There are several opportunities within your child's day to target feeding skills. Here are some strategies that may help feeding and meal time become a more positive experience for your whole family include:
- Encourage your child to "play" with less preferred foods. For example, if you have a child who has difficulty with textures such as pudding, yogurt, or applesauce, you may engage in finger painting with these food items
- Encourage other tactile sensory play with items like play-doh, shaving cream, finger painting, etc..
- Be sure to offer to your child what you are having for a meal. Do this in small amounts and possibly even on a separate plate than the one they are eating from. This allows the child to be exposed to the food, yet does not require the child to eat the food. This helps facilitate positive interactions with new and possible challenging foods.
- Help warm up your child's mouth by engaging in oral motor activities (such as horn blowing, bubble blowing, lip pops, tongue clicks, etc…) in order to prepare the mouth for the motor and sensory experience of eating.
- Use positive language at meal and snack time
- Provide structured meals and snack time. These should occur at the same place (i.e. table) and at simiar times during the day. Do your best to have your child sit for meals and snacks and not to walk around and periodically take bites of food.
- Involve your child in meal preparation and maybe even choosing what the family will have for a meal on occasion.
- Praise and reinforce positive food behavior that your child demonstrates