feeding

Pediatric Feeding Disorders can be defined as “a disturbance in oral intake of nutrients, inappropriate for age, lasting for 2 weeks and associated with 1 or more of 4 areas” (using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF):

• Medical

• Nutrition

• Feeding Skill

• Psychosocial

Pediatric feeding therapy and orofacial myofunctional therapy overlap but require specific training for each skill set. Not all children with feeding difficulties present with Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs). However, there is often an overlap of treatment goals between feeding and OMDs.

• Range of motion of the jaw, lips, cheeks, and tongue

• Lip closure

• Oral transit time

• Mastication

• Bolus mobility

• Lingual protrusion, retraction, lateralization, and elevation

• Tongue tip dissociation to the incisive papilla

• Lingual palatal seal

• Labial seal on a straw or cup