Nourish Pediatrics

Nourish Pediatrics Kelsey Norris, M.A., CCC-SLP, CLC

đź‘„ Speech therapy, feeding therapy, & lactation support
đź’» Mentorship for Feeding Therapists

09/07/2026

Trust me these will make for happier mealtimes.

1. Wiping their face after every bite. I know it is hard to watch. But constant face wiping interrupts the sensory experience of eating and sends the message that mess is bad. Mess is actually how toddlers learn to tolerate new textures and temperatures. Let it be messy. Wipe at the end.
2. Sitting in silence. Mealtime should feel like connection, not a performance review. Talk about your day, tell a story, be silly. When the focus shifts off the food and onto the people at the table, kids almost always eat better.
3. Making separate meals. I get why it happens but it often makes picky eating worse over time. Serve one meal, include at least one thing you know they will eat, and let them have control over what they choose from the plate. No pressure, no short order cook, no power struggle.

None of these are about forcing your child to eat more. They are about making the table feel like a safe and enjoyable place to be.

P.S. I am Kelsey, a mom, speech therapist, and certified lactation counselor. I know all too well how hard it can be to breastfeed your baby, get your toddler to try new foods, or watch your child struggle to communicate. We just opened the doors to our very first physical clinic space in Marion, Iowa and we currently have no waitlist. If you are a local family ready to get some answers, link in bio to grab a spot today.

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy marioniowa

Save this post now if starting solids is around the corner! Let’s be real, we all love the aesthetic minimalist highchai...
09/04/2026

Save this post now if starting solids is around the corner!

Let’s be real, we all love the aesthetic minimalist highchair, but we love supportive seating even more 🤪

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy marioniowa

If your gut has been telling you something for weeks (or months) and everyone around you keeps saying “just wait,” I wan...
08/27/2026

If your gut has been telling you something for weeks (or months) and everyone around you keeps saying “just wait,” I want you to hear this from someone who does this for a living: there is no downside to getting answers.

I’m Kelsey, a pediatric SLP and Certified Lactation Counselor, and I built Nourish Pediatrics because feeding families deserved more than “wait and see.” Whether it’s a baby crying through every feed, a toddler who isn’t talking enough to keep up with their peers, or a five year old melting down because nobody can understand what they’re trying to say, these are not things you have to sit with alone.

You get one clinician who actually knows your kid, your goals, and your story. Everything I do is backed by research, and I will always tell you why.

I am persistent as hell. Even the hardest cases turn the corner, and I stay with families through all of it.

If any of these slides sound like your house right now, send me a DM, fill out the contact form on my website (link in bio), or have your pediatrician send a referral. Let’s figure out what’s actually going on.

đź“Ť Serving Eastern Iowa families at our clinic and all Iowa families via telehealth.

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy marioniowa

Save this one. These three strategies are backed by research and require nothing except you and your child in the middle...
08/26/2026

Save this one. These three strategies are backed by research and require nothing except you and your child in the middle of your regular day.

Language expansion works because when you add one word to what your child just said, you are giving them language at exactly the right level of complexity, right when their attention is already locked in on the thing they are talking about. That is when their brain is most ready to process it. Research on language expansions confirms that hearing a slightly more complex form in the moment of shared attention is one of the most powerful ways to support language growth.

Imitation is the strategy I talk about most with families and the research backs up why. A study by Killmeyer and colleagues found that when parents were taught to imitate their toddlers’ actions, gestures, and words, all three children in the study made improvements in social eye gaze. And here is the part I love: as parents started imitating, the number of questions and directions they gave their child naturally decreased without anyone telling them to. One strategy that unlocks several others at the same time.

Narration requires nothing new at all. You are already buckling the car seat, doing the bath, making the snack. You just have to add the words while you do it.

None of these require a toy. None of these require extra time carved out of an already full day. Connection, repetition, and real life are how toddlers learn language. You already have all three.

Save this for this week and try one. If you have questions about where your child is at or your gut is telling you something is off, DM me or head to the link in my bio. We have openings at Nourish Pediatrics and we are here to help.

References: Killmeyer, S., Kaczmarek, L., Kostewicz, D., & Yelich, A. (2018). Contingent imitation and young children at-risk for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Early Intervention.
Frey, J. R., & Kaiser, A. P. (2010). The use of play expansions to increase the diversity and complexity of object play in young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.

08/25/2026

The amount of conflicting feeding and speech advice on this app is genuinely enough to make any parent’s head spin and I am done being polite about it.

One account says to revise every tongue tie immediately. Another says tongue ties do not exist. One post tells you your baby needs to hit exactly twenty words by eighteen months. Another says word counts do not matter at all. One reel says your child is behind. The next says everything is fine. No wonder parents are exhausted before they even pick up the phone to call anyone.

Here is what I actually believe: you deserve objective, evidence-based information that helps you make real decisions for your real family, not fear, not extremes, and not someone’s hot take with a trending audio underneath it.

And because local families deserve that kind of support more than ever, I have two important reminders.

First, Nourish Pediatrics has immediate openings for speech therapy, feeding therapy, and lactation support. No more waitlists. No more wondering when an evaluation slot will open up.

Second, we have expanded beyond feeding and lactation. Comprehensive speech and language therapy is now part of what we offer at Nourish Pediatrics, right alongside the feeding and lactation support you already know us for.

My calendar is open for September bookings. If you have been sitting on a concern about your baby’s feeding, your toddler’s speech, or anything in between, now is the time. DM me or head to the link in my bio to inquire today.

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy marioniowa

This case has ripped my heart out. What happened to those children is devastating and wrong and nothing will ever change...
08/21/2026

This case has ripped my heart out.

What happened to those children is devastating and wrong and nothing will ever change that. And what happened to Lindsay, a mother who was screaming for help in a system that was not built to actually hear her, is also devastating and wrong. Both of those things are true at the same time and I think we have to be willing to hold that complexity before we rush to simple answers.

I do not think this trial is the solution. And I also do not think that putting individual providers on the stand in specialties that are already struggling to find enough people to fill the roles is going to protect the next Lindsay. Systems failed her. Disjointed care failed her. A society that expects mothers to keep showing up for everyone else even when they are falling apart failed her.

What I can control is my own corner of this. As a feeding therapist I am often one of the providers seeing new mothers the most frequently and the most consistently in those early weeks and months. That is not a responsibility I take lightly. Maternal mental health falls in one of the four domains of pediatric feeding disorders. It belongs in my assessment. It belongs in my follow up. It belongs in my documentation and in my referral patterns.

I cannot fix the systems that failed Lindsay. But I can be more vigilant, more thorough, and more connected to the team around each family I serve. And I will follow up. Every single time.

If you are a new mom who is struggling right now, please tell someone. Your OB, your pediatrician, your feeding therapist, anyone. You deserve support that actually reaches you.

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy

A tour of the toy closet and the feeding cabinet because you asked and I cannot stop talking about this stuff.The Goliat...
08/20/2026

A tour of the toy closet and the feeding cabinet because you asked and I cannot stop talking about this stuff.

The Goliath games are an absolute staple for making repetitive motor speech practice feel like absolutely anything other than repetitive motor speech practice. The Rachelle Paquette | SLP minis live on my shelf and honestly I get just as excited about them as the kids do. Little People and the house for all the language goals. The OG ball popper because no child has ever said no to it, including children who are way too old to care about a ball popper. And the Abiie high chair because a proper footrest and good postural support before a feeding session is not optional.

Plus the fab four bottles because every baby is different and you do not know which one will work until you try a few.

These are the things I reach for constantly and genuinely could not run a session without. Save this if you are building out your own therapy space or just want to know what is actually worth buying.

Parents: drop in the comments what your child would absolutely lose their mind over in a therapy session. Therapists: tell me your top three must haves. I want to know what I am missing.

feedingtherapy infantfeeding SLP pediatricSLP feedingtherapist slpeducation infantfeedingtherapist clinicianlife feedingSLP nourishpediatrics cedarrapids cedarrapidsmoms speechtherapy

Address

955 29th Avenue B
Marion, IA
52302

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 3:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 3:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 3:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 3:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 3:30pm

Telephone

+13192140455

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