Speaking & Eating With Sarah | Speech pathologist

Speaking & Eating With Sarah

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25.01.2022 There is another important factor besides age that needs to be considered before starting solids and that is whether your child is developmentally ready. The essential signs that your child is ready to start solids are: your child is able to hold their head up independently your child is able to sit upright (this can be with the support of a high chair)... And that is it!!! You may have heard many other signs like they ready for food or they seem hungry but these are not in way essential! #startingsolids #babymealtimes #speechpathology

25.01.2022 KEEP YOUR MEALTIME LANGUAGE NEUTRAL Don’t be tempted to over praise, speak negatively or label foods as healthy and unhealthy as this brings emotion and external motivation such as praise or treats to mealtimes. We want our child to be motivated to eat because they are hungry and it fills their stomach not because it makes mum happy or they will get ice-cream afterwards. ... It can be easy to fall into the trap of offering a treat to get your child to eat, to cheer them up but this distracts from the true purpose of food which is to fuel our body when we are hungry! It can be tricky to do but well worth making the shift #toddlermealtimes #fussyeaters #feedingtherapy #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

24.01.2022 It’s Speech Pathology Week!! This years topic is communicating with confidence and I feel so privileged to be able to work in a role where I can support children and their families to communicate with confidence. Communication is such an important part of our everyday so I love it when I am able to empower parents with the strategies to support their child on their communication journey. ... And there are so many fabulous Speech Pathologists out there who also contribute to this. A big thank you to every one of them! @speechpathaus #speechpathologyweek2020 #speechpathologyaustralia #communicatingwithconfidence

23.01.2022 FAMILY MEALS As often as possible eat as a family, mealtimes are social occasions so eat together and talk! They also allow you to provide great modelling around eating during this time and you can talk about the food together. I know this isn’t always easy to make work but where you can, even if it is just the weekends, try and eat meals together. You will be surprised the positive difference it can make to mealtimes.... #familymealtimes #toddlermealtimes #fussyeaters #feedingtherapy #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

18.01.2022 Gagging is actually an inbuilt safety mechanism when food is too big to swallow. Gagging looks distressing but generally is more distressing for us as parents than your child. As we tend to get distressed our child then mirrors our response and starts to become distressed rather than the gagging itself making them distressed! Try to remember to stay calm when your child gags to show them it is ok and they can try again to chew up the food.... Gagging often occurs when trying more textured foods as your child gets used to the new sensation! #startingsolids #firstfoods #weaningbaby #blw #babyledweaning #traditionalweaning #babymealtimes #speechpathology

15.01.2022 STARTING SOLIDS I have worked in supporting infants and toddlers around starting solids for many years but I was still super nervous when we started our solids journey. It is such a huge change from breast or bottle feeding and mealtimes are so different to what a mealtime would look like for us. I thankfully had the knowledge to overwrite my fears and trust the process and my little one!... We’ve somewhat tackled toddler mealtimes so let’s now focus on the key supports for starting the solids journey with your baby over the next few weeks....hopefully it will make the process smoother and positive for all! #startingsolids #babymealtimes #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

15.01.2022 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS’ DAY I am a day early to celebrate but wanted to make mention of this day as our children’s early childhood educators play such an important role in the village that helps raise our children. During the early years our children are learning and absorbing so much everyday and these amazing educators are there supporting them through this.... So I wanted to say a big thank you to all those early childhood educators who make a difference to children’s lives everyday. #earlychildhoodeducationday #lovemyece

13.01.2022 There is so much conflicting information around this and it has continued to change over the years so it can be confusing! As per the World Health Organisation it is recommended to commence solids at 6 months of age. Prior to this infants should be exclusively breastfed or formula fed. This is all they need and their gut is not yet ready to manage solid foods.... When solids are commenced it is initially just for learning so consumption is not the key. Breast feeding and bottle feeding remain the primary form of intake to meet your infants needs. Eating solids is a very different experience and requires your infant to learn a range of new skills so they need to time to learn! #startingsolids #babymealtimes

13.01.2022 Is encouragement useful at mealtimes? Sounds harmless enough to say something like wow you are doing well, how about one more piece? However, research is actually showing it is better to use neutral language at mealtimes. This allows our children to be internally motivated to eat because it makes their tummy feel good rather than eating because we are impressed or seem happy.... Tricky to change our mindset but it is definitely worth a try!! #startingsolids #firstfoods #babymealtimes #speechpathology

11.01.2022 Always a scary experience regardless of whether your child is choking or gagging but it is really important to know the difference...so what is the difference? In basic form it depends on whether they are making any noise: If your child is gagging they WILL BE making noise eg crying, retching, coughing. This is not life threatening.... If your child is choking they WILL NOT BE making any noise as the airway is blocked. This is life threatening and needs immediate medical attention. It is very beneficial to complete an infant first aid course so you know what to do in the event of an emergency as should anyone who may feed your child. I will talk more in my next post about managing gagging! #startingsolids #firstfoods #babyweaning #babymealtimes #blw #babyledweaning #traditionalweaning #chokingvsgagging #chokingfirstaid #infantfirstaid #speechpathology

10.01.2022 CREATE YOUR OWN MEALTIME ROUTINES This doesn’t mean that you have to have set times for different meals each day, although this can be useful as well. It is more about creating a routine that occurs before, during and after each mealtime. This helps: prepare your child that a mealtime is coming give them a role in the mealtime... give time some control over the mealtime gives them some independence in mealtimes allows them to recognise when the mealtime is finished Ideas for a establishing a mealtime routine are: setting the table together and giving your child certain tasks to do washing hands ready to eat putting food in the middle of the table and serving the food on to the plate yourselves putting utensils on the plate or down when finished cleaning up by taking dishes to the kitchen washing hands (and possibly face) after the mealtime Obviously this is all at a level that is suitable for their age and abilities! Toddlers really love to help out so get creative as to what roles are suitable for them. #toddlermealtimes #feedingtherapy #fussyeaters #specchpathology #perthspeechpathologist

09.01.2022 DON’T MAKE MEALTIMES THE FOCUS OF YOUR DAY I frequently have parents come to see me who report that they are exhausted as their whole day is focussed around getting their child to eat. They spend the day planning, preparing, offering, encouraging, going to certain cafes or places their child will eat, thinking of other creative ways to get their child to eat, etc etc....no wonder they are exhausted! Now I completely understand that it is important that our children eat, howev...er, think about your stress levels and the pleasure that is taken form mealtimes if we get to the point that mealtimes are our sole focus. It is difficult to re-shape our thinking but the more relaxed we are the more pleasurable mealtimes will be. This in turn will lead to your child being happy and calm and then they are more able to be open to new experiences like trying new foods. In this instance less really is better for everyone!! Just imagine someone chasing you around with food all day, even if it was delicious I would imagine by the end of the day you would be looking for some space #toddlermealtimes #fussyeaters #feedingtherapy #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

05.01.2022 MEALTIMES ARE IMPACTED BY HOW YOU ARE FEELING AS WELL! Children pick up your demeanour and stress very easily so you need to be aware that mealtimes will also be affected by how you are feeling. This is hard as you can be exhausted by the end of the day, still have a thousand things to do and/or so used to mealtimes going poorly that you come to mealtimes naturally expecting the worst.... As often as possible we need to come to mealtimes feeling relaxed, distraction free and with no expectations. Just see it as another option to learn together about food! Try to come to the mealtime: With a positive attitude Completely distraction free eg phone away from table, television etc off, nothing cooking on the stove With something to eat and focus on yourself With a look that shows you are happy to be there and there is no one else you would rather be spending time with right now! #toddlermeals #fussyeaters #feedingtherapy #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

04.01.2022 What an outstanding number, communication disability is not likely to feel all that common to many of us but these statistics definitely show us otherwise! Let’s hope all of these Australians are given the opportunity to access services that allow them to communicate with confidence. @speechpathaus ... #speechpathologyweek2020 #speechpathologyaustralia #communicationdisability

02.01.2022 MEALTIME ROLES This might sound strange but you and your child both play a role in mealtimes.... you provide the food your child decides what they eat and how they eat it... It is tricky to let go of the control but your only role is to provide the food and the types of food. That is it! Your child then decides what and how much they eat at the mealtime. This is really important as it allows them to: listen to their hunger cues and eat according to this only try new foods when they are ready and explore food to a level they are comfortable with develop their self feeding skills As scary as this might seem this actually allows for a much more pleasurable experience for your child and then long term success with mealtimes. #toddlermeals #babymeals #fussyeaters #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist

02.01.2022 How can we make foods more suitable for little ones and reduce the risk of choking. Try the following: avoid hard foods such as chips, nuts and popcorn cut round foods such as grapes, cherry tomatoes into quarters remove skin from foods eg remove sausage skin and just offer meat inside remove seeds, pips, stones from foods eg cherry, olives, nectarines ... avoid foods that are tough and gristly avoid foods that have small bones or remove the bones eg fish #startingsolids #firstfoods #weaningbaby #traditionalweaning #babyledweaning #blw #babymealtimes #chokinghazard #speechpathology

02.01.2022 Starting solids is very focussed on what to eat so what about drinks?!? Well your child will be gaining their fluid intake from breast or bottle feeding still. But this is a good time to introduce water to your child to start learning and exploring cup drinking. You don’t need a special sippy cup or anything fancy. You can even start with a normal cup. This is a tricky and new skill though so it will take time for your child to learn and once again messy! ... A normal cup or water bottle is preferred over a sippy cup as it promotes more mature drinking skills but that doesn’t mean you can’t offer a sippy cup if you want. Just be aware to transition to a cup or water bottle sooner rather than later. Also when deciding on an option think about: how they can hold the cup eg handles that they can easily get there mouth around the teat, rim or straw. #startingsolids #firstfoods #weaningbaby #traditionalweaning #babyledweaning #blw #babymealtimes #speechpathology

01.01.2022 INVOLVE IN FOOD PREPARATION Involve your child as much as possible in cooking meals, baking, growing food in the garden, going shopping etc. These are all good opportunities to learn about food. I hear you though it can be very messy, take at least twice as long and requires lots of patience! However you might be surprised by how much your child learns and how they explore foods in new ways during this time. It also allows them to feel part of the process of mealtimes. ... So next time you are relaxed, have the time and are prepared for the mess have a try! #toddlermealtimes #familymeals #fussyeaters #feedingtherapy #speechpathology #perthspeechpathologist