Many young children are diagnosed with feeding and swallowing disorders, which is also termed as Dysphagia. With such disorders, the children may face difficulty at any step of the feeding process. If your child is a picky or fussy eater or shows developmentally atypical eating and drinking behavior, then you should consider consulting a speech and language therapist. Children with feeding and eating disorders show various symptoms like not accepting age-appropriate food or liquids, having difficulties in using age-appropriate feeding devices or utensils, as well as not being able to self-feed.
Feeding Therapy Dubai – an innovative treatment for eating problems in toddlers
Feeding Therapy is an appropriate treatment for children, who are having difficulties in feeding and swallowing food and drinks, who most of the time take only a limited variety or very little quantity of food and drinks or show specific mealtime behavior – all of which are not appropriate for their age.
There are centers for pediatric feeding disorders, which aim at improving the following habits and attributes in children:
Strong muscles help in chewing and swallowing food particles properly. So, Pediatric Feeding Therapy in Dubai focuses on making the mouth’s muscles stronger.
The tongue movements play a vital role in eating and drinking and so, focus is given on improving the same.
Children with feeding disorders are encouraged to improve their chewing before swallowing the food.
It is an ideal therapy for picky eaters, who are reluctant to eat and drink different kinds of food and drinks. The speech and language therapists increase their acceptance of varieties of food and liquid items.
Focus is given on improving the sucking or drinking ability in babies and toddlers.
For the infants, it is important coordinating their suck-swallow-breath pattern.
Changing the textures of food and thickness of liquids is important to ensure that the children are swallowing safely.
These centers have a specialized team of pediatric speech and language therapists, who will help your child to overcome his/her weaknesses or difficulties in feeding and/or swallowing and make sure that everything is done in a safe way so that your child can get the maximum benefit from the therapy. After assessing the condition of children and other factors like age, cognitive and physical abilities, and specific issues, an appropriate feeding therapy plan is suggested by the therapists. Supporting hydration and nutrition, reducing the risk of pulmonary problems to a minimum, facilitating oral or pharyngeal or respiratory coordination, modifying the behavioral and sensory issues, etc. are areas of focus, which depends on the results of examining the condition of the individual child.