Hello and Welcome to our community. This message board is designed to help parents, caregivers, family, friends, and colleagues who have or know of a child with a feeding and/or swallowing issue. Feel free to ask questions, share stories, or just connect with others in your similar situation. Please know that the information on this board should not be substituted for professional or medical intervention and that NJPFA or it's members will not be held accountable for any information provided by posters.
I would like to thank you in advance for visiting our website. Hopefully, you will visit us daily!
So I took the first step and decided to create a blog that would provide support for the families I see on a daily basis. This is dedicated to those parents and caregivers who tirelessly and endlessly struggle trying to get their children to eat. Whether their struggle be related to medical or behavioral issues or for no known reason...my heart goes out to them. As I listen to the trials and tribulations of their daily life, I only wish I could do more to help them. For those parents and caregivers who are fortunate enough to have a child/children who can or will eat, consider yourselves lucky. Supposedly eating is "instinctual." When it isn't, the parents of the children I see are often faced with constant pressure from friends, family, and sometimes medical professionals who will tell them..."don't worry, they'll eat when they’re hungry,"....."they’re just picky eaters, they'll outgrow it,"....or..."you have to be firm with them and show them who is boss and just make them eat."
Imagine for a moment there was an obstacle in your life and once it was discovered, the advice given to you was similar to above? Would that help you overcome your fears, challenges, or obstacles? I know that would not help me. So in response to these statements, I offer this...a child WILL go hungry; a child WILL limit their intake and diet to 1-2 items only; force feeding, coercing, or scolding a child to get them to eat WILL create more problems. I tell my families that I have NO idea what they are going through nor will I pretend to know BUT..I will listen to them, cry with them, relish in their successes, counsel them, problem solve, and laugh with them while I try, with everything I have, to make a small impact in their children's lives! Baby Feeder.
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