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5 Queensland Health Child & Youth fact sheets –
introducing solids
These fact sheets have easy-to-understand information
for parents regarding feeding. There are separate fact
sheets for 6-, 8-, 9-, 12-month-old children and these are
available online:
child&youth/factsheets/
6 Reinforcement games for chewing practice
When working on biting and chewing skills, standard
reinforcement games that involve turn-taking are a
must. Games such as “Pop Up Pirate”, “Honey Bee
Tree” or “Animal Buddies” are all great.
7 Australian Breastfeeding Association website
When working with breastfeeding mums and their
babies, the ABA website has a lot of information on all
areas related to breastfeeding:
8 Range of foods
While we ask parents to bring foods into the clinic, a
store of foods on hand is always helpful. Jars of
different textured foods, biscuits, fruit bars, etc., are a
good place to start.
9 Tongue tie
My experience is that tongue tie can have a significant
effect not only on breast and bottle feeding success but
also on chewing and, in severe cases, initiating the
swallow with lumpy foods. For young babies I use the
Assessment of Lingual Frenulum and for older children I
use the Tongue Tie Assessment Protocol by Carmen
Fernando. Both assessments, when combined with clinical
reasoning, help to give an objective measure of whether
a tongue tie release is warranted.
10 Access to a paediatric dietitian
Hard to come by in many settings but invaluable! When
working with children with compromised oral intake
or with food intolerances or allergies, you can’t beat
having access to a paediatric dietitian.
References
Fernando, Carmen. (1998). Tongue tie: From confusion to
clarity . Concord, NSW: Tandem Publications.
Hazelbaker, A.K. (1993). The assessment tool for lingual
frenulum function (ATLFF): Use in A lactation consultant
private practice . Pasadena, CA: Pacific Oaks College.
ACQuiring knowledge in sp eech, language and hearing, Volume 11, Number 1 2009 55
MULTICULTURALISM AND DYSPHAGIA