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Writer's pictureShaina Rafkin

Feeding is a super complicated task!

Did you know that eating is the only task that involves all organs of our body and all 8 senses?

Crazy right! Before I became a pediatric feeding specialist Ill admit I had no idea how complicated eating was! I totally used to think, "why can't they just put the darn food in their mouth and swallow?!?😂 But now I see it differently. Behavior is communication. And it's my job to put look beneath the surface to figure out what they need.


😋In order to pleasurably eat food and participate in a meal a child must have...

Core stability (balance is a need that overides eating), gross/fine motor skills, proprioception, oral motor skills to manage the food well, sensory processing ability such as touching, smelling, seeing, hearing, interoceptive skills to recognize hunger and full cues, airway health, healthy GI system, good sleep, focus to the task, relaxed (cannot eat when in flight or fight) positive family dynamic surrounding food...


🧐So if a kiddo is having trouble, let's remember that feeding is not simple.

We need to zoom out, look at the whole picture and break down the individual steps to find out what may be causing a feeding difficulty.




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