Help! My Infant is Refusing Solid Foods

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When it comes to feeding infants solids, it is often not a straight and narrow path to success. Sometimes you and baby will hit some bumps along the way, which may leave you feeling confused, anxious, and not sure how to make things better.  Below are several strategies to navigate this stressful time.

Tips to help navigate feeding your infant solids:

Be sure your infant is ready. As you may have heard, it is not as important to watch the calendar as it is to watch your baby. Signs of readiness include the following:

  • Baby is able to sit independently or with very minimal support.
  • Baby does not stick his tongue out as a reflex to putting the spoon in his mouth.
  • Baby seems eager to eat food, opening his mouth when you bring the spoon to him. Read more

4 Back-to-School Resolutions to Promote Speech and Language Skills

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With a new school year starting, now is the perfect time to promote and encourage your child’s speech and language skills! Here are some helpful tips in order to set your child up for the greatest success this school year.

4 Back-to-School Speech and Language Resolutions:

  1. Easy Voice: Avoid using a harsh voice, yelling, and shouting.  This can help both parents and children maintain a healthy vocal quality. Modeling your own “easy voice” can encourage your child to keep his voice healthy too!
  2. Build Vocabulary: Targeting and explaining new “back-to-school” words can help to improve your child’s vocabulary. Increased exposure to novel words will reinforce these additions to your child’s vocabulary and will encourage usage.
  3. Read Aloud: Reading aloud to your child is extremely beneficial for language development. When reading stories, emphasizing and reinforcing new words will enhance vocabulary skills, and asking questions while reading encourages understanding. If age appropriate, ask your child to retell the story!
  4. Ask Questions: Talk with your child about the events of his day. Learn what activities occurred in the classroom, in the lunchroom, and at recess. Monitor for sentence structure and grammar, and emphasize accurate productions. For example, if your child says, “I goed to art,” respond with, “You went to art? How was it?” Read more

Phonological Process Extinction

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A Phonological Disorder involves a pattern of speech sound errors. For example, if a child consistently substitutes the “t” sound for the “k” sound, this is the phonological process of “fronting.” Speech sound errors are very common in young children; however, if an error persists after the expected age of extinction, he or she may have a phonological disorder.

Expected ages at which 10 common phonological processes are extinguished in children:

Phonological Process: Example: Gone by Age (Approximately):
1. Fronting “tar” for car“do” for go 3;6
2. Final consonant deletion “do” for dog 3;3
3. Word-final de-voicing “pick” for pig 3;0
4. Cluster reduction “geen” for green“poon” for spoon 4;0
5. Weak syllable deletion “nana” for banana“tatoe” for potatoe 4;0
6. Stopping “sh” “dip” for “ship” 4;6
7. Stopping “j” “dumping” for jumping 4;6
8. Stopping voiceless “th” “ting” for thing 5;0
9. Stopping voiced “th” “dem” for them 5;0
10. Pre-vocalic voicing “big” for pig 3;0

 

For more information on phonological processing or to learn more about our Speech Language Pathology program, click here.

References: http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31:table3&catid=11:admin&Itemid=117

Developmental Milestones | Concepts

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Children’s first words are generally composed of nouns: the people and things in their lives.  Children start to understand and use verbs more frequently as their vocabularies build.  They then begin to use modifiers and adjectives.  Concepts are among these early modifiers and adjectives.  Children acquire these concepts at different stages in their development.  Read on for conceptual milestones for children ages 1 through 6.

Conceptual milestones for children ages 1 through 6:

Ages 1-2

  • Follows simple commands using spatial terms in or on
  • Uses a few spatial terms such as in or on
  • Uses simple directional terms such as up or down

Ages 2-3

  • Understands number concepts such as 1 or 2
  • Understanding of spatial terms become mastered with in, on, off, under, out
  • Begins to understand same/different
  • Time concepts begin to emerge, specifically with soon, later, wait
  • Begins to use color and size vocabulary

Ages 3-4

  • Advances spatial terms to understanding next to, besides, between
  • Uses spatial terms behind, in front, around
  • Begins to follow quantity directions such as a lot and empty
  • Identifies colors
  • Identifies what is different Read more

What to Do When Your Child has a Potty Accident

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Potty training can be difficult.  Throughout the process there can be slip-ups and accidents.  If you have a child who is already potty training, or if you have a child who exhibits signs that he or she is ready to start potty training, then keep these helpful strategies in mind for when an unavoidable accident occurs.

Strategies for dealing with a potty accident:

Potty

  1. Environment:  Create a friendly and inviting bathroom environment.  Provide different books that your child can read while she sits on the toilet.  You can even offer to play different songs while your child sits on the toilet and tries to go potty.
  2. Schedule:  Make sure that you, along with everyone who is with your child throughout the day, is on the same potty schedule.  Using this potty schedule, select a certain amount of time that you want your child to practice going on the potty.  You can start with having your child go to the potty every 30 minutes.  Set a timer. When it goes off, have your child stop what she is doing and try to go to the potty.  After she tries, reset the timer and wait for the next 30 minute potty try.  If your child is still having accidents on a 30-minute schedule, switch to 15 minutes intervals to catch the accident before it happens. Read more

Is My Child Ready for Preschool?

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If your child is approaching the preschool years, you may start to wonder if she is ready to begin a preschool program. Many thoughts and concerns may be circling through your mind when contemplating this idea. Rest assured that these concerns are normal. Answer the following questions to help you determine whether your young child is ready for a preschool program.

Questions to Determine Preschool Readiness for Your Child:

  • Is she toilet trained? It is important to consider toilet training when thinking about your child’s readiness to start preschool. Being toilet trained can make the transition to preschool easier and less stressful. Most children in preschool classes are toilet trained and will not be in diapers. This may cause some stress for a child who has not met this milestone. It’s also critical to know that there are some schools with toilet training requirements, so make sure that you have read the information on this topic if you are considering preschool. Read more

Hearing Impairment and Language

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The earlier your child is diagnosed with a hearing impairment, the earlier he can receive services to assist in the development of speech and language skills during the critical 0-3 year-old period. Children with a hearing impairment are at a disadvantage during this time frame because much of language develops from exposure to the sounds and voices around them.

Implications of a hearing impairment during early childhood can include the following:

  • A smaller base vocabulary
  • Slower acquisition of words and sentence structures
  • Some American English sounds are produced with a very high frequency which is harder for children with hearing impairments to hear.  As a result, children with hearing impairments don’t learn these sounds.
  • Difficulty hearing and/or producing the /s/, /z/, /sh/, /ch/, /f/, and /v/ sounds. Read more

Red Flags for Feeding & Swallowing Disorders in Children

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Most of us taking eating and swallowing for granted.  These actions come naturally and allow us to eat our mealsfeeding and swallowing disorders peacefully.  However, for some children, feeding and swallowing disorders make these natural reflexes and muscle actions difficult.  Read on to understand more about feeding and swallowing disorders and for red flags that your child may have a problem in this area.

What are feeding & swallowing disorders?

Feeding Disorders include difficulties gathering food to suck, chew, or swallow. According to ASHA:“…a child who cannot pick up food and get it to her mouth or cannot completely close her lips to keep food from falling out of her mouth may have a feeding disorder.”

Swallowing Disorders, also known as Dysphagia, include difficulty in one of the following stages of swallowing: Read more

5 Ways to Help Your Pre-Writer Develop Her Pencil Grasp

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Your child is constantly growing, learning, and developing motor skills that she will use later in life.  One of thesedeveloping pencil grasp important motor skills is her pencil grasp.  By the time your child is three and half, she should have developed the skills necessary to hold her pencil with her thumb and the pad of her index finger.  Below you will find 5 ways to help her develop this skill.

5 Tips for Helping Your Pre-Writer Develop Her Pencil Grip:

  1. Employ “The Alligator”: Have your child make her hand into an alligator’s mouth, as if her fingers and thumb form the teeth and lips.  This “puppet-like” shape will help your child to grab onto a pencil, crayon, or marker using the pads of her fingers.  Instruct your child to place the marker in the alligator’s teeth and to keep the alligator’s mouth (web space) open.
  2. Use Stickers:  Place 2 stickers near the tip of your child’s markers.  These stickers will serve as a visual cue for your child when she is picking up the marker.  This additional cue may help her to remember where to put her fingers and to use her thumb and pointer finger together.
  3. Keep Supplies Her Size:  Give your child various small supplies, such as short pencils (much like the ones you find at the mini-golf course), broken crayons, or short markers.  Since your child’s hands are much smaller than your own, giving them supplies that are just their size will make it easier for them to use a more refined grasp.
  4. Use Lacing Cards: Engaging your pre-writer in activities that don’t involve a pencil or paper can also help her to develop her grasping skills.  Pick up some lacing cards (you can also use cardboard and a hole puncher to make your own).  Encourage your child to hold a shoe-lace with her thumb and pad of index finger as she weaves it in and out of the holes.  This activity helps to develop her visual-motor skills that are so important for writing. Read more

Is Your Baby’s Drooling Normal or Excessive?

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Parents often wonder if it’s normal for their child to drool. You might notice your child’s toys are covered with saliva after playing, or you may notice a soaked shirt-collar throughout the day. The short answer to the question “is drooling normal?” is “sometimes.” At certain points in your child’s development, drooling is completely typical. At other points in his development, it is atypical and may require further intervention.

Developmental stages of drooling:

According to Morris & Klein in Pre-Feeding Skills, Second Edition, the following stages of drooling can be expected as your child develops:

  • One – three months: From one to three months of age, drooling is rare when your child is in a supine or reclining position (lying face-up), although some drooling may be noted when he is in a prone or a supported sitting position.
  • Six months: By six months of age, drooling is more controlled when your child is in supine, prone or seated. You may notice drooling as your child babbles or uses his hands to play, point or reach for objects. Drooling may also be noted as your child is teething or in response to eating particular foods.
  • Nine months: By nine months of age, drooling rarely occurs during gross motor activities, such as crawling or rolling. You may still notice drool in response to teething.
  • Fifteen months: By fifteen months of age, drooling rarely occurs during gross motor activities, such as walking and running, although you may notice some drooling during fine motor tasks, such as stacking blocks or manipulating objects. It may also continue in response to teething.
  • Eighteen months: By eighteen months of age, your child no longer drools when attempting fine motor tasks. Drooling may occur during feeding, dressing, play, or teething.
  • Twenty-four months: By twenty-four months of age, noted drooling is minimal.

Why children drool:

Saliva serves many necessary functions. It helps bind food together as we eat, which is important for safe swallowing. Saliva also aids in the digestion of food and helps keeps our oral cavity clean.  For the average child, unnecessary loss of saliva stops around age 4. For other children, however, it can be excessive.

According to Morris & Klein in Pre-Feeding Skills, Second Edition, the following possible causes of excess drooling might include:

  • Teething, which results in more saliva production.
  • Poor oral sensory awareness, resulting in decreased triggering of swallowing. If a child’s face is constantly wet, he may be less responsive to sensory cues that signal a need to swallow.
  • A constant open-mouth posture, which prevents saliva from building up and triggering swallowing as needed.
  • Difficulty swallowing efficiently, which may be due to poor head and trunk control, poor jaw stability, or increased or decreased muscle tone in the lips.
  • A response to certain foods.
  • A response to motor activities that require balance.
  • A possible side effect from specific medications.

How to help your child if he is drooling excessively:

If you feel concerned about the frequency and amount of drool, seek help from a licensed speech-language pathologist, feeding therapist, or occupational therapist. Your child’s therapist will help you determine the underlying cause of your child’s drooling and specific interventions.

Therapeutic interventions might include the following:

  • Increasing oral-sensory awareness to help your child better assess when his face or mouth is wet.
  • Improving head and trunk control to achieve better control of efficient swallowing.
  • Improving oral-motor control (i.e. lips, cheeks, jaw) to better manage saliva and efficient swallowing.
  • Helping your child achieve a closed mouth posture.
  • Improving your child’s ability to swallow.
  • Teaching your child about concepts such as “wet” and “dry.”

By working with a licensed professional, you can eliminate the uncertainty you might be feeling and find answers to your questions.  Most importantly, your child will receive the help he needs to better manage how much he drools.

Sources:

Morris & Klein. (2000). Pre-Feeding Skills, Second Edition.  Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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