S3E4 How to Raise Happy & Healthy Eaters in Our Chicken Nugget World with Melanie Potock

In today's episode, we discuss feeding specialists and many practical ways to deal with picky eating in children.

Have you been told by your pediatrician that “all kids go through picky eating states?” Or perhaps you’ve been waiting for your child to outgrow picky eating because you’ve been reassured that it’s normal and just a phase?

If you’ve had a picky eater or are currently trying to help your picky eater be more adventurous with foods, you are going to love this podcast.

Some of the things we talk about in today’s podcast:

• What does a feeding specialist do and what makes someone a specialist?
• How do I know if I need to see a feeding specialist?
• Why do kids become picky eaters?
• Won’t they just grow out of it? (answer is no, and we’ll explain why)
• How can parents avoid the picky eater trap?
• Feeding is a developmental skill, like learning to crawl, walk, run.
• Don’t all kids just learn how to eat naturally?
• What are some of the key principles of happy “Parenting in the Kitchen?”
• The one piece of advice to keep our kids on the path to adventurous eating, what would it be?

Our guest, Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, treats children birth to teens who have difficulty eating. She is the co-author of Parenting in the Kitchen: How to Raise Happy and Healthy Eaters in Our Chicken Nugget World, the author of Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids and the producer of the award-winning kids’ CD Dancing in the Kitchen: Songs that Celebrate the Joy of Food! She is an international speaker and media expert on feeding and has contributed content to Huffington Post, Parents Magazine, Natural Baby, special needs publications and more.

Melanie’s websites: MyMunchBug.com and ParentingInTheKitchen.com are the go-to resources for parents wanting to raise adventurous eaters, even in our chicken-nugget world.

Her Books:

• Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids
• Parenting in the Kitchen: How to Raise Happy and Healthy Eaters in Our Chicken Nugget World