Episodes
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Episode 34: Calming The Waters
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
In this week’s episode, Heidi is joined by Jamie Hinchey, a feeding therapist and member of the Thrive tube weaning team. Heidi and Jamie are discussing the importance of bringing calm to a situation, specifically around children. This could be moving houses, a new baby in the house, spring break, or a change in the weather. If you are listening to this in real-time, then there are many of you who are dealing with a sense of chaos or disruption in your house right now. We’re here to help. It can be hard to manage when different situations arise, big or small. As the adult, you have the right and ability to bring calm into the situation for your family. Today’s episode will dive into a few strategies that we find helpful for parents when things feel chaotic. Jamie and Heidi will discuss the importance of reducing expectations, bringing familiarity to the situation, and linking the old and the new. The Thrive team is also celebrating 10k downloads on the podcast! Thanks for listening!
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Episode 33: Autonomy over Efficiency
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
On this week’s episode of the Tube to Table podcast, Jennifer and Heidi are talking about autonomy. What is it and why is it important in your child’s tube weaning journey? It is so important to allow your child to be autonomous and independent while building a healthy and happy relationship with food. This should be a priority over efficiency and skill development. We have received feedback from therapists and parents who are struggling to find this balance within therapy. Your hosts will elaborate more on what autonomy means, why it is important to prioritize, and how this helps children recover from any past traumatic food experience. So what does this look like in real life at the family table? Jennifer and Heidi will talk through how to build autonomy at mealtimes within your everyday routine, especially throughout the weaning process.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Mar 04, 2020
Episode 32: The Lowdown on Liquids
Wednesday Mar 04, 2020
Wednesday Mar 04, 2020
On this week’s episode, Jennifer and Heidi are talking about liquids and how they play a role while weaning your child from a feeding tube. As we all know, liquids are an essential part of our life, especially when we are sick or not feeling our best. Think about when you are dehydrated and how that makes your body feel: typically tired, low energy, swollen, and just generally uncomfortable. Kids feel that way too, even small babies, but they are not able to communicate that as well. At Thrive, we work with your child’s medical team to determine hydration parameters prior to starting a wean. In this episode, Heidi and Jennifer will discuss what that conversation looks like and why it is so important. Your hosts will also talk through 3 main reasons why introducing liquids can feel so hard during a wean or why your child isn’t showing as much interest in drinking.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Episode 31: Dealing With a Crisis
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
On this week’s episode, Heidi is joined by Brianna Brown, a feeding therapist and member of the Thrive Tube Weaning Team. To follow up with last week’s topic on anxiety, Brianna and Heidi are discussing how to move forward when there is an actual problem or crisis during a tube wean. Anxiety and the feeling of a crisis are common during tube weaning in all families with children of all ages. Although the problem may be different for each family, there are common strategies that we find very important. Brianna and Heidi will discuss why addressing your mindset is so important and how our therapists can help parents through that while weaning. There are many things to consider when working with families, but the 3 most important things are: building a team, focusing on communication, and sticking to the facts. Throughout this episode, Brianna and Heidi will break down these three strategies and how they relate to tube weaning.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Episode 30: Why Do We Worry About Worrying?
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
On this week’s episode of the Tube to Table podcast, Heidi is joined by Jamie, a feeding therapist and full-time member of the Thrive Tube Weaning Team. This week is Tube Feeding Awareness Week and we are so happy that this podcast has been able to reach families who have a child on a feeding tube, who are ready to wean, or who recently received a feeding tube. This week’s topic is all about worrying. Why do we as therapists need to worry about worrying? This topic will be helpful for all families who have or who have had a child with a feeding tube. Most parents would do just about anything for their children, and one of those things means trying to anticipate future problems to avoid any bumps in the road. While this can be helpful, there is a sneaky downside to this that is very subtle. Worrying and anxious thoughts can directly relate to mealtimes, feedings, and your child’s weaning journey. In this episode, Jamie and Heidi will talk about what this worrying looks like, what do we do when we encounter it, and what the plan should be to jump off the cycle.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Episode 29: How to Measure Success
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Welcome back for another episode of Tube to Table! This week we are talking about how to measure progress while weaning your child from their feeding tube. We have been hearing from various families that we work with that there is confusion over how progress is measured. This is also a common conversation we find ourselves having with healthcare teams when discussing a child’s progression throughout a tube wean. Last week, we talked about how to initiate the conversation with your medical team and the importance of providing them resources on tube weaning. This week, we are focusing on how to shift the focus from a “number” to the whole child when looking at measures of success. There is confusion when people look at factors that we consider parameters or boundaries, as the way to measure progress. This week’s episode will identify the four measures of progress that we focus on at Thrive and why they are important. Heidi and Jennifer will break down each factor to discuss what to look for and how to identify these measures of success.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
Episode 28: Doctor Dilemma
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
On this week’s episode of the Tube to Table podcast, we are talking about the difficulties families face while communicating with their medical team during their tube weaning journey. Jennifer and Heidi sat down with Dr. Katja Rowell, the co-author of Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating as well as a wonderful responsive feeding resource. Katja shares her experience working in a family practice and how she became so interested in the development of feeding as well as the importance of a positive feeding relationship for children. Dr. Rowell dives into what her role is now, how she is continuing to help families, and the importance of working with your medical team. They will discuss how to measure “success” while looking at the whole child and the importance of advocating for your child at the doctor’s office. She will share evidence-based information on where the focus should be when bringing your child to the doctor, as well as what questions to ask to effectively communicate with your team.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Episode 27: Blenderized Diets
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
On this week’s episode of Tube to Table, we are talking about blenderized diets and how they help children who are on feeding tubes as well as those who are in the weaning process. To discuss this topic in detail, we sat down with Julie Bombacino, the founder of Real Food Blends (https://www.realfoodblends.com/). Julie is telling her story of how she started the Real Food Blends company and her child’s tube feeding journey. Transitioning to a blenderized diet can be very scary for families, especially if they don’t know where to find the resources that will help educate them on this change. Julie discusses how her family transitioned to a blenderized diet, what benefits they immediately saw, and how they started the conversation with their medical team about this transition. Julie and Jennifer will also talk about how Real Food Blends started and what the research shows about the benefits of blenderized diets for the tube-fed population. They will talk about the importance of looking at the whole-child when making a transition to blenderized diets and how that helps the child’s overall health.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Episode 26: A Parent's Perspective: Benji's Story
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
We are so excited for this week’s episode, which marks the start of our series “A Parent’s Perspective”. The Tube to Table podcast will be featuring parents and families who have gone through our Tube Weaning program and can share their experience! In this week’s episode, our feeding therapist, Jamie Hinchey, is interviewing Benji’s parents, Cory and Ivy from New York City. Benji is also here so you may hear him chiming in! Benji’s family participated in our intensive tube weaning program at their home in New York in May 2018. Benji’s parents are sharing a little bit about his history and where their feeding tube journey started. We will talk about how the feeding tube helped Benji in the first few months, when they knew it was time to work towards weaning him off the tube, and how they chose the Thrive Tube Weaning program. Jamie will also talk with Benji’s parents about what was helpful during the intensive portion, a few keys to success for their personal journey, and how follow up was a big part of Benji’s journey. You’ll also hear a few exciting things about where Benji is today and what he loves to eat!
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
Episode 25: Comfort vs. Compliance
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
Happy New Year! We are so happy to be back in 2020 with new episodes and exciting guests! In this week’s episode, your hosts Jennifer and Heidi, will discuss the difference between when children find comfort in eating vs. eating for compliance. It can be very difficult for families to identify if the success they are seeing is due to compliance. Your hosts break down the evidence behind the reasons why children eat and what strategies help build long-term success. Many families share that it can be easy to fall into compliance “mode” while feeding their child and the focus can easily be on “getting” them to eat rather than giving them space. In past episodes, we have talked about responsive feeding and what that looks like, but we rarely discuss what the other side looks like. How do you know if a child is eating for compliance? What cues should you look for? Your hosts will break down the different cues you may see, and some strategies to try instead to help your child build comfort around food. This episode will also cover what progress looks like, how to reframe the word progress for families, and how to transition from a compliant environment to a comfortable environment.
Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!