Infant and Pediatric Feeding in Lake Charles
Feeding is supposed to be the easy part. When it is not, you need someone who can watch an actual feed and tell you what is going wrong. Latch, bottle refusal, tongue and lip tie, NICU graduates, textures.
What is infant and pediatric feeding therapy?
Feeding therapy is skilled evaluation and treatment of how a child takes in food: the latch, the suck, the coordination of sucking with swallowing and breathing, the strength and movement of the tongue, lips and jaw, and later on the ability to chew, manage textures and stay at the table. Nursing and bottle feeding look simple from the outside, but they depend on a precise sequence. When one piece of that sequence is off, the result is the thing you are living with right now: painful feeds, feeds that take an hour, clicking, leaking, gagging, arching, endless spit up, a baby who falls asleep before finishing, or a baby who is not gaining.
This is a genuine specialty at Hope Therapy Center rather than a line on a service list. Sonya Brooks (MA, CCC-L/SLP, COM®) is the owner and a Certified Orofacial Myologist, which means the structure and function of the mouth is her actual field of study, and it is why families come here for tongue and lip tie questions, frenectomy preparation and aftercare, and breastfeeding that is not working. Taylor Dunn (M.S., CCC-SLP) holds continuing education in the Sensory Motor Approach to Feeding and in orofacial myology.
Feeding therapy is also not the same thing as being told to try a different bottle. Flow rate and positioning genuinely matter and we will change them, but only after we have watched a feed. For an older child the reasoning is the same: pressure at the table almost never widens a narrow diet, so we work out whether the barrier is sensory, structural, motor or learned, then expand it in small steps.
Who it's for.
You have been told it is normal, that some babies are just like this, that she will eat when she is hungry. If feeding has become the hardest hour of your day, that is worth an evaluation. These are the families we see most.
The newborn who will not latch
Nursing hurts, the latch keeps slipping, feeds run an hour and she is hungry again in forty minutes. Weight checks have started to feel like a verdict on you. We watch a real feed, adjust position and latch, address what the tongue and lips are actually doing, and build a plan for the next feed rather than the next appointment. Outcome: feeds that transfer milk, and a parent who is not dreading them.
Tongue tie, lip tie and frenectomy
Someone mentioned a tie and now you are trying to decide whether to do anything about it. As a Certified Orofacial Myologist, Sonya Brooks assesses how the tongue and lips actually function, not just how they look, prepares families before a frenectomy and does the oral motor work afterward so the release turns into better feeding. Outcome: a clear answer on whether a tie is limiting function, and follow-through either way.
The NICU graduate or the child who gags
Your baby came home on a hard-won feeding routine, or your toddler gags on anything that is not smooth, eats six foods, and mealtimes have turned into a standoff. Both need graded, patient work rather than pressure. Outcome: bottle and breast feeds that stay coordinated, or a diet that grows by real foods instead of shrinking.
What to expect in a session.
Sessions run 30 to 60 minutes, and the parent is not a spectator here. Here is how one goes.
We watch an actual feed
First comes history: the pregnancy and birth, any NICU stay, weight trend, how long feeds take, what has already been tried, and what happens afterward. Then we watch your baby feed the way you feed at home, breast or bottle, and we look at the pieces you cannot see from your angle: latch and seal, the rhythm of suck, swallow and breathe, tongue and lip mobility, jaw stability, and how the whole body is positioned. For an older child, the same visit looks at chewing, textures and behavior at the table.
We change something and test it in the room
We do not send you home with theory. Position, hold, nipple flow rate, pacing, bottle choice, oral motor exercises, targeted hands-on work for tongue and lip mobility: whatever we change gets tried during the visit so you can see and feel the difference before you leave. If a tie appears to be limiting function, or if a physician, dentist or ENT needs to be involved, we tell you clearly and coordinate rather than leaving you to relay messages.
You leave with a plan for every feed
Feeding happens eight or more times a day, so the plan has to fit those feeds and not a therapy schedule. You will leave knowing the two or three things to do at each one, what improvement should look like, and when to call us instead of waiting for the next visit. Many families notice a difference after the first appointment, and we re-measure against weight, feed duration and the diet as we go, so progress is not just a feeling.
Feeding difficulty can be a medical problem as well as a therapy problem. If your baby is losing weight or not gaining, is turning dusky, going limp, coughing or choking during feeds, or is showing signs of dehydration such as very few wet diapers, call your pediatrician right away rather than waiting for a therapy appointment. Otherwise, time your visit so your baby arrives hungry but not frantic, roughly when the next feed is due, and bring your own bottles, nipples, pump parts, formula and any weight records or specialist notes you have. Our front office verifies your specific benefits, deductible and visit limits before the first appointment and will tell you whether your plan needs a physician referral or prescription.
Sarah quickly found the issue my baby was having with breastfeeding and I noticed an immediate difference after our first visit! She was very friendly, easy to talk to, and super helpful!
Where to go next.
Swallowing & Feeding Therapy
The swallow itself, in children and adults: how we assess it and what makes eating safer.
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Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
Tongue posture, mouth breathing, ties and oral habits, treated by a Certified Orofacial Myologist.
Learn More →
Speech Therapy
Evaluation and treatment for speech, language, voice and swallowing, for children and adults alike.
Learn More →