Feeding & Swallowing Difficulties
From newborn feeding challenges to swallowing difficulties in older children, our speech therapy team helps babies and kids eat safely, comfortably, and confidently.
Feeding and swallowing involve complex coordination between the mouth, tongue, and throat muscles—and when that coordination isn’t smooth, eating and drinking can become difficult or even unsafe.
For some babies, that might mean struggling to latch or coughing during bottle feeds. For older children, it might look like gagging, choking, or difficulty managing food textures.
At The Therapy Collaborative, our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) specialize in evaluating and treating feeding and swallowing challenges from infancy through young adulthood.
Our speech therapists provide individualized, evidence-based treatment that supports safe feeding and confident eating at every stage of development.
We help:
🍼 Infants who:
Struggle with breastfeeding or bottle feeding
Cough, choke, or sputter during feeding
Have reflux or arching with discomfort
Experience poor latch or weak suck
Show slow weight gain or fatigue during feeds
🍴 Toddlers & Older Children who:
Have difficulty chewing or managing certain textures
Cough, gag, or choke during meals
Take a long time to eat or seem to tire easily
Have a history of aspiration, reflux, or feeding tube dependency
Need support transitioning to new food consistencies
Speech therapy focuses on:
Improving oral-motor coordination for safe swallowing
Strengthening muscles for sucking, chewing, and swallowing
Enhancing rhythm and pacing during feeding
Addressing safety concerns and aspiration risk
Coaching parents on positioning, pacing, and adaptive feeding techniques
Supporting breastfeeding and bottle feeding with hands-on parent education
When sensory sensitivities or behavioral feeding challenges are also present, we collaborate with our occupational therapy team to address those aspects of mealtime holistically.
Families often share that feeding becomes more relaxed, safe, and efficient. Babies begin feeding comfortably and gaining weight consistently, while older children eat with greater confidence and comfort.
Whether your baby is struggling to feed or your child has trouble swallowing safely, we’re here to help every step of the way.
