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Feeding

 
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What is the SOS Approach to Feeding?

The SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding program focuses on increasing children’s ability to tolerate a variety of foods through playful engagement. Throughout SOS therapy, families are educated by the clinician to create successful mealtimes to encourage eating in a nonstressful environment.

What behaviors indicate a child should be referred for therapy?

  • cries and falls apart when new foods are presented

  • foods lost are they NOT re-acquired

  • refuses entire categories of food textures or nutrition group (e.g. no meats, no vegetables, no fruits, etc.)

  • restricted range or variety of foods, usually less than 20

  • usually eats different foods than family and often eats alone

  • persistently reported as a “picky eater” across multiple well child checks

How do I get started with Therapy?

Contact Katie Fournier to find out if the SOS Approach to Feeding is a good fit for your family. If it is the right fit, an initial feeding evaluation will be scheduled and completed for your child. If your child qualifies, therapy will be set-up on a weekly basis which includes both your child and a family member. Parent education is an important component of this feeding program; therefore, a caregiver must be willing to commit to participating in the weekly feeding therapy session.

Katie’s personal experience with feeding

I started out parenting with a lot of thoughts around mealtimes. I was going to have a one family one meal dinnertime. I was sure with a little persistence feeding would be relatively easy and children wouldn’t starve themselves-but then my first baby taught me just how hard feeding can be. From breastfeeding to the first puree to other solids he was extremely difficult to feed. I knew in my heart there was something different about feeding this little guy but was met with many of the same statements from pediatricians and well-meaning friends and family. “He won’t starve, just do x”. “All children are picky.” “When you least expect it he’ll surprise you.” “Children can live off Cheerios alone.”

My husband and I tried everything. We cut out juice, we cut out all snacks, we did family style meals, we read books, we took him to feeding therapy, we bribed, we forced, we stopped bringing “special” food wherever we went, we tried all the things we could think of and nothing ever changed. His diet continued to be extremely limited and only got more limited with time. If there weren’t foods he could tolerate available he would just not eat. With his age grew our worry. Feeding and meal times became a hot button issue for our family. I dreaded mealtimes and the sense of failure that would repeat over and over every single day.

Then we had our 2nd and now 3rd child and feeding them was so easy. They gobbled up purees and tasted vegetables, fruits, and meats that were put in front of them. It was nothing short of miraculous. It was incredibly validating. It wasn’t us…but now what? How do we help our little guy move forward? I knew of the SOS Approach to Feeding but had not found anyone locally who was trained in it. I had already sought out feeding therapy twice with limited success. I decided the best thing to do was to get trained myself.

Much to our surprise we finally had some success! From the first night we began implementing strategies from SOS our mealtimes began to transform, and I can say from personal experience it actually works. Progress is tangible and real change occurred. The once dreaded mealtime has become fun in our household again.

Armed with the new information gained from the SOS Approach to Feeding training, I am excited to share these strategies with other local families to help them find success as well.

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