Do Any of These Resonate with You? 

You feel confused about the conflicting advice surrounding starting solids and don’t know where to start

You feel  overwhelmed on what foods to introduce first in a way that is safe, nutritionally balanced, and includes allergen introduction

You feel frustrated after your baby continues to refuse certain foods and textures after offering them many times and different ways

You feel uncertain on how to respond to your child who is spitting out food, pocketing food and/or overstuffing food.

You feel anxious about serving family foods due to the risk of choking

You feel stressed with managing mealtime messiness and time-consuming preparation and would love some step-by-step guidance

Schedule a Free Consult Call Today!

If you are ready to address the root causes of your feeding concerns, you’re come to the right place. 

Hi, I’m Kelly. I’m a dedicated and experienced occupational therapist who specializes in pediatric feeding and I am here for you. 

Save yourself your most valuable resource- your time– by cutting through the noise and receiving evidence-based and loving, individualized care.

We will help you feel empowered by using a parent-coaching model to therapy, where you will learn the therapeutic approaches and see your child’s wins.

Why Choose Feeling Yum? 

1. Personalized service: We will collect your family’s unique dietary needs and preferences so we can customize the order and way we introduce foods.
2. Holistic treatment: We will simultaneously address your child’s physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual components of health,
3. Comprehensive care: We promise to remain curious throughout your feeding journey and adapt the sessions as your child grows and evolves. 
4. Monitored progress: We will set goals and progress checks, as well as use diagnostic tools, to ensure your child continues to grow and thrive.

New Here? 

Set up a: Free Consult Call Today

15 minutes 

Would you like to see if we are the right fit? Are you unsure if in-person services or virtual services would be right for you? Chat with Kelly today for answers and guidance. We are here to help!

What to Expect? 

Stage 1: New Client Consult

During this comprehensive evaluation, we will create a personalized treatment plan based on your feeding needs and recommend additional testing if necessary. In addition, we will provide feeding resources tailored to your specific needs. 

Stage 2: We will set up and implement a precise timeline and number of sessions that are aimed to meet your unique goals. 

Stage 3: We will maintain your progress through assigned resources and scheduled check-ins. 

Occupational therapy focus: 

• Avoids certain foods based on textures or colors
• Food refusal and food throwing
• Eats less than 15 foods
• Refuses an entire food group or groups
• Has meltdowns at meals or other behavioral challenges
• Has difficulty chewing food and spits out or pockets foods
• Difficulty with biting into food
• Cannot learn how to drink out of a straw cup or open cup
• Cannot use a spoon or fork to self-feed

We Work with Children Diagnosed with:

• Failure to thrive
• Tongue and/or lip ties
• Reflux
• Allergies
• Sensory processing difficulties
• Autism
• ADD
• ADHD
• Learning disabilities
• Developmental delays
• Anxiety
• Cerebral palsy
• Down syndrome
• Organ transplants

Schedule a Free Consult Call Today!

The post 1:1 Coaching appeared first on Feeling Yum.

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.

Depending if the salts come from evaporated sea water, mined rock from the earth, or from boiling, they can vary greatly in their texture, flavor profiles, salinity, mineral and trace elements. 

Because finishing salts cost significantly more than kosher or table salt, it is important to learn how to best apply each salt by using them in the right kind of dishes.  

Flakey Sea Salt

These large but thin pyramid shaped flakes are great when added to desserts, salads or really any dish. I learned from the cookbook author, Melissa Clark, that flakey sea salt makes food taste more deeply of itself such as, eggs more custardy or tomatoes more sweet. 

Flakey sea salt add a nice crackly texture and are not overpowering because their thin texture makes them dissipate quickly.

Maldon is the most common but there is also Jacobsen (Oregon), Hana flake (Japan), Halen Môn (Wales) and Marlborough (New Zealand) flaky sea salt.

Fleur de Sel

Fleur de Sel has a beautiful texture and delicate flavor, which make it great for sweet dishes and desserts. 

Compared to flakey salt, it’s more crumbly, smaller and softer. This variety of salt also lingers longer because it contains more moisture and doesn’t dissolve as quickly as other salts. 

Fleur de Sel is hand harvested and processed naturally by the sun and wind. It contains minerals from the brine in the marshes of the Camargue in Southern France, such as zinc, potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium.

The pink algae gives it its distinctive color, which is also what makes the shrimp (and ultimately the flamingos that eat the shrimp) pink in these marshes as well!

Sel Gris 

Examples of sel gris, or grey sea salt, include Celtic Sea Salt and  Sel de Guérande ( from Brittany, France). It is best sprinkled on roasted meats, fish and vegetables because it has more earthy notes. 

Sel gris also has a pebble-like texture that has a more firm crunch than other finishing salts. 

The grey color comes from the clay bottom salt beds of where it is hand harvested. This also gives it a mineral flavor and makes it naturally high in calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

Himalayan salt

Its pretty pink hue, mildly spiced flavor, and crisp texture make it a great finishing salt for boldly flavored dishes. Its firm texture is why it is often sold in grinders.

The blush color comes from trace minerals where it is mined from salt deposits in Pakistan, such as in the Potwar Pkateau- which is located south from the Himalaya mountains.

Himalayan salt has some of the higher amounts of minerals compared to other salts. In fact, all 84 essential trace elements are found in this salt. Some of the minerals it’s highest in include boron, chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, selenium, zinc, and iron.

Red Hawaiian Salt

Red Hawaiian salt, also called alaea salt, is estimated to contain the highest concentration of essential trace minerals of any salt. 

This salt gets its color from red volcanic clay (alaea), which also makes it iron rich. The salt mixes with the clay as tidal pools evaporate.

Black Hawaiian salt

Black Hawaiian salt, also called black lava salt, has a slightly sulfurous aroma and does well garnished on eggs, tofu or tempeh. 

It is made from sea water that evaporated in pools formed on hardened lava flows and gets its black color from the activated coconut charcoal. It is naturally high in in potassium and calcium.

The post Finishing Salts 101: How Best to Use Them?  appeared first on Feeling Yum.

This is because salts can vary in their salinity depending on their shape from how it is produced. The taste can also differ depending on what additives are included.

It’s imperative you pay attention to what kind of salt is called for in a recipe, especially when baking.

Let’s break it down into a guide on when to use the most commonly sold salts when cooking or baking. 

Kosher Salt

Kosher salt is defined by its large, coarse grains. 

Diamond Crystal is a common brand, which many chefs and home cooks love.  Its shaped into light flakes that remain somewhat separate, making the food not too salty. 

By contrast, the other popular brand, Morton’s, has dense, heavy cubes that pack together tightly into a measuring spoon. 

Morton’s is twice as salty as Diamond Crystal when measured by volume. For example, one teaspoon of Morton’s salt is equivalent to 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal salt. You must be careful when following a recipe (see this chart for more salt comparisons).

Contrary to what one might think, kosher salt is not named because it’s blessed by a rabbi but because its large crystals were traditionally used for koshering meat (removing blood) required by Jewish law.  

It isn’t ionized but may contain anti-caking agents. These give it a less clean flavor. 

In summary: kosher salt is best for cooking but be careful which brand you buy! Use a conversion chart, or salt to taste, when following a recipe if it calls for a salt that differs from what you are using.  

Table Salt

Table salt has tiny, fine crystals which dissolve quickly when sprinkled on food or during cooking. 

It can have a harsh saltier taste that’s slightly metallic. 

It also contains additives such as, sodium bicarbonate to stabilize the added iodine, as well as calcium silicate and sodium ferrocyanide to prevent clumping.

This salt is the most affordable so it can be helpful to have some around for cleaning cast iron skillets or for other uses, such as craft activities. 

In summary: If you’re on a budget and would like the addition of iodine, this is the best choice to use for cooking. However, salt your food conservatively at first, since the salinity is high.  

Common Sea Salt

Common sea salt  is industrially produced from sea water. 

Because it doesn’t contain iodine like table salt, it has a cleaner flavor. 

The size of the granules vary but they are designed to dissolve quickly. This makes it preferred for bakers. 

It can also be used for cooking like adding to pasta water, soups or stews. 

In summary: sea salt is ideally great for baking but you can use it instead of kosher salt for cooking too. Get to know your particular brand to know how to use it best.

If you’d like to take a deeper dive into how salts are made and how to best use them, I suggest reading Melissa Clark’s article: What’s With All The Different Salts? Here’s How to Use Them,

If you have been gifted or collecting some fancier finishing salts, check out this guide on how to make them shine best!

The post What is the Best Salt to Use When Cooking? 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.

In the Tuscan episode in the Searching for Italy series, the star of the show, Stanley Tucci, and his parents cook this childhood favorite together. Tucci’s family lived in Italy for a year when he was a teenager and a neighbor, Maria Rosa, taught his mother this sauce. Tucci is now a father of five children, and has passed along the tradition of making this sauce for his family. 

You start with a base of so many Italian dishes, the soffitto, which is a mix of chopped onion, carrots and celery in a fat (i.e. olive oil or butter) on a pan. For example, this base could be used for bolognese sauce. 

When using canned tomatoes, the secret is to cook the sauce on a the long simmer, until it looses its metallic taste. When shopping for ingredients, try to buy San Marzano variety of tomato, which are very flavorful. 

Also look for whole peeled tomatoes. You can have your child help squeeze the tomatoes to break them down rather than buying them puréed or crushed, which are more processed and often contain a preservative. You could also blend the tomato before adding it to the sauce.

Salsa Maria Rosa

Serving Size:

4-6

Time:

1.15 hours

Difficulty:

Medium

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter (or vegan butter)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium-sized carrots)
• ½ cup diced celery (about 2 small tender stalks)
• 1 cup diced onions (about 1/2 large onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian, flat-leafed parsley
• 4 cups canned whole plum tomatoes (about one 35-ounce can)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
  

Directions

1. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter.
2. When the butter is foaming, add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic and cook them, stirring often, until they have softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the parsley.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands or with the back of a slotted spoon as you add them to the pan.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil.
6. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until the tomatoes are sweetened and cooked, about 45 minute.

Variations:

To create a less coarse version of this sauce, puree the tomatoes in a food mill or food processor before proceeding with this recipe. Also, you could add 1 pound of ground beef to the sauce before adding in the tomatoes. Cook until the beef is lightly browned and then proceed with the recipe.

The post Stanley Tucci Kid-Friendly Family Pasta Sauce Recipe appeared first on Feeling Yum.

As my diet has became more restrictive over the years due to food intolerances, dark chocolate has continued to be my sweet treat of choice because it is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. This makes it a dessert my taste buds and belly can enjoy. Chocolate is also not too sweet and is packed with antioxidants to boot. I am sharing three of my favorite chocolate shops I love to order from online and hope you can try them too! 

Fine & Raw

Daniel Sklaar started making small chocolate batches out of a Brooklyn loft and delivering them on his bicycle to local purveyors. Everything is ethically sourced and plant-based, including their truffles!

I was ecstatic to be able to indulge in eating a dairy-free truffle after many years of sadly turning down offerings of them at chocolate shops and holidays. They are packaged beautifully with a handwritten note, describing their monthly flavors. They also have a 1-3 month subscription option where you can receive a 15% discount.

My favorite of their handmade bars is their 70% sea salt bar. Their ingredients are always very clean. For example, this bar contains: organic cacao, organic coconut sugar, organic cacao butter, and sea salt. They also make a great hazelnut chocolate butter spread! 

Dandelion Chocolate Company 

This San Franciscan company makes exquisite single-origin bean-to-bar chocolates. Their bars only contain cocoa beans and organic cane sugar. They sort, roast, crack, winnow, grind, conch and temper small batches of beans. With this minimal approach, these small batches aim at highlighting the individual nuances of each cocoa bean. 

Dandelion work with a variety of cocoa farmers and producers so there are frequently new bars to taste from different parts of the world. There are also descriptions of the farm and the tasting notes are on each bar. For example, on the bar from Semuliki, Uganda, the tasting notes described are cacao fruit nectar, banana and cream cheese. 

I have moments of mindfulness with these bars by as I allow each square to melt in my mouth and appreciate the bean’s unique qualities. They’re also very rich and a little goes along way.

Inuru

I absolutely love Inaru’s seasonal flavors, such as the 66% vanilla and chamomile bar, which has flavors infused by hand. Their bars are made by pure and minimal ingredients with a base of cacao beans, cane sugar, and cocoa butter. Inaru has an equally great origin story. Inaru was created by two passionate sisters, Janett and Erika Liriano, who moved from New York to their father’s cacao farm in Santa Domingo. 

Their mission is to transform the finest organic cacao into the finest chocolate. They want to help ensure the rich Argo-forests of their heritage land, where the majority of organic cacao in grown in the world, will stay for generations to come. Inaru funds regenerative farming, expansion and tools. They also rightfully share its profits with farmers who grow the bean. You can feel guilt-free about the chocolate you’re enjoying, knowing the Inaru team is following good practices and you’re consuming quality ingredients.

Jcoo

I love the delightful flavors this company offers, which are always wrapped with whimsical colors. Two selections I’ve ordered on repeat include boharat spice and orange blossom espresso. This company also has an inspiring origin story. Jean Thompson courageously opened Jcoco in after an earthquake that destroyed  Seattle Chocolate Company’s original factory, with a goal of feeding hungry families with their bars. With each Jcoco purchase, they donate fresh servings of food to those in need through partnerships with food banks in Washington, California, and New York.

The post 4 Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Producers You Want to Know 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.