Feeding Therapy
No parent ever imagines their child will struggle with feeding.
But it can get better.
At The Airplane Spoon, we provide expert pediatric feeding support
to help children and their parents develop
positive associations, confidence, and enjoyment around mealtime experiences.
Therapy for milk drinkers (breast/bottle)
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Support with pacing, positioning, latch, and bottle systems
Promote coordinated suck, swallow, and breathing patterns
Review volume and timing strategies
Address health-related concerns like prematurity, reflux, dysphagia, laryngomalacia, etc.
Integrated lactation support for baby’s breast feeding success
Therapy for food eaters (purees, solids)
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Address nutritional profile (volume and variety) and offer strategies to expand diet
Support the development of chewing and drinking skills
Introduce strategies to promote self-feeding
Establish mealtime routines
Therapy for non-oral feeders (tube-fed)
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Introduce pre-feeding oral motor development strategies
Support in reducing desensitization/oral aversion/gagging
Promote encouragement of new and continued food-related experiences
Systematic weaning when appropriate
Parent roles in feeding therapy
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Parents (and other family members) play an important role in supporting a child’s feeding development.
Parents are involved throughout the entire time of each session, observing, learning, and practicing the skills that are introduced in the session.
This way, the family can continue to practice the skills at home.
The child’s caregivers and therapist are a team, working together to make sure the child receives the best individualized therapeutic, physical, social, and emotional support to improve his or her feeding skills and habits.
Therapy Process
Step 1: Consultation
A member of The Airplane Spoon’s team will talk with you about your interest in therapy services, your child’s strengths and areas of needed support, and The Airplane Spoon’s model.
Step 4: Start Sessions: Center
You, your child, and your therapist will all actively participate in the sessions. You will work with your provider to gain confidence and expertise in how to work on your child’s skills outside of session times.
Step 2: Evaluation
Your Airplane Spoon therapist will then come to your home for a 90-minute evaluation. You will discuss your family’s routines and areas for support and the therapist will evaluate your child’s skills in the area of needed support.
Step 5: Sessions at Home
Home sessions are a time to work on carrying over skills learned at the center into your everyday routines and contexts. Families receive home sessions one week of each month.
Step 3: Report Review
Within a week of the evaluation, you will receive an email with the written report from the evaluation and your therapist will schedule a 30 minute virtual meeting to review the results and answer any questions.
Step 6: All done
Our goal is for you to not need us anymore! Once you gain confidence in your ability to support your child in their areas of needed support, we will talk about phasing out services.
The 4 Integrated Feeding Components
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Nutrition
Good nutrition is essential for a child's growth, impacting brain activity, physical development, and overall health; whether a child consumes food orally or through a feeding tube, meeting unique nutritional needs ensures a child’s ability to grow and thrive.
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Oral-Motor Skill
Mastering eating skills involves integrating physical abilities such as core stability, fine motor development, and oral motor coordination. Specific oral motor eating skills include coordinating breathing, swallowing, drinking, and chewing.
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Sensory
Feeding, a highly sensory experience, can be overwhelming for children with differences in sensor processing or sensory integration skills, leading to potential limitations in food variety. A sensory-based feeding hierarchy is employed to gradually introduce new textures and flavors, fostering positive experiences, internal motivation, and confidence in food exploration.
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Social-Relational
Eating is not only a social but also an emotional experience, often linked to cherished moments, and children's challenging mealtime behaviors indicate discomfort or difficulty in some aspect of the feeding experience; caregiver responses play a crucial role, influencing a child's emotional associations and building trust, confidence, and internal motivation for long-term feeding success.