Feeding

Tips from a feeding therapist for feeding development, mealtime strategies, picky eating, and more

Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

10 Tips to Help Your Picky Eater With Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving often brings to mind happy memories spent with family and friends, and a time for sharing a delicious meal. For families with picky eaters however, Thanksgiving may turn from a happy event revolving around tasty food, to a stressful situation. Learn about tips you can use to help your picky eater with Thanksgiving, to help create happy holiday memories for you and your child.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

How, Why, and When to Teach Straw Drinking To Your Baby

Many parents have been led to believe by marketing that sippy cups are the next developmental stage after bottles, but that’s not the case! Learn how, why, and when to teach your baby to drink from a straw to advance their oral development and feeding skills.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

5 Ways You May Be Pressuring Your Child To Eat and What To Do Instead

As a parent, you want to ensure that your child is getting proper nutrition, but sometimes, we may place intentional or unintentional pressure on them to eat. This pressure can result in the opposite of our intended effect. Learn how you might be pressuring your child to eat, and what to do instead to foster healthy eating habits for long-term success.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

The Power of Cues to Eating and Mealtime Routines

Just like bedtime routines help get our body ready to sleep, mealtime routines help get our body’s sensory system ready to eat. Learn what “cues to eating” are, and how to incorporate them alongside mealtime routines to help improve your child’s eating.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

How To Talk About Food With Your Children

Instead of using subjective words like “good” and “bad” when talking about food with your children, use descriptive words to describe the sensory properties of the food. Learn what other strategies to use when talking about food.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

The Ultimate List of Feeding Supplies to Start Solid Foods

Check out my complete guide, as a feeding therapist, of my favorite feeding tools and supplies for starting solids, from high chairs to spoons, cups, bowls/plates, and more, and how they benefit your baby’s feeding development.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

The Ultimate List of Meltable Solids

Meltable solids quickly dissolve and are a great first solid texture to introduce to your baby to help them learn how to move solid foods around their mouth and to chew.

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Colleen O'Donnell Colleen O'Donnell

Part 1: Steps to Introducing Solid Foods - Purees

Learn the whys and hows of introducing first solid foods to baby by 6 months of age, including oral reflexes, seating position, the importance of messy play, and repetitive and varied flavor introduction.

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