Feeding and Swallowing Development in Children

The feeding and swallowing developments are involved in maturation of anatomy, food textures, and utensils. As children grow, the dependence of feeding moves to self-feeding. Understanding and educating individuals about feeding and swallowing development is critical. The knowledge of feeding and swallowing development can help parents support nutrition and growth in their children by learning timelines and normal feeding and swallowing expectations. This project is to provide clinical resources in order to assist in providing proper care for patients, recognizing signs demonstrating difficulty swallowing, and implementing appropriate self-feeding and consistency development timetables. Caregivers and clinicians will benefit from this information