Eat Love Thrive

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Eat Love Thrive Providing feeding therapy, myofunctional therapy, lactation support, and speech & swallow therapy across the lifespan in Arizona.

Holistic, root-cause focused care for infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Learn more at eatlovethrive.net

👄 Is your child’s mouth telling you something?Mouth breathing, low tongue posture, tongue thrust, and persistent oral ha...
10/13/2026

👄 Is your child’s mouth telling you something?

Mouth breathing, low tongue posture, tongue thrust, and persistent oral habits may seem like small things, but they can be signs of an underlying orofacial myofunctional disorder.

As a Speech-Language Pathologist and Certified Orofacial Myofunctional Therapist, I look beyond individual symptoms to understand how the lips, tongue, jaw, and breathing patterns work together.

✨ Early identification can make a difference!

Not every symptom means your child needs therapy, but recognizing the signs is a great first step.

💌 Have questions about your child’s oral function? Send me a message to learn more about an evaluation.

🍼 Could your baby’s bottle be making feeding harder?Not all bottles and ni***es are created equal, and choosing the righ...
10/11/2026

🍼 Could your baby’s bottle be making feeding harder?

Not all bottles and ni***es are created equal, and choosing the right one can make a BIG difference in your baby’s feeding experience!

Did you know that a ni**le labeled “slow flow” isn’t necessarily slow? Flow rates vary between brands, and what works beautifully for one baby may not work for another.

🚩 Signs your baby may be struggling with bottle feeding:

💗 Gulping or coughing during feeds

💗 Milk leaking from the corners of the mouth

💗 Pulling away, arching, or refusing the bottle

💗 Difficulty coordinating sucking, swallowing, and breathing

💗 Appearing overwhelmed, frustrated, or uncomfortable during feeds

Bottle feeding involves so much more than simply getting milk out of a bottle! It requires coordinated oral motor skills, appropriate flow, and the ability to regulate breathing throughout the feeding.

✨ The good news? With the right support, many feeding challenges can improve.

As a Speech-Language Pathologist and feeding therapist, I help families identify what’s contributing to their baby’s feeding difficulties and develop individualized strategies to support safer, more comfortable, and efficient feeding.

📍 Serving Phoenix, Scottsdale & the East Valley, AZ.

💌 Struggling with bottle feeding? DM me “BOTTLE” to learn how I can help!

📌 SAVE this post for future reference and SHARE it with a parent who may need it!

09/15/2026

Eating only 5 foods at age 6? It might be more than “just a phase.”

When a child has an extremely limited food repertoire, I’m not just asking what they eat — I’m looking at how they eat.

Do they gag or spit foods out?
Avoid certain textures?
Overstuff their mouth?
Struggle to chew?
Get anxious when unfamiliar foods are on the plate?
Are mealtimes becoming stressful for everyone?

Sometimes picky eating is part of typical development.

But when a child’s diet stays extremely limited or eating is difficult or stressful, it may be worth looking a little deeper. ❤️

Save this for later or send it to a parent who’s been told, “They’ll eat when they’re hungry.”

09/09/2026

Have you ever paid attention to where your child’s tongue rests?

Because where the tongue rests can influence how it functions.

If your child’s tongue is constantly resting low and forward, that same pattern can show up during chewing, swallowing, and even speech.

But here’s what’s really important — we need to figure out WHY the tongue is resting low.

Can they comfortably breathe through their nose? Are they congested? Could enlarged tonsils or another airway issue be getting in the way?

We don’t just want to teach the tongue to go up — we want to understand why it’s staying down.

And now I want you to check YOURSELF.

Don’t move your tongue…

Where is it resting right now? 👅

09/07/2026

When your mom is a myofunctional therapist… even family time turns into therapy. 😂👅

Sorry, kids. Tongues don’t take days off around here. 😂

Anyone else’s family become their test subjects?! 👅

09/02/2026

Where does your child’s tongue hang out when they’re not eating or talking? 👅

At rest, we ideally want to see:
👄 Lips gently closed
👅 Tongue resting up on the palate
👃 Quiet breathing through the nose

If your child’s mouth is frequently hanging open or their tongue rests low, I don’t just look at the tongue — I want to know why.

Congestion, enlarged tonsils/adenoids, oral restrictions, habits, or other airway factors can all influence oral resting posture.

✨ The goal isn’t just to tell the tongue to go up. It’s to figure out what may be keeping it down.

Save this and take a peek at your child tonight when they’re watching TV, playing, or sleeping. What do you notice?

OralRestPosture

08/31/2026

🚫 “Just take one bite.”

It sounds harmless. But for some picky eaters, that ONE bite can feel like a really big ask.

Eating isn’t just about willingness. A child may be navigating sensory sensitivities, oral-motor challenges, fear from previous experiences, or simply not feeling ready for that food yet.

Instead of making the bite the goal, try building comfort first:

👀 Look at it
✋ Touch it
👃 Smell it
👅 Lick or taste it
🍴 And eventually… maybe take a bite

Small interactions with food still count as progress. 💜

The goal isn’t to win one bite.
It’s to build a confident eater.

📌 Save this for your next mealtime and share it with a parent of a picky eater.

Need support with your child’s feeding? Message me at [email protected]

A tongue-tie release is a procedure — not the whole plan. 👅💜Before moving forward with a release, we need to look beyond...
08/29/2026

A tongue-tie release is a procedure — not the whole plan. 👅💜

Before moving forward with a release, we need to look beyond what the frenulum looks like and ask a much more important question:

How is the tongue actually FUNCTIONING?

A functional assessment can look at feeding, swallowing, tongue mobility, oral rest posture, breathing, and how the lips, tongue, and jaw are working together.

And preparation shouldn’t stop on release day. Having an individualized plan for before and after the procedure can help a child learn to use their available mobility more effectively.

✨ The goal isn’t just to release tissue.
The goal is better FUNCTION.

📌 Save this if a tongue-tie release is being considered.
↗️ Share it with a parent who needs to hear this.

Every child is different. Recommendations for release and pre/post-release care should be individualized and made with the appropriate healthcare providers.

08/27/2026

Sometimes it’s not just “picky eating.”

If your child chews and spits food out, holds food in their cheeks, overstuffs, or frequently gags, they may be having difficulty with the actual mechanics of eating.

Eating requires a lot of coordination—your child has to bite, chew, move food from side to side, form it into a manageable bolus, and safely prepare it to swallow.

💗 Tonight, watch HOW your child eats—not just WHAT they eat.

If you’re noticing these signs consistently, a feeding evaluation can help determine why eating is difficult and what skills may need support.

📌 Save this for your next mealtime and share it with a parent who needs to see it.

08/26/2026

Some feeding struggles are easy to dismiss as “normal baby things”—but they may be telling us that feeding isn’t as efficient or comfortable as it could be. 💜

Watch for:

1️⃣ Clicking, popping on and off, or milk leaking during feeds
2️⃣ Very long feeds followed by a baby who still seems hungry
3️⃣ Coughing, gulping, arching, or signs of stress during feeding

These signs don’t automatically mean something is wrong, but when they’re happening consistently, they’re worth paying attention to.

Feeding is a complex skill involving breathing, sucking, swallowing, oral function, positioning and more.

✨ Save this for later or send it to a new parent who may need it.

Which sign surprised you most—1, 2, or 3?

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