As a parent of a child with a feeding delay or disorder, do you sometimes feel overwhelmed, lost, or out of place?
You hear new words your therapist brings up, things you may not have thought about and wonder how your child’s feeding skills will all come together?
Remember, as a feeding therapist, we are here to support you in the journey as well as your child!
Just like therapists need a feeding mentor when we start out, parents and caregivers do, too. While this is under the guise of “parent coaching” much of the time, mentorship takes it a step further.
A mentor is someone with experience who is also licensed and can both advise and coach you through you and your child’s feeding journey.
While it is important to coach you on the goals that you are trying to achieve for you and your child, you need a deeper understanding of the why behind what we are doing & recommending. It is a critical piece of helping you, the parent or caregiver to carry out the feeding therapy plan between sessions and truly knowing that the work you are doing is making a difference. This is what you get in a parent/caregiver mentor.
Over 2000+ Feed The Peds® graduates have had the honor of serving thousands of families and providing feeding therapy over the years since the courses launch in March 2020. In honor of all of the families we have collectively been able to serve, we present you with the top 10 things we wish and hope you know during your child’s feeding therapy journey.
- Completing and/or meeting all feeding therapy goals does not happen overnight
- Feeding therapy is a journey, so enjoy the ride, and celebrate all the milestones along the way.
- Progress in feeding therapy does not occur in a vacuum, there are MANY components to success along the way.
- One session will not change your child’s life, but the combination of therapy sessions and working at home on the goals established in therapy will.
- Progress sometimes feels like a dance, one step forward, two steps back, four steps forward, 2 steps back, etc. This is part of the process. But the outcome is that feeding skills HAVE improved.
- We are here to support the families in the feeding therapy journey as well as the child/infant.
- What you’re doing at home in between sessions matters (a whole lot)! It impacts progress in such a big way, we want to encourage you to keep it up!
- Everyone has hard days. Just because one day may not go as planned, you may not get to work on the feeding therapy home plan as much as you had hoped/planned, it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up! Tomorrow is a new day. (We’re all human, afterall!)
- The skills your child will gain in feeding therapy will benefit them for a lifetime! It’s a timeless investment for your child.
- Your voice, your opinion, and your insight as the child’s parent/caregiver MATTERS! We want to hear from you, how it’s going, what you may see as the biggest needs are and certainly what goals you have for yourself and your child!
We know you’re the glue holding it all together and we want you to know we see you! Your child is lucky to have such a strong advocate in their corner, helping them each step of the way. You’re truly amazing.
Thank YOU for allowing us into a small portion of your family’s life as your child’s feeding therapist. We are grateful for you and for your determination and grit to give your child the best future possible. Thank you from our heart to yours for choosing us to be your child’s feeding therapist.
