Learn how to make a creamy toasted cinnamon quinoa porridge that’s layered with coconut yogurt and a blueberry compote!

OT FEEDING TIP:

6-12 months: When serving the porridge, you can spoon-feed the baby or give them a pre-loaded so they can bring the spoon to mouth. If the baby is not opening their mouth or taking the puree at first, you can place a small amount on the tray so they can explore the texture through touch and smell.

12 months and older: For yourself or an odler kiddo you could add a little sweetener (uch as honey) and toppings (such as coconut chips or crushed nuts) to give the puree a nice texture. 

Quinoa Porridge

Serving Size:

4

Time:

35 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1/2 cup of almond milk 
• ⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon.
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

1. Add oil to a cold saucepan until it starts to shimmer. Add the cinnamon and quinoa to the oil and stir them together until the spiced oil mixture coats the quinoa and you can smell the cinnamon becoming more fragrant (about 1-2minutes). 
2. Add the almond milk to the saucepan and stir the quinoa and milk together. Raise the heat until the mixture comes to a light simmer and let it cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. 
3. Spoon the quinoa into a bowl and set aside. 
   

Blueberry Compote

Serving Size:

4

Time:

8 min.

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups wild blueberries 
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Juice from ½ lemon

Directions

1. Add 2 cups of wild organic frozen blueberries to a saucepan. Break up any large clumps with a wooden spoon. 
2. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Sprinkle in 1/8 teaspoon of ground cardamom. Stir until combined.
3. Once the mixture comes to a gentle simmer and the juices start to release (about 5 min.) turn off the heat. 
4. Using a hand blender, blend the blueberries until they start to break apart and make a textured puree. 
5. Scoop the berries into a bowl and set aside. 
   

To assemble the porridge mixture into a 2 ounce container, first add a large scoop of quinoa porridge, then a large scoop of unsweetened coconut yogurt and then one spoonful of blueberry compote. Stir together to combine before serving. Enjoy! 

Grain variations: you could also follow the same porridge cooking steps using different grains such as rolled oats or millet. You may need to adjust the amount of milk you use due to the varying way the grains absorb the milk

Yogurt variations: you could also use unsweetened full fat Greek yogurt, sheep’s milk yogurt, goat’s milk yogurt, cashew yogurt, or almond yogurt. 

Milk variations: you could use peanut cow’s milk, pea protein milk, oat milk, coconut milk or any kind of nut milk

Fruit variations: you could follow the same directions for the compote but use different berries such as strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. 

The post Make A Delicious Dish for your Baby-Quinoa Porridge with Blueberry Compote appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Saftey considerations to make when choosing a high chair include:

-An upright seat for ideal positioning 

-An adjustable footrest

High chair recommendations:

To prevent choking, have your child sit upright in a supportive seat, ideally with:

– Hips and torso at a 90 degree angle

• Legs at a 90 degree angle
• Feet supported on a surface to improve focus and mobility of arms
• Arms at rest on a tray or table

*Use pillows or rolled blankets if needed for comfot and stability. If they resist the chair they can watch you eat in your at lap first. 

Our Top Recommended Highchairs

Stokke Trip Trapp with Bucket Seat:

This chair offers excellent adjustable positioning from infant until adulthood. This chair pulls up to a 32.5 in. table and has a tray accessory available for purchase, if desired. 

Buy Here!

Stokke Steps:

This chair has an easily adjustable back and footrest to ensure proper psotioning from 6 months until teen years. It is also easy to wipe down and the harness is machine-washable. The chair pulls up to a 27.95 in. table and includes a tray accessory with this model. 

Buy Here!

Bugaboo Giraffe:

This chair, made from sustainable Beechwood, can be quickly adjusted to fit a 6 month old until adulthood. It is also very easy to clean. This chair pulls up to a 31 in. table and includes a tray accessory with this model. 

Buy Here!

*Tip: Although these chairs have ideal positioning and are adjustable throughout the ages, they are expensive. To save money, check re-sale sights like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace or consignment shops for second hand items. 

IKEA Antilop:

This chair is a much more budget friendly pick. It is easy to take apart and bring on the go. This chair pulls up to a 35.4 tall table. It is easy to clean with a removable tray. We recommend buying an added footrest for better positioning and stability. 

Buy Here!

*With added footrest

Fisher Price Portable Baby and Toddler Dining Chair: 

This is a great  multi-use chair that you could be used when feeding or during play. It has 3 height adjustments to grow from infant until toddler years. The chair is portable and it straps easily and securely to a chair that fits these dimensions: 15.75 x 19.29 x 13.19 inches. This chair is also is easy to clean with a removable tray. 

Buy Here!

Best Clip-On Chair

This is a great option if you have a high table or countertop, which will allow the baby sit at the table with the family during mealtimes. It fits ages 6-36 months and up to 37 pounds. The twist-tight couplings are compatible with a table up to 3.35 in. thick. 

Buy Here!

The post Our Top 6 Highchair Recommendations appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Our children need to eat less than we think. Refer to our tummy size guide which illustrates just how small your baby’s stomach is during their first year of life. In addition, your toddler’s food consumption can vary greatly day-to-day, where one day they eat an entire Costco hotdog and the next day, just a few crackers.

There’s a great mindset shift you can take to ease the stress: “I will focus on food exploration instead of food consumption.“

The more a child is exposed to flavors and textures, the more their food repertoire will grow. Focus on describing the foods with their color, shape, smell, texture and taste. Check out Arielle Dan Lebovitz: 101 Descriptive Words for Food Explorers for ideas.

Food exploration also helps us learn about our child’s preferences and how to offer foods they have been denying in different ways. For example, if a child prefers crunchy foods over soft foods, try offering a mashed food (I.e. avocado) on a crunchy food (i.e. cracker). 

Research say foods need to be offered up to 15 times before we know if we like them! We just have to continue the exposure in fun ways. An additional way to explore foods outside the table is with sensory bins and food prep!

Furthermore, remind yourself that it is  developmentally normal for toddlers to resist foods. They are learning bodily autonomy, testing boundaries, and their senses are changing. 

So be patient and be confident that your child will expand their food horizons in time, as long as we keep offering foods in fun ways. Follow along on our newsletter and on social for ideas and inspiration! 

The post The Number One Mindset Shift to Take to Lower Anxiety at the Table  appeared first on Feeling Yum.

This experience is actually very common and is developmentally appropriate. Your child is learning object permanence! Most importantly, your child is getting more benefits than you would believe from this meal.  

However, for your sanity and respect to the produce you bought, here are some tips on how to ensure more of the food you prepared makes it to your baby’s mouth-or at least near their mouth. 

1. Bibs and Splash Mats: Mitigate the mess in a way that feels good to you. Babies learn a lot about a food by exploring the texture and smell through touch, but there are a variety of ways to control the messiness. If you’re ok with your baby getting a bit messy, you can have them explore foods wearing only their diaper. If you’d like to keep them dressed, there are great smock bibs and silicone bibs to catch messes. A splash mat on the floor is also very helpful so good doesn’t go to waste and you can place it back on their tray. If cleaning a splash at is too time consuming, try using a towel or newspapers.
2. Reduce the Servings Size: Remove the plate full of food and present one piece of food at a time on a plate. If you have a dog, it’s also helpful to put them away so you’re little one is not entertained by feeding them 
3. Stay Calm. To limit reinforcing the throwing behaviors by acting animated and giving the child attention, try to not react to the thrown food. Try to ignore it and redirect the attention to wanted behaviors (i.e. eating and exploring the food).
4. Guide the Baby’s Hand Back to the Tray or Their Mouth. Ideally before the baby drops the food, gently redirect their hand back to eating the food and give them praise. This action communicates to the baby the behavior you would like them to do and provides positive reinforcement. You will nee: to do this many times but babies learn through repetition. 
5. Read their Hunger Cues. When the baby is full, they’ll show signs such as turning away, closing their mouth, or spreading and rubbing food on their tray. It’s best to learn their signs so you can finish the meal before they cause a bigger mess and learn that you’ll respect their wishes before it gets to that point.

The post 5 Tips On What to do When Your Baby Throws Food Off Their Tray  appeared first on Feeling Yum.

We noticed a lip-tie on my daughter, Alana, a few days after she was born. What is a lip-tie? It’s when the frenulum (the string of tissue connecting the lip to the gum) is low and keeps the lip held very tight against the gum. You can see it when you flip the lip up or when you sweep you finger under the lip and run it along the gum until it feels like your finger hits a wall. You can also have nuchal (cheek)-ties or tongue-ties. 

Signs that a lip-tie might need intervention is when it impacts the function of feeding. With Alana, she fed well the first couple weeks but then I started getting some nipple blisters and callouses, indicating Alana had a tight latch. This showed that her lip-tie was most likely starting to impact function.

My husband and I decided to visit an airway centric dentist who releases ties with a laser procedure, which would provide Alana with increased lip mobility. This would help her flare the upper lip on the breast to create a tighter seal and deeper latch. During the dental consult, I was hesitant about following through with the procedure because the dentist was saying the procedure was not absolutely necessary. However, I was very happy my husband was there to push for the procedure being done. During the week following the procedure, breastfeeding created no more blisters or pain!

However, Alana’s latch started to return to her shallow habits about a week after the procedure. Fortunately, I had followed the dentist’s recommendation to follow up with a lactation consultant to help with the latch, positioning, and stretches post-procedure. I’m sharing with you six oral motor exercises and two holding positions I learned during these visits that have been very helpful with maintaining an effective latch during Alana’s feedings.

I also want to note that these exercises can be done prior to a lip-tie release to help prep the baby with stretches or in prevention of getting a release. However, it’s always critical to find a practitioner, such as a lactation consultant, you can work with you to address your unique circumstance. 

Oral Motor Exercises: 

1. Fishy face: Using your thumb and forefinger, place one on either side of your baby’s face. Gently squeeze the cheeks while pulling the cheeks forward to make a “fishy face.” This helps to gently stretch the cheeks and lips. Repeat 3 times.
2. TMJ massage: starting at the temporomandibilar joint (where the jaw meets the ear), make circular massage motions and continue down the jawline until you reach the chin. This helps release tension in the jaw and encourages the jaw to drop open. 
3. Upper and bottom lip massage: place your forefinger on the upper lip where a mustache would go and make a back and forth motion to a count to three. Repeat on the lower lip.  This brings stimulation and awareness to the muscles that will make a seal on the nipple of the breast or bottle. Using two thumbs, make strokes downward under nostrils and from crease of the nose to stretch the muscles.
4. Hip hop gapes: using your fingertip, slide your finger down from the tip of the nose, to the top lip and then to the chin to encourage your baby to use their gape reflex to open their mouth wide. Repeat 5 times.
5. Cheek sweeps: using your forefinger and thumb, make circular motions to stretch and massage the cheek from the inside. Finish by gently pinching and sweep the fingers forward and out of the mouth.
6. Pterygoid stretch: place your finger in the mouth along the gum line and allow your baby to chew 12-15 times each side. This helps stretch the pterygoid area (jaw muscle used for chewing). It also helps guide the tongue to follow the finger for it to practice lateralizing to the sides of the mouth. In addition, this exercise helps desensitize the gag reflex. 

Positions: 

1. Head hangs: lay your baby across your lap with the head extending over your thigh. Allow your baby to arch backwards and look left to right. The oral motor exercises can be done in this position. You can gently rest your palm on the baby’s chest, or support their head if needed, during this exercise.
2. Koala hold: seat the baby upright on your lap straddling your thigh. Use a hand to support the baby’s neck and between the shoulders. You can then lean back to open your chest towards the baby. 

The post 6 Oral Motor Exercises for Baby for Shallow Latch appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Potential Harmful Ingredients:

Rare but possible, pouches could contain harmful ingredients or even toxins. The New York Times recently reported, How Poisoned Applesauce Found Its Way to Kids. At least 468 children in the United States had significant levels of lead in their blood after consuming applesauce pouches. The problem was narrowed down to the cinnamon in the sauce. There’s a problem in the spice industry where chromate powder is used to sort help make the color pop. The truth is, we don’t ever really know what is inside factory made products because there are flaws in how imported foods are regulated by the FDA. In this specific case, the facility where this applesauce was made was not visited by the FDA for the last five years.

Snacking vs. Eating Meals:

Snacking throughout the day can lead kids into not eating at their mealtimes, which is when children are more likely to consume food with higher nutritional value, not to mention when they can connect socially with their family. When children eat snacks to calm down, they are also learning how to eat with their emotions rather than listening to their physiological needs. That “easy fix” to avoid the temper tantrum earlier in the day can backfire when your child is anxious or sad and won’t eat at the dinner table. 

Oral Development:

The mechanism of sucking from a pouch does not allow the child to practice some of the many oral motor skills they need to learn to chew food. Babies first learn how to suck when drinking milk using a front-to-back movement of the tongue. When babies begin solids, they start to learn how to move their tongue side to side to push food to their lateral sides of their gums to chew. If the child is going to eat a purée, it is more beneficial to squeeze the pouch in a bowl so the child can work on spoon-feeding. With this method, the baby is moving the food from the spoon around the mouth and moving it to the back to swallow it. In addition, a pouch does not help with the skill of straw drinking, which some mistakingly believe, because the food is pushed into the mouth and little lip closure or sucking is needed.

Sensory Development:

The primary ingredient in most pouches is a sweet purée, typically made of apples. This masks the actual flavor of the fruit or vegetable in the pouch. As a feeding therapist, pouches were often the only way I saw children consume fruit or vegetables in a day. If this is the case, it is preventing them from learning the tastes, flavors and textures of these actual foods.

In Conclusion:

I’m going to express “tough love” here and urge parents to not buy pouches in the first place so the temptation is not there at home. I do not buy bagged popcorn for this reason! You’re still bound to give your child a pouch from time-to-time in this society, but it is tremendously more beneficial for your child to have the whole fruit or vegetable instead, whenever possible.

The post Yet Another Reason to Avoid Baby Food Pouches appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Prevention

Pumping:

Lightly lubricate the flange with a moisturizer before pumping, such as coconut oil or breastmilk. Also, make sure you have the correct flange size, with only the nipple being pulled in during the suction and not the areola. Moreover, use a gentle setting that causes no discomfort when pumping, versus a higher suction setting.

Topical Remedy:

Medihoney makes a product that is safe for baby because it is from sterilized, medical grade honey. It cleans a wound, lifts dead tissue, and provides a moist healing environment. Following the protocol on Lactation Hub, first gently cleanse the nipple area with a warm cloth and then apply a small amount of Medihoney to the nipple and areola. Prior to nursing, remove any Medihoney with a warm cloth. Once the ointment is applied, you can place a dressing (such as a nursing pad) to protect the area and decrease chafing. 

Protection

Nipple Coverings:

These helped me the most when I had cracked nipples during pregnancy. Before applying them, you can rub a small amount of nipple moisturizer cream (I like Earth Mamma or Motherlove) or colostrum/breastmilk around the nipple and areola. Next, place the Silverette over the nipple area under your bra. Make sure to remove the Silverettes for a few minutes throughout the day to aerate to prevent any potential bacterial growth.

A word of caution: Lanolin is the most commonly provided nipple protection ointment provided to breastfeeding moms in the hospital, but it contains a common allergen and should be avoided if allergic to wool.

Soaked Cotton:

If you have a milk bleb, lightly soak an organic cotton pad in olive oil and let it rest on your nipple inside your bra. This will help soften the area and will eventually heal as the baby nurses and the extra skin is gently pulled off.

The post Life Saving Sore Nipple Remedies appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Tongue ties occur when the frenulum (the string of tissue attaching your tongue to the floor of your mouth) is too short, thick, or tight, therefore impacting the overall function of the tongue. Impaired tongue function can contribute to difficulties in breastfeeding and bottle feeding in babies. If left untreated, impaired tongue function could also contribute to difficulties with swallowing, speech, and breathing.

What are Lip-Ties and Buccal-Ties? 

A lip-tie or buccal (cheek) tie occurs when the labial or buccal frenula are too short, thick, or tight, or insert low into the gumline, impacting function of the mouth. Impaired lip-tie and buccal-ties can also contribute to difficulties with feeding. If a tongue-tie tie is present, it is increases the likelihood there will be a lip-tie or buccal-tie. 

Tongue-Ties in Babies

Ties are often undiagnosed so it is important to be aware of the signs so you can seek professional advice on how to proceed. Most commonly, ties show signs of dysfunction when the baby is young and having difficulty with breast or bottle feeding. Both mom and baby could show signs of ties, which are outlined below.

Baby Signs:

• Shallow latch
• Clamping or chomping on bottle or breast
• Clicking sounds at bottle or breast
• Decreased milk transfer, or poor weight gain
• Coughing/gulping during feeds
• Frequent feedings or long feedings (> 40 min.)
• Reflux, frequent spit-ups, or GI discomfort
• Sliding or popping off breast
• Fussiness or arching away from breast/nipple
• Gagging
• Baby lip blisters
• Loss of liquid during feeds from baby
• Milk tongue (white coating)

Mom Signs:

• Maternal nipple pain
• Misshapen nipples after nursing
• Recurrent breast engorgement or mastitis 
• Decreased milk supply

Tongue Ties in Infants

A baby may not show signs of ties until they become an infant and start eating solids. This could manifest in what looks like picky eating,  physiological problems or oral motor skill deficiencies. A baby may have also gone undiagnosed with ties and may have a history of breast or bottle feeding difficulties. Below is an outline of signs of ties to look for in infants.

Physiological Signs:

• Poor weight gain
• Constipation
• Gi discomfort 

Picky Eating Signs:

• Food refusal of certain textures
• Disinterest in trying new foods 
• Preference for only dry and crunchy foods 

Oral Motor Signs:

• Frequent coughing or choking 
• Drooling 
• Poor lip closure/anterior food loss
• Mashing foods anteriorly with a munching pattern vs chewing on molar surface 
• Difficulty transitioning to age appropriate food textures 
• Food pocketing 

Tongue-Ties in Older Children

Furthermore, if ties continue to go undiagnosed into toddlerhood, there may be signs of breathing difficulty, swallowing , or dental complications. In addition they could contribute to speech difficulties, which is outlined below.

Speech Signs:

• Poor articulation
• Interferes with speech sounds
• Sibilants and lingual sounds
• Pronouncing certain letters

It’s important to get ties looked at by a specialist so they can help with treatments and referrals. Seek advice on how to move forward before struggling with feeding for too long and the problems get worse for baby and Mom. It is important to keep feeding experiences positive from the very beginning of life to build a good foundation.

The post Does My Child Have a Tongue-Tie? appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Where to Start:

If you have a baby and are experiencing breastfeeding difficulties or pain when nursing, it would be most beneficial to first see a lactation consultant (IBCLC). An IBCLC can work on latch, positioning, stretches, pumping and many other breastfeeding needs. If you have an infant having feeding difficulties with a bottle or starting solids,  schedule an assessment with oral motor specialist, which would be an occupational therapist (OT) or speech therapist (SLP). Oral motor specialists can work on gag reflex, chewing, lip closure, tongue lateralization and many other mouth functions needed for feeding.

Pre and Post Procedural Care:

If one of the above practitioners or yourself suspects a tongue, lip and or buccal-ties, I’d suggest seeing one or more than of the bodywork specialists which could help address the tightness in the body’s mouth. Chiropractors can help with bone and nerve alignment to increase range of motion. Osteopathic doctors can help with tongue-tie through gentle manipulation to help relieve tension in the neck and jaw. In addition, occupational therapist, physical therapists or lactation consultants could be trained in bodywork treatments that could include  Cranialsacral Facial Therapy (CSF), Cranialsacral Therapy (CST) or Myofacial Release can also help with stretching the releasing restrictions in the body. 

If a Frenectomy is Needed:

Once it is identified that a release of the connective frenulum frenectomy could be beneficial, a consultation could be set up with an airway centric dentist or ear nose and throat doctor (ENT).

To Review, the specialists in each area are outlined below. 

Frenectomy:

• Airway centric dentist 
• Ear nose and throat doctor (ENT)

Bodywork:

• Occupational therapist (OT)
• Physical therapist (PT)
• Lactation consultant (IBCLC) 
• Chiropractor (DC)
• Osteopathic doctor (DO)

Oral Motor Therapists:

• Occupational therapist (OT)
• Speech and language specialist (SLP)

Lactation Support:

• International board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC)

The post I Think My Baby Has a Tongue-Tie. Now What? appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Did you know the size of your baby’s stomach will start as small as a cherry and grow as big as a cantaloupe within the first year? When thinking about your baby’s consumption and how often they are feeding, it is helpful to visualize the size of their stomach throughout the feeding journey. When they are newborns, they feed very frequently due to the small stomach size, but by one year, they can consume solid meals and sleep through the night without eating.

1 Day Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a cherry. Your baby will be consuming ½ -1 teaspoon (5-7 ml) per feeding; 8-12 feedings daily.

3 Days Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a walnut. Your baby will be consuming 4 teaspoons (5-7 ml) per feeding; 8-12 feedings daily.

1-3 Weeks Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of an apricot. Your baby will be consuming 1.5-3 oz. (45-00 ml) per feeding. Your baby’s milk intake will increase to 9-25 oz. (280-750 ml) a day by the end of the third week; 8-12 feedings daily.

1-3 Months Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a an egg. Your baby will be consuming 3-5 oz  (80-150 ml) per feeding. Your baby’s milk intake will be in the range from 20-35 oz (750 – 1035 ml) per day; 6-8 feedings daily.

3-6 Months Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a an orange. Your baby will be consuming 3-5 oz (80-150 ml) per feeding.  Your baby’s milk intake will be in the range from 24 to 32 fluid oz (710 to 946 ml) per day; 6-8 feedings daily. 

6-11 Months Old:

Your baby’s stomach is the of a grapefruit. Your baby will be consuming 5-8oz. (147-236 ml) Per feeding.  Your baby’s milk intake will be in the range from 20 to 30oz (591 to 887 ml) per da ; 4-8 feedings daily + 1-3 meals of solids.

12 Months +:

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a a cantaloupe. Your baby will be consuming anywhere from none to 14 to 20 fluid ounces (414 to 591 milliliters) feeding; up to 4 times daily + 3 meals and up to 2 snacks daily.

The post The Baby Tummy Size Guide appeared first on Feeling Yum.