SERVICES
Evidence-Based, Empowering,
Collaborative, & Hopeful
Our therapy approach recognizes the imperative link between feeding and the parent- child relationship. This relationship is thoughtfully nurtured while implementing clinical strategies and changing feeding patterns. Our methods are evidence-based, backed by over 20 years of clinical experience, as well as, leading experts in the field, including Catherine Shaker, Dr. Kay Toomey, Marsha Dunn Klein, Melanie Potock, Diane Bahr, Suzanne Evans Morris, Dr Chatoor, and Ellyn Sater. Experienced staff have the ability to empower parents by “coaching” them on how to identify refusal cues, pleasure cues, distractions, pressure, and non-verbal communication in order to carefully change feeding patterns and navigate skill acquisition, based on the child’s responses and abilities.
FREE Phone Consultation
Discuss parental concerns around feeding
Offer strategies to implement and consider
Share resources to address the specific concerns
Schedule a feeding assessment
Evaluation
Breast feeding and bottle feeding
Poor weight gain and growth concerns
Limited repertoire of foods
NG-tube or g-tube feeding, desire to move from tube to oral feeding
Feeding refusals and feeding shut down
Role of GERD, EoE, and allergies on food refusals
TOTs/ tongue and lip ties, oral motor sensory deficits
Poor acceptance of solid and chewable foods
Treatment
Coach parents on "responsive feeding" techniques
Implement strategies to improve breast feeding and/or bottle feeding
Reduce fear and anxiety around non-preferred foods
Build confidence and re-establish curiosity and sense of adventure with non-preferred foods
Identify the need for other specialists: GI, Registered Dietitian, ENT, PT, OT etc to treat the whole child.
Oral motor sensory intervention strategies
COLLABORATION
FirstStages Feeding Specialists believes in the importance of treating the whole child and collaborating with the therapy and medical teams. Parents are often in the middle of messages and information from various providers, causing confusion and worry. It is important to implement a unified team approach to problem solving all aspects of the feeding issues. We need to work as a team, with parents as the primary drivers of the team.
