Feeding Skills
What are feeding skills?
Feeding skills are the skills involved in learning to eat and drink. These skills are usually learnt in the first years of life. They can include:
- bringing food and drink to the mouth
- holding food and drink in the mouth
- moving food around the mouth
- swallowing
- biting and chewing
- sipping from a cup
- sucking from a straw
Sometimes children have difficulties developing feeding skills for a variety of reasons including physical disability, developmental delay, or environmental factors (e.g. lack of practice).
A child who hasn’t fully developed their feeding skills has an increased risk of choking, or aspirating (“food going down the wrong pipe”). These can have serious health consequences.
What do feeding difficulties look like?
Signs of feeding difficulties include:
- coughing after eating or drinking
- refusing to eat some textures
- mealtimes taking a long time
- challenging behaviours at mealtimes
- watery eyes
- wet sounding voice
- dribbling
- spitting out food
- holding food in the mouth for a long time
How can NW Speech Help?
Individual Consultations
Group Consultations