Parents will often ask me why is it that they child will eat things at daycare but not at home.  It is a very valid question and one I wish I had the answer to.  I found it to be true even with my own children.  I would pick them up at the end of the day and look over their ''What I Did Today'' report and often be surprised with ...

I should learn by now that one should not ever say ''never'' because there is almost always an exception (or two) to a statement that uses the world ''never'' in it.  Such as I did in my last post. A OT who has had experience with individuals/young adults with eating disorders did share with me that there is actually a method that is used to ...

In the past I have shared various strategies that work when it comes to children who have trouble eating.  I've shared some sensory and strengthening strategies.  I'm sure as I continue to write this blog I will share even more but today I wanted to do something a little different.  I wanted to share a strategy that doesn't work - ...

In an earlier blog post I had spoken about the usefulness of the Nuk Brush and listed several places that sell it.  The sites I listed were therapy sites as that was the only place I have been able to find them.  Until now, that is.  Last Friday I was in a local Toys R Us store, browsing the aisles on my way to the play-doh ...

It's hard to believe it's been two years since I started writing this blog.  I had read somewhere that the average blog life is about 18 months before the blog is abandoned.  This is a long time to try and think of new and interesting things to share.  I'm lucky though, I love my job and I love writing.  I feel I am ...

With a new year upon us and with many of us having had to renew our licenses and/or certifications I thought it might be a good idea to share a list of classes in the area of feeding & oral motor to help with our CEU requirements.  In the coming weeks and months I will share classes in other areas as well (sensory, NDT, behavioral, ...

One of the most challenging things when it comes to working with a family who has a child who ''won't eat'' is figuring out how much of it may be due to the child's inability to eat (sensory problems, physical problems, processing disorders, etc) and how much may be due to the child's lack of motivation to eat.  The former is much easier to ...

One of the challenges of working with toddlers and their independent self-feeding skills is that you are sometimes challenged to work with a toddler who doesn't have the skills to be independent but is at that age where they are striving to do it all themselves anyway.  They want to do everything themselves and are not always welcoming when ...

When it comes to picky eaters one of the biggest challenges we have as therapists is getting the child to even taste something.  There is, of course, an entire protocol to getting a sensory defensive child to allow food to be 1) in the room, 2) on the table, 3) on their plate, 4) on their spoon/fork, 5) near their mouth, 6) in their ...

How many of you have used a Nuk brush when working with your pediatric patients?  Do you use it just to ''wake up'' their mouths or do you use it in other ways as well?  As I have gained experience in the pediatric area and especially the oral motor/feeding challenges I have found that the Nuk Brush is a very versitile tool.  Let me ...