Feeding Challenges: 4 Resources to Help
Feeding difficulties are common in babies and children born prenatally exposed to opioids. The added pressure of the holidays can be a recipe for stress, for kids and caregivers alike. Here are some of our favorite resources:
“Love Me, Feed Me” by Katja Rowell, M.D.
Grounded in science and brought to life through the words of parents who have been there, Dr. Rowell will help you understand feeding challenges and offer tools to address:
picky eating
food preoccupation
avoidant eating
weight concerns
feeding children with sensory and brain-based differences
Felt safety and connection is key. With a focus on felt safety and connection, this book offers caregivers practical solutions and a foundation of understanding to help you discover what works for your family.
“Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family” by Ellyn Satter
This readable, entertaining, and light-hearted book by Ellyn Satter shares solid scientific evidence and wraps it in feeding stories showing that both adults and children are healthier in all ways when they become more positive and relaxed with eating. This book will transform your eating into normal. No restriction or deprivation, just normal eating.
Surviving the Holidays with Sensory Processing Challenges
For many kids with feeding struggles, sensory processing challenges can be at the root. While the holiday season can be exciting, it can also stimulate the senses in a way that makes it less fun for some kids. For kids with sensory processing challenges, the holidays can be overwhelming.
In this episode of the In It podcast from understood.org, hosts Gretchen Vierstra and Rachel Bozek welcome pediatric occupational therapist, Keri Wilmot to discuss ways that the holidays can bring on sensory overload, and provide strategies to help your child (and you!) enjoy the holidays.
@TheFamilyNutritionist offers great advice for feeding kids, teaching parents how to operate from a place of low demands, a focus on felt safety and nutrition, and an anxiety-free outlook on feeding kids who are hard to feed.