Feeding & Oral Motor Support
Our Approach
Pediatric Foundations was built around providing feeding and oral motor support to Calgary children and their families. Mealtimes can be a significant source of stress for families when they are dealing with picky eating, safety concerns, or a whole host of other meal related challenges. By using a holistic lens to look at the entire feeding process, we create a tailored program and set goals that are unique the challenges you are facing.
We look at the physical gross motor, fine motor and oral motor skills of your child, the set up of the mealtime environment, your relationship and perspectives on food, and obtain a complete history of your child's eating journey. After finding out your family priorities and looking at all the information, together we will come up with short and long term goals to help your family overcome mealtime challenges.
Additional Support
While feeding support is our primary focus at Pediatric Foundations, we believe in a holistic approach as many areas of need are interconnected. For instance, a child who is not sleeping well will not have enough energy to work on their feeding skills. And a child who struggles with social skills may have difficulty participating in the social aspects of meals. Therefore, we can also support your child and family in the following areas:
Fine Motor Skills
We support your child to build the skills necessary to hold and manipulate writing tools, cut with scissors, effectively use eating utensils, and to be able to confidently build and interact with toys that require smaller refined hand movements.
Sensory and Energy Regulation
If your child seems like they have boundless amounts of energy, does not like the feel of certain clothes, or panics at the feeling of anything messy on their hands, this is an area where they may benefit from our support.
Sleep
A child who has difficulty sleeping can impact the sleep and well being of your entire household. Sleep is necessary for children to solidify all the learning they do during the day. We can help get your child's sleep back on track so that you can have more energy to focus on your day. With more sleep, your child can devote their newfound daytime energy to learning, playing, and growing.
Play and Social Skills
Play is the heart and soul of Pediatric Foundations. Play is how children learn, interact, problem solve, and navigate their way through life. Do you remember getting lost in play as a young child? We want every child to be able to experience the magic of play and be confident in their interactions with peers.
Self-Care Skills
Whether it be toileting, dressing, nail clipping, or bathing we can support your child in gaining success, building tolerance, and increasing their independence with their self-care skills. Increasing a child's independence can cause their confidence to soar.
Collaboration With Other Professionals
Connecting with other professionals who work with your child will promote maximum success. We are happy to share and receive strategies or brainstorm with important individuals in your child's life. This may be their teachers, other therapists, alternative caregivers, grandparents, or summer camp staff. We can help you connect with other professionals that will compliment the services we are providing you.