I want to share some simple ideas for assessing children with feeding disorders, specifically toddlers with feeding difficulty, g-tube dependence, or food refusal/ extreme picky eating and prioritizing intervention. Think about the whole child when assessing. The oral motor pattern is the last thing you should address(I realize this is the opposite of what most of us have been Keep Reading >>
Ask the Dietician: Comments on recommending infant formulas by Sharon Wallace, RD, CSP, LDN
This post comes from my colleague Sharon, one of the dieticians on our feeding team, in reference to Martina's comment and question on how best to recommend a special formula and how to convince parents to try something new that is more expensive.-Krisi From Sharon: What I would add to Krisi's response is that there are now so many different 'hydrolyzed formulas" on the market that it Keep Reading >>
Research: Infant Colic
I wanted to pass on a summary of an article that was posted on medscape this week. It highlights that there is some encouraging research looking at probiotics and colic. There is so much going on in the world of probiotics and gut microbes! I'm going to a research talk on Friday about pediatric gut microbiotia and I will post the highlights! Jordi Cuñé, Jonathan Santas. Infant Colic: Keep Reading >>
The importance of gastroenterology in treating feeding problems.
At UNC Hospitals, I do about 7 new feeding evals each week. 5 of these are with our pediatric feeding team which includes speech, GI and nutrition and 2 are scheduled as a speech pathology/feeding evaluation. The evals are scheduled based on the doctor's referral so they come in earmarked for feeding team or written for a speech path feeding eval. I've been making a mental note of the Keep Reading >>
Neuroanatomy Review Relative to Swallowing: Part II Susan G. Butler, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Review of the Cranial Nerves We Assess Indirectly During Oral Mechanism Examinations Cranial Nerve V: Trigeminal • The Trigeminal Nerve emerges from the pons of the brainstem. It has both motor and sensory components. Motor: Supplies muscles of mastication and some of the suprahyoid muscles (i.e., anterior belly of digastric, mylohyoid) that facilitate hyolaryngeal elevation. Keep Reading >>
Transitioning past a suckle oral transport pattern
By Cathy Fox MS OT/L & Krisi Brackett MS SLP/CCC Children with feeding problems often get stuck in the suckle oral transport pattern and have difficulty advancing to higher level oral skills. The suckle is a normal transitional pattern that emerges as a child transitions from lower to higher level oral skills. It is important to determine what is blocking the child from advancing to Keep Reading >>
Soy Protein-Based Formulas in Infant Feeding- use them or not?
Traditionally, soy protein-based formulas have been recommended as an alternative to cow's milk formula when an infant presents with colic or suspected intolerance or allergy. However, there is evidence and caution moving away from recommendations to use a soy and now indicating a better choice would be to trial a hydrolyzed formula. See below for information regarding the concerns for use of soy Keep Reading >>
The Enteric Nervous System
I saw this posted on the dysphagia list serve from Renee Campbell and thought I would repost: For information about the relationship between the CNS and the digestive system an excellent review is available at: The Enteric Nervous System http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Enteric_nervous_system#Organisation_and_relationships John B. Furness (2007), Scholarpedia, 2(10):4064. Keep Reading >>