How are feeding and swallowing problems treated?
When eating doesn't come easily for a child, the whole family can be affected. Children's Colorado's Feeding and Swallowing Program provides a comprehensive, family-centered approach to assessment and treatment of children with feeding and or swallowing difficulties. Our clinic team includes physicians, nurses, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists and social workers to ensure we can provide all the support your child and family may need.
At Children's Colorado, we offer the following programs for the treatment of feeding and swallowing conditions:
Swallowing Disorders Clinic
The Swallowing Disorders Clinic provides a nutritional, oral motor/oral sensory and radiographic assessment when there is a concern regarding swallowing dysfunction and aspiration.
Pediatric Oral Feeding Clinic
The Pediatric Oral Feeding Clinic provides a medical, nutritional, oral motor/oral sensory and developmental assessment when there is a concern regarding limited oral intake, food refusal, picky eating, poor weight gain and/or difficulty transitioning off of tube or supplemental feedings.
Individual Feeding Assessments
Individual Feeding Assessments are available for children with specific oral motor, oral sensory and/or gross/fine motor difficulties that impact feeding.
Individual Intensive and Group Feeding Treatment
Treatment is available to assist with a wide variety of feeding challenges. speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists work with the family and other professionals from departments such as Nutrition and Gastroenterology for optimal success.
Why choose Children's Colorado for your child's feeding and swallowing problem?
Feeding issues usually involve many different aspects of a child's health, development, growth, nutrition and overall well-being. Our Program's interdisciplinary approach utilizes experts from a variety of disciplines including developmental pediatricians, physiatrists, pediatric nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and dietitians. The result is a patient-specific treatment program that considers medical status, nutritional status, motor skills, sensory systems, behavioral/emotional components and communication.
Access to and consultation with a wide variety of medical specialists is also a unique component of our program. In this way, we can treat both your child's feeding or swallowing problem and any underlying developmental, emotional or physical problems that could be causing the issue.
Learn more about the Growth and Parenting Clinic, Clinical Nutrition Department, Neurogastroenterology and Motility Program and Digestive Health Institute.
Individual and group feeding treatment is available at Children's Colorado locations throughout metro Denver.