Hi, my name is Shonda Slavec, and for the last six years I have served as a Registered Dietitian for Aprendamos Early Intervention. During my time with the company, I have had the opportunity to work with infants, children, and their families to help support them with their nutrition and health needs.
There are many advantages for our clients when a registered dietitian is part of their early intervention journey. With babies, we can help provide guidance on weight and growth monitoring, help parents with any needed formula adjustments, and assist with the transition from formula to milk at the appropriate time. For clients with special needs, we offer support with tubefeeding management, and provide dietary guidance for gastrointestinal concerns like reflux, constipation, and loose stools.
We also see other dietary concerns with older infants and toddlers where the support from a dietitian can be helpful. If food allergies develop or toddlers start displaying picky eating patterns, we can offer helpful tips and tricks to help add variety to a child’s diet to ensure they are receiving proper nutrition. Even working to help families understand simple, general nutrition guidelines can make a huge difference for their child’s development and well-being.
My favorite success stories involve families coming to me in a panic because they are worried about picky eating behaviors or their child not gaining weight. After we speak and initiate some specific strategies, they start eating better and eventually gain weight or get back on their growth curve. Usually, it only takes some small habit changes or a change in the approach to providing foods for a child to make a big difference in their eating.
Eating habit changes are a slow process that requires patience and consistency. When families hang in there and trust the process, they will see small improvements that lead to big changes for their child’s health and nutrition.
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