Megan Dewberry, Speech Language Pathologist/Certified Lactation Counselor

💙💙💙 New adventures!!! I am so super excited to be joining the BodyWorks Therapy Specialists family mid-April! 💙💙💙

We are BEYOND thrilled to welcome Megan Dewberry to the BodyWorks team!!

Megan is a speech-language pathologist with a special expertise in feeding (infant breast/bottle feeding, toddler, preschool, & school age), early language development, and speech articulation. She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor & Hanen Certified Therapist. Megan brings 15 years of experience, a passion for early intervention/prevention and parent education, and a huge heart to our team!

Some fun facts about Megan:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 She is married to husband, Nathan, of 16 years & has two daughters, Libby and Elanor.
👩‍🏫 She is an avid bibliophile 📚📖📚
 🥦 She is a former picky eater (feeding techniques really work!!)
🎭 She is a musical theatre ju**ie
📚 She can read extraordinarily fast… she can finish a 300 hundred page book in a day 🤯
🎤 Coming from a musical family, they all sing the “Happy Birthday” song with the minimum of a 3-part harmony at every birthday gathering!
    
Please join us in welcoming the wonderful Megan to our practice!

Thank you so much for nominating me for Baton Rouge Parents Magazine Family Favorite Counselor/Therapist! Voting is open through the end of August. 💙💙💙

Check out Megan Dewberry, SLP/CLC- Baton Rouge General.

Registration is now open!

Feeding Foundations: The Kaleidoscope Model Course Description Feeding -- the process of eating and drinking -- is something all species do instinctively. It seems like a simple act but it is anything but that . . . TalkTools Instructors, Vanessa Anderson-Smith, Kaye Baumgardner, Monica Purdy, and Rehab Zaytoun, have teamed together to create...

IN-PERSON WORKSHOP | Feeding Foundations: The Kaleidoscope Model [LOUISIANA] [August 26-27 2022] [9:00AM - 3:30PM Central US/UTC-5] Course Description Feeding -- the process of eating and drinking -- is something all species do instinctively. It seems like a simple act but it is anything but that . . . TalkTools Instructors, Vanessa Anderson-Smith, Kaye Baumgardner, Monica Purdy, and Rehab Zaytoun, have teamed together to create...

Did you know that your little one’s gas or reflux symptoms could be due to their body’s positioning or their latch when taking a bottle?

Lips that are tucked in at the bottle ni**le can create a broken seal. Imagine a broken seal on a container. If you don’t fully seal a container of food, not only can the contents spill out, but additional air will also creep in spoiling the food. In an infant, the broken seal may result in additional air being swallowed resulting in arching, twisting, grunting, or stretching out their legs. These symptoms are often associated with gastroesophageal reflux.

Have you ever perceived audible gulping or chugging when bottle feeding a baby? This can occur for numerous reasons, some of which may be feeding difficulty related, but this can also occur when a baby is gravity-fed opposed to implementing responsive feeding techniques! (More on those techniques to come! ) Placing your little one in a upright position with a supported upper back and neck will allow him to control the flow of the bottle opposed to have to “keep up” with the bottle’s flow.

Have you tried to fix the ni**le seal or gulping concern yourself, but it is still persisting? You can always reach out your pediatrician with questions or concerns regarding your infant’s feeding skills. Feeding specialists, including Speech Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists, are trained to assess, modify, adapt, and remediate feeding. Feeding doesn’t have to be difficult, stressful, or cumbersome for you or your child!

If you are experiencing feeding difficulties, know you are not alone! 1 in 4 typically developing children (absent of any other significant medical diagnoses) are diagnosed with Feeding Difficulties. We have an amazing feeding community here in Baton Rouge with a number of therapists sharing this expertise!

Why is closed mouth, sealed lip, quiet sleep posture so important for our little ones?

Did you know I ask about the child’s resting mouth posture in slee and wake periods at every evaluation? Mouth posture matters! Tongue placement (sealed to the roof of your mouth) matters!

There is much research to show that in babies and children, mouth breathing can be linked to sleep issues, swollen tonsils or adenoids, crooked teeth, facial deformities, speech issues or poor craniofacial bone growth. When a baby can’t get enough oxygen through the nose, they compensate. Mouth breathing is a compensatory strategy for an anatomical deviation. What can you do to fix it? You need to figure out why they are mouth breathing! If you close their mouth and then it opens immediately, now you understand why it happens, but we need to figure out what’s causing it to prevent future issues. Does your baby breathe through the mouth or nose? #correctoralrestposture #nasalbreathing #lipseal #mouthbreather #mouthbreathing #milkmatterspt #openmouth #closeyourmouth

🤱🏿🤱🏻🤱🏼🤱🏽🤱🏾

How pediatric feeding therapy is helping children eat solid foods A mother said when her son was six months old, mealtimes quickly turned into a nightmare, until her pediatrician told her about feeding therapy.