Infant Feeding Therapy
Infant feeding therapy evaluates and treats babies who struggle to breastfeed or bottle-feed: painful latch, long feeds, poor weight gain, reflux, gas, and colic. Advanced Therapy & Wellness Center provides infant feeding therapy in Crest Hill, Illinois, for families across the southwest Chicago suburbs, with feeding specialists trained in tethered oral tissues and infant bodywork.
If feeding time is filled with frustration instead of joy, something is wrong, and "just keep trying" is not a plan. New mothers are often told to consider milk supply or switch to formula. Those can matter. But so can the baby's mouth: thin or absent sucking pads, tongue or lip ties, jaw weakness, and body tension all interfere with feeding, and they're treatable.
Feeding is the most complex motor task a newborn does. When it isn't working, we figure out why. Not "it will get better with time." Why.
Signs your baby may need a feeding evaluation
- Painful nursing, damaged nipples, or a latch that keeps slipping
- Feeds that take 45 minutes or more, or a baby who falls asleep mid-feed
- Poor weight gain
- Clicking sounds, milk leaking from the mouth, or gagging during feeds
- Excessive gas, reflux (GERD), aerophagia (swallowing air), or colic
- Head tilt or a strong preference for one side (torticollis)
- Noisy breathing during feeds (including babies with laryngomalacia)
- Recurring plugged ducts, engorgement, or mastitis in mom
Who it helps
We work with newborns through the transition to solids, and with their parents, because feeding therapy is always a two-person job. Many families come to us during the newborn weeks; others arrive at four or six months when bottle refusal, reflux, or slow growth won't resolve.
What a feeding evaluation looks like at ATWC
We start with your story: birth history, feeding history, what you've already tried, and what your instincts are telling you. Then we assess the baby's oral structures and watch a real feed. We're looking at sucking mechanics, swallowing, breathing coordination, body tension, and reflexes, the actual machinery of feeding.
Treatment depends on what we find. It may include oral motor work, positioning changes, pacing strategies, and parent coaching you can use at the very next feed. When tension is part of the picture, our occupational therapist adds infant bodywork, including craniosacral fascial therapy and TummyTime Method support.
If we find signs of a tethered oral tissue, we'll walk you through what that means and coordinate with an IBCLC and a release provider if a release is being considered. We provide the therapy before and after; the diagnosis and procedure belong to the release provider. Nobody should feel rushed into anything, and our job is to make sure you understand your options.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my baby's feeding problems are normal?
Occasional fussy feeds are normal, but consistent pain while nursing, feeds that regularly take more than 45 minutes, poor weight gain, and constant gas or reflux are signs that feeding isn't working the way it should. A feeding evaluation can identify the cause.
My pediatrician says my baby is fine. Should I still get an evaluation?
Pediatricians monitor overall health and growth, and a baby can be medically healthy while still feeding inefficiently or painfully. If your instincts say something is off, an oral function evaluation gives you specific answers instead of reassurance.
What causes breastfeeding difficulty besides low milk supply?
Common baby-side causes include tongue, lip, or buccal ties, underdeveloped sucking pads, jaw weakness, and body tension such as torticollis. Because several factors often stack together, an evaluation looks at the whole feeding system rather than a single cause.
Do you work with bottle-fed babies too?
Yes. The same oral structures and skills drive both breast and bottle feeding, and we treat latch, pacing, and flow problems with either feeding method, including combination feeding.
What is torticollis and what does it have to do with feeding?
Torticollis is tightness in the neck muscles that makes a baby tilt or turn the head to one side. It can make latching on one side difficult and is often paired with feeding trouble, which is why our feeding therapy and occupational therapy teams treat it together.
Will my insurance cover infant feeding therapy?
Advanced Therapy & Wellness Center is in-network with BCBS PPO, and other plans frequently reimburse through out-of-network benefits with the superbill we provide. Call 815-782-4196 and we'll help you sort out your specific plan.
How soon can we be seen?
Feeding problems in a newborn are time-sensitive, and we treat them that way. Start with a new patient inquiry or call the office, and if you're not sure therapy is the right step yet, the free Airway Score is a quick place to start.
