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SERVICES

Feeding and Swallowing Therapy

Appropriate eating and swallowing ability is so important to your child’s overall development. Please ask your child’s pediatrician or call our office is you feel like for child is a “picky eater”, “problem feeder”, or having difficulty swallowing.

The Stages of Swallowing

Swallowing happens in three stages. A child can have a problem in one or more of these stages. They include:

Oral Phase

Sucking, chewing, and moving food or liquid into the throat. Feeding is a part of the oral phase

Pharyngeal Phase

Starting the swallow and squeezing food down the throat. The body needs to close off their airway to keep food or liquid out. Food going into the airway can cause coughing and choking.

Esophageal Phase

Opening and closing the esophagus (the tube that goes from the mouth to the stomach). The esophagus squeezes food down to the stomach. Food can get stuck in the esophagus. A child may throw up if there is a problem with the esophagus.

Signs of Feeding and Swallowing Disorders

Your child may have a feeding or swallowing problem if they:​

Arch or stiffen back when feeding

Cry or fuss when feeding

Fall asleep when feeding

Have problems breastfeeding

Have trouble breathing with eating and drinking

Refuse to eat or drink

Eat only certain textures, such as soft or crunchy food

Take a long time to eat meals

Pockets, or hides food in mouth

Has problems chewing

Coughs or gags during meals

Drool or has liquid coming from mouth or nose

Gets a stuffy nose during meals

Has a gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice during or after meals

Spits up or throws up frequently

Difficulty gaining weight or growing

Testing

Talk to your child’s doctor if you think they have a feeding or swallowing problem. Your doctor can test your child for medical problems and check their growth and weight. We can look at how your child eats and drinks. Our clinic will take the following steps:​

  • Ask questions about your child’s medical history, development, and the problems they are having

  • Watch how your child moves their mouth and tongue

  • Watch your child eat to see how they pick up food, chew, swallow, and drink

  • Watch how your child behaves during meals

  • Conduct further testing, if needed

Further testing may include:

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  • Modified barium swallow study - Your child eats or drinks food or liquid with barium in it. Barium shows up on an x-ray so the speech therapist can watch where the food goes.

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  • Endoscopic assessment - The doctor puts a tube with a light on the end of it into your child's nose. This scope has a camera on it, and the SLP can watch your child swallow on a screen.

Treatment

Treatment will begin with a referral for medical treatment, like medicine for reflux. During feeding therapy, we will try different foods or adding calories to their diet, look for ways to try new foods or textures, change temperatures of food, change your child’s position while eating, and look for new ways to handle your child’s behavior.

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We may use the following treatments:

  • Help them move their tongue more

  • Help them chew foods

  • Improving how well they can suck from a bottle or drink from a cup

  • Helping them learn how to breathe while sucking and swallowing (This will be for babies only)

  • Change food textures and liquid thickness to help them swallow safely

  • Encourage them to participate during meals, including accepting food

  • Help with sensory issues

  • Change the way you hold your baby or the way your child sits when eating

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