families and adult clients are actively involved, and we offer simple ideas to try between sessions so gains in the clinic can carry over to everyday life. When medical or nutrition concerns are part of the picture, we stay in communication with your other providers so the plan feels coordinated.