South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy

10/02/2026

Cooking with your child and involving them in mealtime preparation gives them the opportunity to explore and think about food before they see it at the table; and exploring different foods outside of mealtimes is an important way children develop their eating and mealtime skills. Plus, talking about the properties of food can also boost language skills!

Cook with your child to develop coordination and counting skills, boost their confidence and encourage adventurous eating. Our page has loads of advice to get started with your 3 year old when cooking together as a family.

10/02/2026

This week is the final week of South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s developmental series. Today’s focus is on feeding development from 2 to 3 years.

Between 2 and 3 years children are refining their oral motor and mealtime skills. By the time a child is 3 years old they generally should be eating the same foods as the rest of the family and using cutlery and fingers to feed themselves. Use this feeding milestone checklist from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to better understand your child’s feeding development.

09/02/2026

Young children put all sorts of things in their mouths, not just food. Knowing the steps to take if a child is choking is important information for anyone looking after a young child. More information from St John Ambulance.

When a child is choking, they may be unable to breathe properly. Find out what to look for and what to do.

09/02/2026

This week is the final week of South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s developmental series. Today’s focus is on feeding development from 18 to 24 months.

Between 18 and 24 months toddlers are refining their oral motor skills and are able to manage many family foods (with some modifications for tougher textures) as well as drink from a straw and open cup (there might still be some spilling). Use this feeding milestone checklist from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to better understand your toddler’s feeding development.

08/02/2026

Do you know a child who stammers? 8% of children stammer at some point during childhood. There are things parents and teachers can do to support fluent speech. Have a look at South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy's latest post to find out more. Link in the comments.

07/02/2026

Join us next week for South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s final week in our developmental series covering children’s feeding and communication. On Monday we will start with feeding in the toddler years. See you Monday!

06/02/2026

Mess is an important part of babies and young children learning about food, and in most cases, the more mess the better! Babies and young children who explore and get messy with their food are more likely to eat their food. Giving your child the opportunity to explore and get messy with a variety of food flavours and textures is one of the top things you can do to set your child up for a lifetime of food enjoyment.

More information in this video from HSE Ireland (link in ithe comments).

06/02/2026

This week and next South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy is looking at feeding development from infancy. Today’s focus is on feeding development from 12 to 18 months.

Between 12 and 18 months toddlers are developing more sophisticated chewing and oral motor skills and becoming better skilled at self-feeding. Use this feeding milestone checklist from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to better understand your toddler’s feeding development.

05/02/2026

Although many people do not think about postural stability, it is a key factor in a child’s ability to safely and effectively manage solid foods. Postural stability is a person’s ability to maintain balance while keeping their body in the position needed to effectively complete a task. When eating solid foods, (i.e. from weaning onward), postural stability is achieved when a child (or adult) is seated at 90-90-90.

For more information, read South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s article about the importance of postural stability in your child’s mealtime (link in the comments).

Image Credit: Stokke Tripp Trapp

05/02/2026

Over the next two weeks South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s developmental series is looking at feeding development from infancy. Today’s focus is on feeding development from 9 to 12 months.

Between 9 and 12 months babies are further developing their oral motor and feeding skills through exploring a greater variety of solid food textures and flavours. Use this feeding milestone checklist from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to better understand your baby’s feeding development.

04/02/2026

Is your baby ready for weaning? Take this quiz from Best Start in Life to find out (link in the comments).

04/02/2026

Over the next two weeks South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy will be looking at feeding development from infancy. Today’s focus is on feeding development from 6 to 9 months.

Between 6 and 9 months babies are continuing to refine their feeding skills and entering the early stages of their transition to solid foods. Use this feeding milestone checklist from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to better understand your baby’s early feeding development.