My almost-two-year-old daughter, Amelia, is a great eater most days (especially when it comes to trying whatever mommy is eating), but that hasn’t always been the case. Today I’m going to share our journey through feeding therapy and what our 23 month old eats over the course of a week.
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Disclaimer: I’m not a nutritionist, pediatrician, or physical therapist. This information is not to be taken as medical recommendation, and is only our experience with our child. Please discuss any conf end for your child with your pediatrician!
Our Feeding Therapy Journey
We noticed pretty much immediately that Amelia didn’t take to solids the way other babies her age did. She gagged on even the smoothest purées, refused to explore solids with her mouth or hands, and hated anything going into her mouth that wasn’t a boob (or eventually, a bottle, but even that was a struggle).
By her one-year check-up, I was pretty concerned. She was getting formula at this point, and I wanted to transition her to milk, but knew she wasn’t getting nearly enough variety in her diet to be able to do so. We got a referral to a pediatric rehabilitation and physical therapy center and started weekly feeding therapy, which ended when she “graduated” at eighteen months.
I learned so much about feeding babies and toddlers at these appointments, and Amelia is now a great eater at almost two. I wanted to share a few tips I learned from the feeding therapists, including how and when to introduce different types of foods (don’t forget to discuss with your pediatrician first), some tools we used to prep her for eating, and a look at what Amelia’s eating nowadays.
Tips From Feeding Therapy
- Stretch and stimulate the oral muscles. I’m not going to elaborate on this because I feel that this is medical information and should be discussed with a professional. However, I will say that this stimulation was really integral in helping Amelia become comfortable using her mouth.
- Use a high chair or booster seat that allows your baby’s feet to be supported comfortably on a flat surface, like a foot rest.
- Wake up the mouth before a meal. Methods included teeth brushing, or something like lemon or pickle to bring awareness to her mouth.
- Encourage food exploration. Don’t obsess about the mess! Babies and toddlers need to explore food with their hands to get an idea about texture!
- When sippy cups aren’t working, try a straw cup instead. The muscles needed to drink from a straw cup are different, and straw use is still much better than bottle nipples for oral development and dental health later on.
- When brushing teeth, brush gums, roof of mouth, tongue and cheeks to bring awareness to all areas of the mouth. Use a silicone toothbrush if your baby/toddler likes to chew on it or resists a bristle brush. Graduating from the silicone practice brush to a vibrating, electric toothbrush for children can help get them interested and accepting of the bristle brush.
- Use lots of tools to stimulate oral sensory and motor development. We loved the “P-chew” for getting Amelia to practice chewing on the sides of her mouth, and this little guy for stimulating various areas of her mouth. The other invaluable tool that helped us get off bottles was the honey-bear straw cup, because you can squeeze it to make water or milk come through the straw until they learn to suck to get the drink out.
- Introduce foods with a method. They recommended a specific order, which I will share below, but you need to do what is right for you, your baby, and your baby’s medical team.
When to Introduce Foods
- 0-13 Months: Breast or bottle
- 5-6 Months: Thin baby cereal
- 5.5-6.5 Months: Thicker baby cereal + Thin/Stage 1 fruit/veggie purees
- 6-7 Months: Stage 1/Thin fruit/veggie purees
- 7-8 Months: Thicker baby cereal and Thicker/Stage 2 (still smooth) fruit/veggie purees
- 8-9 Months: Introduce single texture foods with hard munchable items for exploration (not consumption yet) such as raw carrot or celery sticks
- 9-9.5 Months: Introduce single texture meltable solids (that dissolve without chewing) such as some teething biscuits, baby Mum-Mums, and baby puffs
- 10 Months: Give soft, cubed single texture foods such as avocado, squash, banana, potato, etc. (that easily mash into a puree when chewed minimally)
- 11 Months: Introduce single texture foods that break apart easily with chewing such as small pastas, deli meat in small pieces, scrambled egg, or soft breads
- 12 Months: Introduce mixed texture soft foods (stage 3 baby foods) such as Mac n cheese, French fries, peas, blueberries, and fish sticks or chicken straws
- 13-14 Months: Introduce soft table foods that your family eats for dinner, cut into small sizes
- 15-18 Months: Work on harder multi-texture foods such as crunchy chips, crackers, raw fruits and veggies, steak, etc.
- Always be vigilant when your child is eating.
- Talk to your pediatrician regularly about what foods are safe to give your child. Ask for therapy referral if your baby or toddler is struggling!
Five Days of Toddler Meals
Saturday:
- Breakfast – Cheerios with milk
- Snack – Greek yogurt, green grapes and strawberries
- Lunch – 1/2 Almond butter sandwich with more strawberries (Amelia’s favorite food)
- Snack – Goldfish
- Dinner – Chicken, broccoli and more strawberries
Sunday:
- Breakfast – Dry Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
- Snack – Greek yogurt and Goldfish
- Lunch – Fruit pouch, chicken nuggets and veggie straws
- Dinner – Mashed potatoes with beef chili
Monday:
- Breakfast – French toast sticks and strawberries
- Snack – Greek yogurt and a few bites of my Clif bar
- Lunch – Chicken nuggets and applesauce
- Snack – Goldfish
- Dinner – Oatmeal
Tuesday:
- Breakfast – Dry cereal
- Snack – Greek yogurt
- Lunch – Almond butter & jelly sandwich (half)
- Snack – Ritz crackers
- Dinner – Chicken nuggets and applesauce
Wednesday:
- Breakfast – Cheerios
- Snack – Greek yogurt
- Lunch – Almond butter and jelly and veggie straws
- Snack – Ritz cracker and cream cheese sandwiches
- Dinner – Chicken and spinach pasta
I should mention, Amelia drinks water throughout the day from a straw cup still (usually around 24 ounces or so), and gets offered milk in a sippy cup with her meals, though she usually only drinks about half a cup. We are so proud of how far she has come, and are currently working on getting her to eat veggies… and table manners! She’s feeding herself with a spoon and fork, but my girl does love to throw food!
If you are interested in what our family eats in a week, click here to check out a recent Aldi grocery haul and weekly meal plan.
I know how frustrating it can be to want to introduce your little one to all the yummy foods and watch them struggle to “get it,” but there IS light at the end of the tunnel if you ask for help!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.