Improving Chewing in Toddlers

Categories:
Age Group: /
Resouce Types:


Diet Modification:

  • Try adjustments to the placement, size, consistency and temperature, taste and texture of the bolus, as well as changes in pacing, utensil, and frequency and timing
  • Selecting appropriate utensils for safe, therapeutic feeding and eventual independence
  • Waiting until the child has swallowed and cleared the mouth of any food or liquid remnant before presenting more food so that the child does not take too much food into the mouth, thereby making it more difficult to prepare to swallow effectively

Source: http://ncepmaps.org/peddysp/tx/diet-mod/

http://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/docs/guidelines_motor_disorders_assessment_and_intervention.pdf

Behavioral Interventions: 

  • Using visual and verbal cues to help them understand what “good chewing” is

http://ncepmaps.org/peddysp/tx/behavioral-interventions/

Positioning:

  • Make sure the child is positioned in a way that will allow food to stay in the mouth without moving backward too quickly or falling out the front
  • Establishing a midline neutral position of the head and neck in the absence of structural deformity

http://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/docs/guidelines_motor_disorders_assessment_and_intervention.pdf

Oral Motor Therapies:

  • Alert the mouth prior to bolus introduction with temperatures, textures, vibrations, etc.

http://ncepmaps.org/peddysp/tx/oral-motor/