An opportunity to learn with SPOON: Upcoming Classes

Nutrition and Institutionalized Children

Event Date: Thursday, September 6, 2012 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm

While foster and adopted children may appear healthy on the outside, they may very well be deficient in key nutrients that could impact future growth and brain development. These deficiencies develop because many vulnerable children do not receive proper nutrition in their early years. The most common culprits include insufficient prenatal nutrition, malnutrition in infancy and post-adoption growth spurts.

 The goal of this presentation is to help parents learn to provide optimal nutrition once their children are home in order to boost their children’s development and overall health. Participants will become knowledgeable about:

• common nutrient deficiencies
• contributing factors to nutrient deficiencies in institutionalized children
• nutrition information specific to different countries
• how nutrient deficiencies can be identified upon adoption

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Feeding the First Year Home

Feeding the First Year Home: How to transition adopted children to the next stages of feeding while transitioning them to the diet of a new culture - Live Webinar   

Event Date: Thursday, October 4, 2012 | Noon - 1:00 p.m. (Central Time)   

Intended Audience: Prospective Adoptive Parents, Adoptive Parents, Child Welfare Professionals   

Fee: $15 per participant; separate registration required for each participant.

Feeding children healthy snacks and meals on a daily basis is a challenge for any parent, but transitioning an undernourished child from their traditional diet to yours can seem like a huge undertaking. Parents often feel pressured to get their child nourished ASAP, and attempting to do so only adds stress to an already delicate situation. There are no hard and fast rules to do this right. Feeding guidelines and expert advice on child nutrition is largely based on research and experience with families who have biological children that share a similar culture. You may get lots of advice from well-meaning family, friends, and even health care professionals, but understand there’s little to no research to validate this advice. If possible, develop a relationship with an international adoption health care expert, a sympathetic pediatrician, or a registered dietitian specializing in child nutrition to assist you and your child through this difficult time.

The goal of this presentation is to help parents understand what feeding and nutrition challenges they may experience when their child first enters their home and ways they may be able to address the challenges. Participants will become knowledgeable about:

• transitioning stages (formula, complementary foods, solids) and how they might be different for adopted children
• tips for transitioning to culturally new foods
• implications of post-adoption growth spurt

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Nourish, Nurture, Attach: The feeding relationship and adoption

Nourish, Nurture, Attach: The feeding relationship and adoption - Live Webinar   
Event Date: Thursday, November 8, 2012 | Noon - 1:00 p.m. (Central Time) 

Intended Audience: Prospective Adoptive Parents, Adoptive Parents, Child Welfare Professionals   

Fee: $15 per participant; separate registration required for each participant.

Even parents with thriving biological children get frazzled when their kids refuse to eat or limit their diet to a few select foods. This frustration is compounded for adoptive parents who have the additional pressure of getting their children nutritionally “caught up.” Unfortunately it is not uncommon for children who are entering a new family through adoption or foster care to have difficulty eating, develop rigid eating patterns, or refuse food all together (a.k.a. food aversion). On the other end of the spectrum, it is also not uncommon for post-adopted children to hoard food in the initial period home.

The goal of this presentation is to provide parents with practical, research-based information on ending the power struggles and restoring a positive feeding relationship that promotes attachment, trust, good nutrition and healthy weight.

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Feeding and Nutrition Considerations for Children with Special Needs: An overview

Feeding and Nutrition Considerations for Children with Special Needs: An overview - Live Webinar   

Event Date: Thursday, December 6, 2012 | Noon - 1:00 p.m. (Central Time) 

Intended Audience: Prospective Adoptive Parents, Adoptive Parents, Child Welfare Professionals   

Fee: $15 per participant; separate registration required for each participant.

When adopting a child who has been identified as having a special need, there is more to consider than just the medical or behavioral diagnosis. One of the basic, foundational issues that must be addressed immediately is the child's feeding and nutrition, which will almost certainly be more of a challange than for a child without an identified need.

The goal of this presentation is to offer parents an overview of the aspects of feeding and nutrition that are unique to children with special needs including those with Sensory Processing Disorder, low muscle tone, cerebral palsy, and cleft lip and palate.

 Learn More & Register...