If you have a toddler at home, you may agree with the fact that nowadays, most of the kids are fussy eaters. They prefer to eat outside food like pizza or burgers, but in the case of vegetables or fruits or any other healthy foods, they start throwing tantrums.

Have you heard of Feeding Therapy before?

If not, it is mainly something that teaches children to develop healthy eating habits. But child support team of Montessori Cypress CA considers it more than just teaching a child to eat. Therapists work in collaboration with parents and their families to understand the source of the child’s difficulties and develop unique strategies to make the entire process of eating easier and more enjoyable for the child as well as for the whole family.

The main objective of feeding therapy is to help children develop healthy eating habits and to achieve the desired goal, they teach them certain skills.

What are those skills? Keep all your worries to rest for some time, and read the entire blog post to get your answer.

Skills taught in feeding therapy :

Feeding therapists do not only help children to eat their foods but also teach certain skills to make their mealtime fun and nutritious. They determine the skills depending on the child’s requirements. Some of the common skills are :

1. Food Orientation: Many children need assistance in understanding the types of foods they are supposed to eat. This may happen because of certain allergies, illness, developmental issues, and sensory aversions. Food orientation is an important aspect that helps Montessori Cypress CA kids to enjoy their meal and eat a well-balanced diet. This process is quite beneficial for the children having sensory aversion and limited exposure to the type of foods.
2. Chewing and sipping: Sometimes kids show aversion towards food as they lack the required skills to eat and drink. In such a case the therapist works with the children and teaches the basics of sipping, chewing, sucking, and swallowing the foods.
3. Improve the overall mealtime experience: Many of the Montessori Cypress CA kids show negative feelings and aversions towards mealtime and food in particular. In such cases, the therapists work in collaboration with the family members and try to create a positive eating and drinking experience for children. They not only teach children to explore and eat their food independently but also try to improve their overall mealtime experience.

Steps involved in food therapy :

The food therapy sessions can be done at the nutritionist’s clinic, hospital, or a rehabilitation center. The whole process involved some steps. They are :

• Touching and looking at the food
• Smelling the food
• Kissing the food
• Holding, licking and eating the food
• Increasing the intake of a variety and volume of solid and liquid foods
• Enhancing the self-feeding skill
• Decreasing the overall meal duration
• Helping cope up with disruptive mealtime behaviors like crying, screaming, or throwing away the food

Parents need to be calm and work in partnership with the therapist to get a better result.