Hard munchables: Chewing through the weaning journey

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As a Speech and Language Therapist with a specialism in paediatric feeding, I’m constantly looking for ways to support families in developing their little ones’ oral motor skills and fostering a positive relationship with food. While Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) has revolutionised how many families introduce solids, (see my previous blog in July 25) a concept that often sparks discussion and curiosity is the use of ‘hard munchables.’

What are hard munchables?

The term ‘hard munchables’ refers to specific types of firm non-digestible food items that are offered to babies for oral exploration and skill development, not for nutrition. These are typically foods that babies cannot bite off or swallow in large pieces due to their texture, but which provide resistance for chewing practice.

The phrase was coined by Marsha Dunn Klein, M.Ed., OTR/L, Occupational Therapist and feeding therapist. Well known for her work in paediatric feeding she introduced and advocated for the concept of hard munchables as part of a therapeutic feeding approach, particularly for infants learning to manage textures and develop crucial oral motor skills.

Common examples of hard munchables include:

  • Large, raw carrot sticks: Too hard to bite through, but great for gnawing.
  • Celery sticks: Like carrots, offering firm resistance.
  • Large, raw apple slices (peeled chunks): A firm, slightly sweet option.
  • A firm, uncut pear core: With the seeds removed.
  • Dried mango cheeks (hard, unsweetened varieties): These offer a fibrous texture.
  • A large, fully cooked but firm piece of meat (like a steak bone with some meat attached): The meat provides flavour and a bit of shreddable texture, while the bone is for gnawing.
  • Hard crusts of bread or breadsticks (very firm, without soft inner crumb): These can soften slightly with saliva but offer significant resistance.
Image by Freepik

It’s crucial to emphasise that hard munchables are not for consumption or nutrition. They are tools for oral motor development and should always be offered under strict, active supervision.

How do hard munchables fit into weaning?

While weaning (traditional or Baby-Led Weaning) introduces solid foods that a baby can eventually bite and swallow, hard munchables are complementary to the weaning phase. They enhance that phase by helping a child to develop hand dexterity, hand to mouth movement, and oral development.

It’s important to differentiate: Weaning provides the digestible food for eating, while hard munchables provide the tool for skill practice. They are not substitutes for each other but can be used together under careful guidance.

Pros and cons from a speech therapy perspective

As an SLT, I see both the potential benefits and the necessary precautions when incorporating hard munchables.

Pros:

  • Enhanced oral motor development: Hard munchables provide excellent resistance training for the jaw, helping to develop the strength, endurance, and coordination needed for efficient chewing. This is foundational for moving beyond purées and very soft textures.
  • Promotes lateralisation of the tongue: The act of moving the hard item from side to side in the mouth encourages the tongue to move independently of the jaw, a crucial skill for managing food and for speech sound production.
  • Preparation for more complex textures: By strengthening the oral musculature and refining chewing patterns, hard munchables can help babies transition more smoothly to lumpy and mixed textures.
  • Sensory exploration: They offer rich sensory input (tactile, proprioceptive) that can be beneficial for oral mapping and awareness, especially for babies who might be orally sensitive.

Cons:

  • Choking risk: While the intention is for the baby not to bite off pieces, there is always a risk. Small pieces can break off, or a baby might accidentally bite off a larger chunk than he or she can manage. Active, vigilant supervision is non-negotiable.
  • Not a replacement for digestible solids: It’s vital to remember that hard munchables are for practice, not nutrition. They should complement, not replace, the introduction of varied, digestible solid foods.
  • Not suitable for all babies: Babies with certain developmental delays, oral motor deficits, or medical conditions might not be appropriate candidates for hard munchables without highly specialised guidance. For instance, babies with an exaggerated gag reflex might find them overwhelming.

Key Considerations for Parents

Here are my top recommendations:

  1. Consult with a professional: Always discuss this with your Paediatric Feeding SLT first before you introduce hard munchables. We can assess your baby’s individual readiness and guide you on safe practices.
  2. Strict supervision: Never leave your baby unsupervised with a hard munchable, even for a second. Your full attention is required.
  3. Appropriate size: Ensure the item is large enough that the baby cannot fit the whole thing in their mouth. It should extend well beyond their fist.
  4. No biting off: The goal is gnawing and scraping, not biting off pieces. If your baby is consistently breaking off chunks, stop using them.
  5. Focus on skill, not consumption: Reiterate to yourself that this is for practice, not for eating.

In conclusion, hard munchables, when used appropriately and under guidance, can be a very valuable tool to support oral motor development during the weaning journey. However, always be safe and consult with a specialist to ensure your little one develops his or her feeding skills effectively and joyfully.

Sonja McGeachie

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.


Health Professions Council registered
Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
Member of ASLTIP

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.


References:

Rapley, G., & Murkett, T. (2008). Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods. Vermilion.

Morris, S. E., & Klein, M. D. (2000). Pre-feeding skills: A comprehensive resource for feeding development. Pro-Ed.

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    Happy Islamic family sitting on the floor
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    The great air debate

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    • Clicking noises during feeding: Loss of suction, indicating air entry.
    • Frequent detaching and re-latching: Often to ‘catch a breath’ or because of discomfort.

    Each of these patterns can lead to increased air intake.

    The root cause: Air trapping leading to a gassy breastfed baby

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    It’s a common misconception that all gassiness or reflux symptoms in a breastfed baby are due to something in the mother’s diet or a genuine digestive disorder. While these can be factors, as an SLT, we first look at the mechanics of the feed. If a baby is constantly struggling to maintain a seal, sucking inefficiently, or having to gulp to keep up with flow, he or she is inevitably swallowing air. This air then creates pressure, which can push milk back up (silent reflux) or out (visible reflux).

    Think of it like trying to drink through a straw with a hole in it. You’re sucking, but you’re also pulling in air, making it harder to get the liquid and leaving you with more bubbles in your stomach.

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    This is where the distinction between a medical diagnosis (true gastro oesophageal reflux disease or GORD) and a functional feeding challenge becomes critical. A paediatrician will assess for medical causes and may prescribe medication to reduce stomach acid. This can be appropriate for severe cases of GORD.

    However, if the primary issue is air being trapped due to a suboptimal suck-swallow pattern, medication only treats the symptom (acid burning) and not the root cause (air intake). This is precisely where a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in infant feeding comes in.

    My role is to meticulously observe and assess your baby’s oral motor skills, latch, tongue function, and the efficiency of their SSB sequence. I look for subtle signs of inefficiency that contribute to excessive air swallowing.

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    • Is the latch deep enough to prevent air leaks?
    • Can the baby coordinate suck, swallow, and breathe without gasping?

    By identifying these mechanical challenges, I can then implement targeted strategies to improve feeding efficiency and reduce air intake, often leading to a significant reduction in reflux-like symptoms and overall discomfort.

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    The good news is that many babies can learn to feed more efficiently with the right support. Here are some general strategies we might explore:

    1. Optimise latch and position: A deep, asymmetric latch is crucial. Experiment with different positions that allow for a deeper latch and better head/neck alignment, such as laid-back feeding or upright positions.
    2. Paced feeding (even at the breast): If your milk flow is very fast, consider removing your baby from the breast briefly if you hear excessive gulping or see him or her struggling to breathe. This allows him or her to catch up and manage the flow.
    3. Support the jaw and cheeks: Sometimes, gentle support to the baby’s jaw or cheeks can help them maintain a more stable, efficient suck. I can demonstrate specific techniques for this.
    4. Burping effectively: While burping won’t get rid of all swallowed air, upright burping positions and gentle back rubs can help release some of it.
    5. Pre-feed oral preparation: Gentle oral massage or stretches before a feed can sometimes ‘wake up’ the oral muscles and improve coordination.

    Addressing the ‘Great Air Debate’ isn’t about blaming anyone; it’s about empowering parents with a deeper understanding of their baby’s feeding mechanics. By focusing on the how, not just the what, we can often resolve persistent feeding challenges, reduce discomfort, and make breastfeeding a more joyful, peaceful experience for both you and your little one.

    If you suspect your baby’s gassiness or reflux symptoms are related to how they are managing air during feeds, don’t hesitate to reach out for a specialist assessment.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.


    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • · · ·

    How do we play with our Gestalt Language Processors?

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    Child-led therapy

    When working with Gestalt Language Processors, it is always advisable to use child-led therapy. What does that mean? Child led therapy involves following a child’s interests and allowing her/him to lead the play activity throughout the speech and language therapy session. In other words, instead of having my own ideas of what we might want to play with or what activities I might try and use, I provide a range of toys I know the child likes or has played well with before; then I wait for the child to pick what she/he enjoys doing.

    Play can be very repetitive and we can often see our child cycling back to the same one or two toys throughout the session. But this is what she/he needs to do at that time and it means that we have focused attention and engagement. This in turn is very helpful for the therapeutic process, which is to offer great scripts and phrases/words alongside what she/he is playing with.

    Monotropic minds

    Often the mind of autistic children is more strongly pulled towards a smaller number of interests or hobbies as I like to call them. Dr Dinah Murray, Dr Winn Lawson and Mike Lesser have found in 2005 that autistic people have ‘monotropic’ minds. They explain that autistic children focus their energy on a narrow range of activities as the energy required to switch between several toys is much higher than we would see in the neuro-typical population.

    Gestalt Language Processors are often also Gestalt Cognitive Processors. This is when experiences are retained as episodic events and memories. An event is remembered by specific parts of the same event. And, therefore, these specific parts should always be part of that event, when the event is repeated.

    Should any of the specifics be changed or are missing, then this can cause great upset to Gestalt Cognitive Processors. So, for example, if the last two times in speech therapy we had the train set out and this was played with happily, then this becomes a specific part of the whole session. If, I then don’t offer the train set the third time a child comes to see me, this could be very upsetting.

    This is why I tend to try this out and see what happens. Usually in the 3rd or 4th session: I might not bring out the car run that has hitherto been super successful to see if we are able to transition well to other toys. If yes, then we can have new experiences but if not then I will re-offer the car run/or whatever toy pretty quickly so as not to cause complete dysregulation.

    A few pointers below which help with child-led play:

    Introduce a few new toys and see what happens

    Parents are encouraged to bring some familiar toys their child likes to the session. We can then introduce a couple of different toys to see how we go. Try offering a new toy alongside the familiar one; try offering new toys without the familiar one present, but be prepared to re-offer the “old” toy should our child get upset.

    Rotate toys and don’t offer out too many toys

    I find that children can get overwhelmed and overstimulated by too many items out all at once. I always talk to parents about toy rotation at home and I encourage storage and ‘tidy up’ of toys so that we can increase attention focus, and also maintain freshness and new interest in older toys.

    Some children are not yet ready to play with toys

    Here I suggest people games: these are games where the adult becomes part of a more motor-based activity. Some call it ‘rough and tumble play’ but it can be nursery rhymes such as sleeping bunnies/row row the boat or peek-a-boo for the younger ones.

    Copy/Imitation is so important – try getting two identical or similar play items

    When we are copying our child, it is often not desirable to ‘take turns’ with their toys/blogs/cars etc as our child may not be ready to let us take a turn. Instead, if we have the exact same toy that our child is having then we can play alongside our child and copy them perfectly without interrupting their play.

    References:

    Murray, D., Lesser, M., & Lawson, W. (2005). Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism. Autism9(2), 139-156.

    If you need help with your child, please do not hesitate to contact me.


    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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