(Written by Tonya Lambert, Communicative Disorders Assistant)
Before becoming a mom my identity revolved around my profession of being a Communicative Disorders Assistant working in a private practice with speech-language pathologists. My priorities focused on gaining the knowledge needed to best service my clients who brought with them developmental and acquired disorders that impacted their communication abilities. Then, ‘BOOM’! I’m now a mom too!
Many people, throughout my time of becoming a new mom, commented on how helpful it was for me to have the background knowledge to know what my little peanut should be doing at each stage of his early development. Although I agreed and did enjoy watching my little one develop on target. I realized my experience had its limits! I was not expecting my new baby to have difficulties with swallowing and eating.
One of the most common misunderstandings of becoming a new mom is the appearance that nursing is EASY! Well let me be the first or 50th to tell you, it is NOT. Little did I know that the difficulty my little one had with latching, choking, and swallowing could or would continue into early feeding of solids.
Insert my knowledge and experience with swallowing disorders and treatment approaches and combine it with my new fears of a new mom… I knew something was wrong but I couldn’t identify what to do to help him. So, I turned to my trusted Speech and Language Pathologist colleagues to help guide me through my little one’s feeding development.
Knowledge is one thing but application is another. For example just because a dentist knows how to fix a cavity does mean he fills his own. This also applies to those who specialize in speech and language. I may have the knowledge but my mom instincts take precedence and I knew the best route to solving my new mom issue was turning to my trusted resources; turning to my Speech and Language Pathologist.
If you have any concerns about your little ones swallowing abilities please seek support from a Speech and Language Team. These issues can not only affect your little ones nutritional concerns but speech development in their future.
Here is a link to Feeding and Swallowing Disorders including signs or symptoms, treatment, and how a SLP can help. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/swallowing/Feeding-and-Swallowing-Disorders-in-Children/
Here is a link to review developmental speech and language milestones.
http://www.sac-oac.ca/sites/default/files/resources/SAC-Milestones-TriFold_EN.pdf
If you find that you have questions about your child’s speech and language development, your speech and language team can assist you with this as well. Not every mom has speech-language training prior to bringing their new little peanut in to the worldJ
Tonya Lambert
Communicative Disorders Assistant
Lear Communication Inc