Reducing Picky Eating - Creative Speech Therapy NYC

Stress Free Meals in 2024

Rachael Rose — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:41:30 +0000

Stress Free Meals in 2024

Making new year’s resolutions this year? Improving stressful mealtimes at home are a great addition to the list of things you want to improve. And guess what? Its absolutely possible. Here are my top four tips to make this year run more smoothly for your family and especially your picky eaters.

1. Encourage mealtime and snacks at a scheduled time each day

We typically encourage children to eat three meals and two snacks a day. We also like for these times to be spaced out by two hours. When we keep mealtimes consistent everyday, it helps our children’s bodies to regulate around food. They can feel hunger cues and then satiation cues. These are lifelong skills that will help them develop a healthy relationship with food.

2. Introduce a transition activity before mealtime

We have busy lives and our days are full; however, when we eat a meal we should try to shed that stress and sit down to a calm table. Using transitions is a very helpful way to alert your children that they are going to do a new activity and also a great way to separate the stress of the day from mealtimes. I often suggest to parents to give a five minute warning to kids before the meal, have children help set the table, and wash their hands before sitting down to the table. Rituals like this are important because we can do them with little thinking – they allow our minds to rest. In feeding therapy, we use songs during transitions as well. You could make a family mealtime song or simply turn on calming and soft music to signal it’s mealtime.

3. All members of the family should sit at the table together

This is a hard one due to our busy schedules, but it’s an important aspect of feeding for your children. There is significant research to show that children eat more and eat better when they are eating with their family members. Kids want to please their parents and they want approval. Eating together builds trust between parent and child as well. This is another way to prevent picky eating. Think about what changes you can make in your home to make it more pleasurable for everyone. This is where thinking about nourishment and nutrition come in to play. You don’t want to get into a battle with your children at mealtimes. It makes you both feel frustrated and can cause feelings of anxiety in your children. They don’t want to feel that they are disappointing you – help set them up for success!

4. Family meals should be served to all members of the family sitting at the table

It is the adult’s job to set the menu and decide what the family will eat at the meal. That said, you should always provide at least one food that your child willingly eats. Imagine you sat down at a restaurant and you start to peruse the menu. You see nothing that you like on the menu. Are you going to stay at the table and order non-preferred foods? Probably not. Imagine if you look at the menu and see a dish that contains one thing you like and one thing you don’t like. You are more likely to order the dish and you may even pick at and try that food you “don’t like”. That’s what it’s like for your child when they sit down at the table and are served some preferred foods and non-preferred foods.

Members in your family may have different favorites and that’s okay. What is important is that everyone be offered all the foods on the table. When we limit the foods we serve to only preferred foods, the child doesn’t even have the opportunity to try a new food. Exposure to new foods gives your children the “opportunity” rather than a “demand.” Even better, if you serve food family style on platters, kids have to pass a non-preferred food from one family member to another, and they will smell it. That’s exposure!

Written by: Rachael Rose, Owner/Founder

The post Stress Free Meals in 2024 first appeared on Creative Speech Therapy NYC.

What Does Pediatric Feeding Therapy Look Like?

Rachael Rose — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 20:52:34 +0000

What Does Pediatric Feeding Therapy Look Like?

Pediatric feeding therapy is a personalized and holistic approach to support children in developing healthy eating habits and fostering a positive relationship with food. Feeding therapy is a specialized area of therapy that focuses on addressing a child’s difficulties related to eating, feeding, and mealtime behaviors. The treatment approach will depend on the root cause. For example, a child may have difficulty with the motor movements necessary to masticate food or sensory deficits such as overstuffing, gagging or aversion to the sight, smell or taste of food. Feeding is a complex task that involves all of our eight senses. Imagine how overwhelming this may be for your child if they are averse to a strong smell or frightened of the way a food item looks on their plate.

The good news is, feeding therapy can be creative and fun! A session often includes controlled exposure to different foods, textures, colors, and smells. This gradual approach allows children to acclimate to unfamiliar foods at their preferred speed, alleviates anxiety, improves nutritional intake, and rebuilds enjoyment to mealtimes.

The main approach I use with my picky/problem eaters during sessions is The SOS Approach to Feeding. The SOS Approach stands for “Sequential Oral Sensory,” and is a holistic and systematic approach to pediatric feeding therapy. It was developed by Dr. Kay Toomey, a pediatric psychologist, and Dr. Erin Ross, an occupational therapist. This approach is designed to address the multifaceted issues that many children with feeding difficulties face, including sensory aversions, oral motor challenges, and behavioral concerns. In SOS, we use children’s intrinsic motivation, allow children to move up and down the feeding hierarchy at their own pace, teach that learning to eat can be enjoyable and empower families to take part in the feeding journey.

We get messy during feeding sessions! From an early age, I advise parents to embrace messiness. This allows the full sensory experience – to touch and feel the diverse food textures. Children absorb knowledge most efficiently through play, so what better way to approach mealtime than through playful exploration. If a child’s goal is to progress toward eating crunchy snacks we may use veggie sticks as drums or pretend we are an alien with antennas. This motivates a child to progress through the feeding hierarchy, starting with food touching their hands and moving closer to eventually consuming the food.

I also love incorporating fun tools into feeding therapy. One effective tool is a silicone ice cube tray, which not only serves to separate foods but also presents them in a creative and novel fashion. This encourages individuals to sample a wide range of foods in a new and exciting way. Other tools include decorating laminated pictures, making food kebabs, using vegetable/fruit cutter shapes to cut out the food using them as stamps or decoration. Exploring food during a time that is not mealtime sets up a calm and pressure free environment. These are great tips to carryover in the home environment!

You can also involve your child in meal preparation and the preparations leading up to the meal. Sometimes taking your child food shopping will take the unknown out of what will be prepared for the week. This allows your child to build control and confidence surrounding food. Also, including your child in meal preparation may encourage exploration of novel foods. Have your child cut vegetables with child- safe knives, wear a chef’s hat or set the table. Keep in mind each individual’s feeding journey is different and one strategy may be helpful for one child and intimidating for another.

Feeding therapy is more than just getting a child to eat. In reality we do not “get” a child to eat but help them to learn that exploring food is fun and playful! Feeding therapy is about helping the individual gain confidence surrounding food and improve the relationship with food. We want to create a pressure-free zone where children are safe to experiment with different food textures. Keep in mind that every path is unique, and feeding therapy may employ a range of strategies and approaches!

Book Resources

Stories of Extreme Picky Eating by Jennifer Friedman

Helping Your Child With Extreme Picky Eating by Katja Rowel M.D, Jenny Mcglothin

Tool Resources

Silicone Ice Cube Tray

Kid Safe Knives

Vegetable/Fruit Cutters for Kids

Written by: Siena Cardamone Viviano M.S. CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Speech-Language Pathologist/Feeding Therapist

The post What Does Pediatric Feeding Therapy Look Like? first appeared on Creative Speech Therapy NYC.

Picky Eaters & Meal Prep

Rachael Rose — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 17:17:55 +0000

Picky Eaters & Meal Prep

In May we partnered with Elia of, Feed Your Sister, to chat all things picky eating and meal prep. Elia is a meal prep GENIUS! She has piles of knowledge and resources for you and your family. She offers in-home services, online courses, and downloads to promote self-care through meal prep, kitchen organization, and healthy stress free meals. We loved chatting with her and adding in our theraputic knowledge of picky eaters to her experience with meal preparation. We are so excited to share that conversation, summed up below (in blog form!)

Preparing meals in advance is a wonderful way to help your picky eater. When food is ready to serve at mealtime, the stress of cooking evaporates and leaves you time to connect with your child and have a family meal. The importance of family meals cannot be overstated. Picky eaters benefit from eating together as a family in several ways:

Developing mealtime conversational skills will carry over into schooltime lunches and help your little one learn more social skills. It will also get them ready to eat at restaurants and in new environments.
Learning self-feeding and utensil use, especially when your child is transitioning to solids, is foundational to their comfortability in eating as they grow. Just watching you eat is a great example for them to imitate.
Mindful eating will become their go-to. Mindless eating, with an iPad or TV to distract them, can lead to worse picky eating and obesity.

So, you have your prepared meal ready to go, family assembled, table set…how can you make the family meal as productive as possible for your picky little one?

Expose them to new foods by serving items on platters and showing them what you’re eating. Even if they don’t eat the same thing as you during the meal, exposure to new food is a great step in expanding their diet. Platters can be a great tool when they are passed around the table. The exposure of seeing, smelling, and touching new foods in a safe environment will help them build up their resolve to try something new! The more exposure the better.
Have an “all done” bowl on the table. This will not only help with mess, but it will eliminate their chance to escape the meal if they don’t want to eat something. They can simply place something in the bowl and move on to something else. You can use the bowl too!
Use dips! If your child likes a dip such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, or ranch, it can help them try a new food by masking it with a flavor they know and like already.
Remember that not all foods may be safe for little ones with structural issues. If your child is struggling to transition to solids, they may need to see a feeding therapist to uncover why. When kids lack the skills needed to eat a specific texture, they quickly learn that food is “unsafe.” Kids spit out unsafe foods and will most likely refuse that food in the future. Parents often confuse spitting out foods as picky eating, but it is actually an anti-choking protective mechanism. Once your baby gains the necessary skills to safely chew and swallow a texture of food, you can safely re-introduce that food into your child’s/baby’s diet.

Our values go hand in hand with the values of Feed Your Sister. We want mealtimes to be less stressful, which Elia does via meal prep and we do it with feeding therapy. But the goal is having a healthy and joyful relationship with food no matter what! Family meals are one of the most important foundations you can build for a positive lifelong relationship with food and eating. It’s never too early to eat as a family.

For kid-friendly recipes and meal ideas, check out Elia’s Prep & Party: Baby & Toddler Edition replay. And definitely add her naked turkey pesto meatballs and miso maple chicken to your next meal plan. Both recipes are always a hit for the entire family!

If you struggle with meal planning for your picky eaters, drop in to the next Prep & Party with Elia. And be sure to follow her on social media to catch all the newest updates to Feed Your Sister

Written by: Rachael Rose, Owner/Found of Creative Speech Therapy NYC and Elia Wolberger of Feed Your Sister

The post Picky Eaters & Meal Prep first appeared on Creative Speech Therapy NYC.

How to Make a Sense-ational Sensory Bin!

Rachael Rose — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 01:55:52 +0000

How to Make a Sense-ational Sensory Bin!

How to make a sense-ational sensory bin!

It can take 10-15 exposures to a new food before your child will willingly incorporate it into their regular diet. The good news is that these exposures include seeing, smelling, and touching – not just tasting! Enter: sensory bins. Sensory bins are a fantastic way for children to engage with new foods, and really, is there anything more rewarding than seeing your baby experience & enjoy something new? Sensory play is fun, tasty, exciting, and of course messy, but it’s an important part of growing a healthy and well-rounded eater. Beyond that, it’s a great way for your little one to practice their fine motor skills and identify shapes & colors.

Here are our expert tips for making the perfect sensory bin:

1. Put a splash mat on the floor or do this outside. Splash mats can include tarps, outdoor table cloths, or rubber mats.
2. Chose the right sized plastic container for your child and your project. You should have a few sizes for different experiences. Make sure the bins are shallow enough for your child to reach into, but big enough for play. You can even get a bin big enough for your child to sit inside!
3. Add tools. Tools should include measuring cups and spoons, kitchen utensils, kid kitchen tools (such as from Ikea), and sandcastle building supplies.
4. Add your filling to the bin. This is specific to the type of play you are doing. You can include dry ingredients like rice, beans, or dry oats, or wet ingredients such as pureed fruit, water, Jello, and sauce.
5. Add the main ingredient! This will be the food you are working on sensory play with.
6. Supervise to ensure your child is safe, not choking, and keeping things in the bin.
7. Most importantly, let your child have fun!

With February 14th coming up, we’ll be having fun with a Valentine’s Day-themed bin, and the folks over at Pre-K Pages have put together this great guide for a sensory bin fit for Cupid!

Some VDay Bin Suggestions:
• Heart gems
• Heart boxes
• Handy scoopers
• Tweezers (plastic!)
• Mini erasers
• Silicon muffin liners
• Liquid watercolors
• Colored rice for your base (or a different filler)
• Zip-top plastic bags
• Paper towels
• And of course, your bin!

To make colored rice, empty a bag of uncooked white rice into a gallon size zip top plastic bag, and then add in liquid watercolor (or food coloring) of your choice. Close the bag and shake it up until the watercolor has covered all the rice, then dump the rice out on paper towels to dry. Couldn’t be easier!

While your little ones are enjoying their Valentine’s Day bins, be sure to read up on these Valentine’s Day strategies for picky eaters…!

Written by: Rachael Rose, Owner/Founder

The post How to Make a Sense-ational Sensory Bin! first appeared on Creative Speech Therapy NYC.

New Year, New Smoo!

Rachael Rose — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 23:06:16 +0000

New Year, New Smoo!

Looking for a way to get calories AND tons of fruits & veggies in your baby’s belly? The answer is SMOOTHIES! I love them because they are delicious, nutritious, and unsuspicious to kiddos. They are great when you’re on the go, and can be beefed up calorically with some simple additives, according to your baby’s needs & tastes.

As you know by now, I love a good rainbow theme, so I’ll give you some color ideas below! You can make smoothie drinking fun by assigning a day of the week to each color, and spinning a color wheel or asking your child what color they want to drink that day. Here are some ideas for making smoothies in all colors:

Basic Recipe

In a blender, blend the following very well:
½ cup almond milk
½ cup plain yogurt
1 small banana
½ cup fresh or frozen fruit
½ cup vegetables
1 cup ice if using fresh fruit

Color Options

Refreshing Red – strawberries, bell peppers, beets, watermelon – Red foods are known for being high in a nutrient called lycopene, Anthocyanin, and vitamins A and C. Red foods increase your memory and reduce your blood pressure!
Awesome Orange – carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, cantaloupe, – Orange foods are known for being high in beta-carotene and bioflavonoids, fiber and vitamin A. Orange foods boost your immunity, and build strong bones and teeth
Yummy Yellow – peach, nectarine, mango papaya, pineapple – Yellow foods are known for being high in vitamin c and carotenoids. Carotenoids include beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body. Yellow foods boost immunity and build strong hair and healthy skin!
Glorious Green – grapes, spinach, kale, cucumber – Green foods are known for being high in fiber, potassium, folic acid and vitamins A, E C. Green foods help maintain good vision!
Bountiful Blue – blueberries, blackberries – Blue foods are known for being high in Anthocyanin and phenolic. Blue foods help your brain develop!
Wholesome White – banana – White foods are known for being high in potassium, fiber, and Alicen. White foods protect our cells from damage!

Pro Tips

Blend it very well! Little ones don’t love unexpected lumps or bumps
Pick one fruit and one veg to start, as adding too many ingredients can muddy the flavors. For example, your green smoothie could include spinach and apple and your orange could include carrots and peaches
Get your little one involved by having them add their ingredients to the blender
Avoid foods that children should not eat until 12 months including cow’s milk and honey

Add ins

To increase nutritional value, add chia seeds, or hemp hearts protein powder.
If worried about a nut allergy, use soy or pea milk (called Ripple).

Written by: Rachael Rose, Owner/Founder

The post New Year, New Smoo! first appeared on Creative Speech Therapy NYC.

Holiday Gift Guide – Feeding Edition

Rachael Rose — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 18:10:05 +0000

Holiday Gift Guide - Feeding Edition

Clients frequently ask me to recommend gifts around holiday time. I love this question because I have so many ideas and love to share them, and it gives parents a chance to buy fun & interactive therapy materials that they may not otherwise choose. I have compiled my all-time favorite gifts for your little ones below with clickable links. Enjoy and happy shopping!

I try to stay away from gimmicky items, but these plates by Genuine Fred fall in to the separated plate group, which are great for picky eaters. You can put your child’s favorite food(s) in the large section, and new or “sometimes” foods in the smaller sections. Bonus – the last section comes with a lid, so that dinner can end with a sweet surprise. For the Dinneractive plate, you can sequence foods by presenting them with one preferred food and one “sometimes” food.

Fun plates

Kids' cookbooks

Cooking together with your toddler is great for family bonding, and allows your child to try new foods without the pressure of being presented with them at the table. You can work on reading and comprehension skills, planning, organization, sequencing, and following directions while following the recipe.

Allowing kids to play with food exposes them to feeding routines such as sharing, combining, cutting, preparing, and eating, while encouraging kitchen curiosity! I often use play cups to work on cup drinking with kiddos before introducing a cup of water to them. We have a tea party and work on tilting the cup, pretending to drink, and pouring pretend liquid. You can purchase one online in any combination you want.

Pro Tip: Make your own by taping up empty food boxes (mac and cheese, cereal, pasta, and washing out empty plastic food containers (yogurt, whipped cream, egg cartons)

Kitchen set

Kids' kitchen helper set

Involving your kids in making new foods allows them opportunities to talk about food (color, temperature, taste, texture) and to try new foods while cooking. You can make your own by collecting extras around the kitchen, or find matching kid sets online or in-stores. A good set includes some spoons, spatulas, measuring spoons, measuring cups, cutting boards, and kitchen towels (and an apron for bonus points – and cleaner clothes!)

I wish I had thought of this! I adore this amazing placement for kids from Audrey Jones Designs! This beautiful treat contains most of the questions we review in feeding therapy when working on trying new foods, and allows you to take this idea to family mealtimes. Finding similarities between foods is a great way to teach kids that this new food isn’t actually so “new,” just a little different. The new chicken nugget may not be the same shape as the ones they like, but it’s the same color, temperature, and texture! One of the best parts is that you can get a digital download (to print and take on the road), or the actual item. I also love that we can support a small business, especially during such tough times!

Kid placemats

Food related games

What kid wouldn’t want a new game that they get to play with the whole family?! In these games (which are appropriate for 3+), they can feed someone else, work together to create vegetable soup, or touch spaghetti noodles. Plus, we love the added exposure to new foods, which normalizes them come dinnertime. Happy playing!

Reading with your children is the very best way to build language with your little ones. You can target vocabulary building, asking/answering questions, and prediction. Reading books about food also exposes your kids to foods and helps them learn about new and different foods. We all know The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Green Eggs and Ham, but here are others you may not know about!

Books about food

Mini Cookie Cutters

These are by far one of my favorite tools for teaching kids to try new foods. When your tot sees a lot of food, it can be overwhelming, but if you serve a small portion of a new food, they are more willing to try it. This goes from grownups too. Most of us won’t take a big mouthful of a new food, but rather we give it a nibble first! Allow your child to nibble the tail off a fish or the ear off of a mouse when you cut their food up with these cute cookie cutters. I use them for introducing veggies, fruits, and sandwiches.

Written by: Rachael Rose, Owner/Founder

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