Speech Therapy Treatment For Infants (Feeding & Swallowing Problem)

What Is Speech Therapy For Infants?

Speech therapy for infants is a technique which improves infant speaking ability to understand and express languages and speeches. The infants are too young to speak. There are various situations when speech pathology for infants are useful. A child gets difficulty in a different type of activities such as feeding and swallowing. They reflect sign to struggle with language or speech as they get older.

If you need any assistance or have a question about Speech Therapy For Infants, you can consult our HearingSol experts with your problem, feel free to call us on +91-9327901950. We are always here to help you.

During 0 to 1 year, an infant develops the ability to hear and recognize the sounds of their parents’ and languages. The parents experiment with sounds by babbling (baba, babamada), and over time, their babbling begins to sound more and more like real words.

Normal things an infant do:

• Between 0-3 months infant communicates with crying, cooing, smiling, and making eye contact.
• Between 3-6 months infants communicate by crying, cooing, smiling.
• Babies make eye contact by pointing, blowing raspberries and laughing.
• Between 6-9 months infant communicates with babbling, using sounds made with the lips (e.g. b and m) in sequences like “baba” and later “bamada”.
• 9 to 12 months infant start communication with babbling, using more sounds (e.g. d, m, n, h, w, t).
• At age 12 months infant starts using words.

Need For Speech Therapy For Infants?

The need for a speech-language pathologist is difficult to determine because an infant is not at the age where they can start speaking. Parents need to consult or discuss with doctors about speech milestones and other infant behaviors to check that their infant is progressing at the normal speed.

The speech and language pathologist analyze or assess the child hearing, language awareness, and feeding skills. A speech-language pathologist may be needed if a child has difficulty in Nursing Feeding on the bottle, Swallowing, Gaining weight, Producing sounds when he is happy, Crying.

Feeding Problems of An Infant

The feeding problems and speech pathology are related. At the time feeding and speaking, the infant uses some similar muscles in the mouth and throat. If an infant gets trouble to feed, this means infant may have trouble learning to speak as he grows older.

Speech and language pathologists are trained to diagnose an infant’s ability to feed and improve the strength or ability of muscles that are responsible for feeding. The good care and treatment from a speech-language pathologist will help a baby to improve his feeding, gain weight, speed. Prepare the oral muscles to produce sounds and speech.

Here are some signs that can indicate that your baby is having a feeding problem:

• During feeding time your baby will cough, gag, or choke
• Lack of alertness during feeding time
• Less weight gain
• Less growth
• During feeding time your baby will cry or try to pull away from the breast or the bottle
• Excess drooling
• Vomiting or spitting up frequently
• Low voice when crying

Benefits of Speech Pathology For Infants

There is a high number of benefits of speech pathology for infants with feeding problems. Some of them are:

• Weight gaining
• Normal body growth
• Improvement in swallowing functions
• Better feeding
• More alertness while feeding

Speech Therapy For Infants Includes

• Assessment for feeding, oral motor coordination, and swallowing ability.
• Interventions and practices to improve infant feeding and safety.
• They give therapy to improve attention to sound and early communication.

The whole process of overcoming a feeding or swallowing problem requires time plus the effort of both the child and parents. Therefore, it is essential to maintain patience and understanding with your child.

For any further information or you can visit HearingSol and meet our best speech pathologist. Schedule a visit today or call this toll free no. +91-9327901950.