Growing Independent Eaters co-founder, Becky Keifer has been a Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in feeding for 17 years. Since graduating from Washington State University with a Bachelor's in Speech and Hearing Sciences and a Master’s degree in Communication Disorders, she has worked with hundreds of clients, specializing in Pediatric Feeding Disorders in Spokane, Washington where she lives.
Weaning a toddler can be so gratifying – especially as they begin to explore and enjoy foods that you truly wondered if they ever would! But it can also present some unique challenges, especially as toddlers develop new interests and opinions about the world around them! One of these challenges centers on how aware your toddler is of their tube feeds, and becomes especially tricky when your toddler begins to protest those feeds.
When our kids start to eat orally, the fear of gagging and choking is ever present with many parents. And initially, as your child explores new foods and textures, their desire for new foods may outpace their oral motor skills. This can bring about a subset of gagging that is totally developmentally appropriate. So, let’s look at what is going on to help determine if your child’s gagging needs more direct intervention or will just be a normal phase that will be over soon.
All of parenting is a bit of a ‘trial by fire,’ but that is never more true than when you find yourself worried about your tiny person’s pooping habits. All of parenting is a bit of a ‘trial by fire,’ but that is never more true than when you find yourself worried about your tiny person’s pooping habits.
We’ve all heard before that self-talk dictates your outlook on life, can change your attitude, and aid in success. This is 100% true when you are working with your child on their feeding skills.
“I’ll never forget the day our feeding therapist came to us and said, “If you’re not ready to explore weaning, I think we’ve gone as far as we can with therapy.” All the emotions seemed to hit at once. I had come to a place where I never thought I would see the day that my child was able to eat completely on her own. Though there was no medical reason for her to have a tube that could be identified anymore, it was surreal to hear that my little one was ready.
From start to finish, our wean took about 9 weeks. Here are the biggest lessons that I learned…”
“…when it comes time to consider whether or not weaning is safe for your child, naturally, you may have concerns about the way that a wean – particularly one that features the safe introduction of appetite by gradually reducing the number of calories put through a tube – would impact your child’s brain development. So, in an effort to answer these concerns, let’s take some time to understand two important principles.”
Yes, we all want to see kids growing and thriving. Yes, we know that relatively consistent growth is necessary to support development, neurological flourishing, and your child’s full potential. But, we don’t really know what that “growth” looks like for any one, individual kid. Just like adults vary in sizes, so do kids!
Over the years, I’ve talked with hundreds of parents who have spent hundreds of hours coaching their child to take hundreds of bites, only to watch those bites swirl around in the mouth and be spit right back out. And when all you want is for your sweet, tube-fed kiddo to take, enjoy, and actually swallow something, that experience can be endlessly – and I mean, ENDLESSLY – frustrating! After all, how hard can it be to swallow?
One of my favorite Ellyn Satter quotes is “when parents do their jobs with feeding, children do their jobs with eating”. It is certainly apparent that infants and toddlers need their parents to play an active role in helping them to form happy relationships with food. But it’s important to remember that older children (even adolescents) still need their parental involvement.
The most predictable thing about toddler eating is that it is unpredictable. Variations in appetite will occur and while there will be days when your toddler only wants to lick, taste, or nibble, there will be other days when the volume of food consumed is unfathomable. Trust that your toddler knows how much to consume at each eating opportunity.
Growing Independent Eaters embraces and utilizes the feeding principles developed by Ellyn Satter. We use them because these principles have been validated through research to improve mealtime experiences in the long-term. And that’s what we want for your child: a life-long, happy, trusting, healthy relationship with food. And that kind of long-term success starts by implementing some really important principles, starting in infancy.
