Maroon spoon (2 sizes small infant and large): The small infant maroon spoon is my go-to spoon for most of my feeding patients. Some of these spoons are brand specific but I do not receive any compensation from these companies, I am writing based on my experience as a therapist only. Note: I am working therapist and use these tools on a daily basis. How can special spoons help you in treatment: We then discuss the importance of being able to accept a spoon and get to work on it! I tell my caregivers that the child can still finger feed some solids (if oral skills are appropriate). That might be fine for some children but many of the kids referred to feeding therapy do not have functional chewing skills, therefore in order to work on improving intake including food variety and volume accepted, we need to teach spoon feeding of puree. Sometimes caregivers tell me their child hates the spoon and prefers to finger feed. Who knew how important and useful the spoon was!!!! transitioning from sucking to lateral tongue movement.reducing a suckle pattern or transitioning from suckle to suck.As you are working on spoon acceptance, you can target many important skills with the type of spoon and placement of the spoon in therapy such as: This might be done with a “dry” spoon meaning there is nothing on it or a “dip” spoon that is just coated in a liquid or puree. I often recommend that therapists spend some time in therapy working on spoon technique and teaching the child to fully accept the spoon. So many of of our feeding clients have difficulty with this because of hypotonia, hypertonia, structural defects, postural impairments and aversive feeding behavior (not opening fully, retracting the tongue, holding the bolus under the tongue or in the cheeks) or just plain refusal. This is an important skill to build in therapy. This is a term I made up to describe the skill of retrieving food from a spoon. Spoon technique © – the act of opening the mouth fully for a spoon, accepting it into the oral cavity on the tongue which is slightly cupped along the floor of the oral cavity in proper position, then closing the lips to clear the bolus from the spoon as the spoon is removed from the mouth. I am a firm believer in “spoon technique” for our clients. For others, it more difficult and may trigger gagging, vomiting, coughing and refusal. For many infants, the journey into spoon feeding is very exciting filled with new flavors, textures, and tastes. Typically, spoon feeding is associated with good head control and independent sitting. a skill many infants begin learning around 4-6 months, some a little later. Let’s talk Spoons and how they can help in feeding therapyĮating from a spoon….
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