Marie's Feeding Therapy

Feeding your child can be a hard road — I can help you navigate it.

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Welcome to Compass Pediatric Feeding and Lactation Services

Throughout my career, I have been focusing my skills in the areas of pediatric feeding, swallowing, and lactation.  As a certified expert in these areas, I am here to help you and your child with any of the following: challenges due to prematurity; transitioning to solid foods; “picky” eater concerns; transitioning to oral feeding from tube feeding; food allergies or intolerances; feeding concerns due to reflux; failure to thrive; tongue tie (TOTs); food aversion; breastfeeding and lactation; and so much more!  I also am available to help families with IEP goals and inclusion of feeding skill development in the school setting.

Your Child's Feeding Needs Are My Area of Specialty

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist by trade specializing in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. I am also a Certified Lactation Counselor, and I provide clinical breastfeeding counseling and management support to families who are thinking about breastfeeding or who have questions or problems during the course of the breastfeeding/lactation process.

Feeding Difficulties

Eating is a key skill and an essential process that comes easily to many of us. We often forget that this act that is now second nature took time to learn as babies. Children may have trouble eating at first. Drinks may dribble out of their little mouths, food may be pushed adamantly back out like a toy truck in reverse, and new foods might be gagged on. Though difficulty at first is normal, it shouldn’t last very long. If these behaviors continue, it could be a sign that the child is experiencing feeding and/or swallowing difficulties and may benefit from feeding therapy with a therapist specializing in infant care or food therapist for toddlers. It can be challenging to have a child or adolescent with feeding difficulties. It can be frustrating and confusing, for both you and the child, but seeing a food therapist can help.

Lactation Difficulty

Breastfeeding is a natural and beautiful miracle for both you and your child. This journey is often layered with more obstacles and complications than parents anticipate. Know that you are not alone. As a Certified Lactation Counselor, I can offer you clinical breastfeeding support that is tailored to the unique needs of you and your precious baby. As your breastfeeding consultant, I can provide breastfeeding help latching on, connect you with breastfeeding support organizations, and more!

Why Choose Us?

I have spent my career honing my skills in the areas of pediatric feeding therapy and lactation counseling, and have obtained additional clinical lactation consultant certification, to become the expert that can guide you and your child through the obstacles so many families face. I implement evidence-based strategies to ensure that you and your child receive only the best services and support. I am not only here to guide and inform you, I am here to remind you, you are not alone!

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How to Know If Your Child Has Feeding Difficulties & May Benefit from Seeing a Feeding Therapist

If you have experienced or observed any of the following situations or behaviors, consultation with a food therapist for kids or food therapist for toddlers may provide you the guidance and information you and your child need.

Look for one or more of these red flags:

  • Crying baby or fusses when feeding
  • Falls asleep when feeding
  • Has problems breastfeeding
  • Has trouble breathing while eating and drinking
  • Refuses to eat or drink
  • Eats only certain textures, such as soft food or crunchy food
  • Takes a long time to eat
  • Has problems chewing
  • Coughs or gags during meals
  • Drools a lot or has liquid come out the mouth or nose
  • Gets stuffy during meals
  • Has a gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice during or after meals
  • Spits up or throws up a lot
  • Not gaining weight or growing
  • Fed by a NG or G-Tube
  • An infant cries/arches at most meals (“fights” the breast or bottle), or only eats when asleep
  • Relying on breastmilk or a baby/toddler formula (e.g. Pediasure, etc.) for the majority of your child’s nutrition after 18 months of age
  • Eats mostly just baby food purees and they are older than 18 months of age
  • A food range of fewer than 20 foods, especially if foods are being dropped over time without new foods being added to replace them
  • Meal time is battle time
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What My Clients​​ Are Saying

Marie helped my son so much!!! I am forever grateful to her. When we first began working with her, our son - only 10 months would eat very little solid food and it had to be crunchy. He would basically only eat veggie straws. By the time he turned two, he's eat just about anything. And, now, we still use strategies as needed but he is doing great! Eats broccoli, bell peppers, meats, fruits, etc!!! FOREVER thankful for you Miss Marie!!!
Brittany W.
Parent
Marie is a fantastic resource and has been extremely helpful! My daughter was diagnosed with reflux at 2 months old and Marie provided much needed support as our daughter grew and began transitioning to bottles, then to solid foods and beyond. Marie was instrumental in helping us recognize that our daughter's reflux was possibly misdiagnosed and was in fact a dairy sensitivity. Marie has continually provided advice and suggestions to help our daughter but also keep us sane! Thank you Marie!!!
Reanne H.
Parent
I worked with Marie in Feeding Therapy Clinic and along side of her with many patients at Colorado Children’s Outpatient Clinic. I am a dietitian and I would 110% recommend her for my clients to see. I even resort to her for when I have questions about my infant age son’s feeding! She is extremely knowledgeable, kind, understanding, evidence based, and always up to date on the leading research and technique within her scope of practice. If you are looking for a feeding therapist or lactation consultant for your family, Marie is the top choice!
Emily M.
Parent

Pediatric Feeding Therapy Services

I provide pediatric feeding therapy using a variety of approaches and treatments including but not limited to the SOS feeding therapy approach or sensory feeding therapy. As a feeding therapist I tailor intervention to your child’s specific needs using a variety of food therapy approaches to address related issues and illnesses such as food aversion in babies.

If you would like to learn more about feeding therapy near you, and see more signs of feeding and swallowing difficulties, please click here to learn more information about my feeding therapy services. I’m also available to help families with IEP goals and inclusion of feeding skill development in the school setting.

How Do I Know if I Need Lactation Counseling?

A lactation consultant can help if you have experienced one or more of these concerns:

  • Difficulty hitting weight milestones
  • Infant has difficulty latching on or refuses to latch
  • Baby falls asleep or refusing to breastfeed while at the breast
  • Mother fatigued from marathon breastfeeding sessions
  • Difficulty finding a nursing position (including after C-section)
  • Concerns for how much your baby is drinking with each feeding

To learn more about how you can utilize me as a breastfeeding consultant near you, and to see other reasons you may benefit from working with a lactation consultant, please click here.

What Does An Evaluation Look Like?

I have the specialized skills and training to evaluate your child for feeding/swallowing difficulties using a variety of formal and informal clinical assessment tools as well as the ability to refer out for a FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow) swallow study, as well as a Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) or Video Fleuroscopic Swallow Study (VFSS). By reviewing a FEES, MBS, or VFSS, in addition to other evidence-based evaluation tools, I can ensure that the intervention I provide is expertly tailored to address whatever underlying issues may be causing your child’s difficulties.

To learn more about the evaluation process, FEES swallow study, MBSS, and VFSS, please click here.