Little Eaters & Talkers

Little Eaters & Talkers At Little Eaters & Talkers, our team of Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) and Occupational Therapists (OTs) help children thrive at every stage of feeding.

We support families in the Houston area and virtually,

Your child's speech therapist is working on the talking. 👄You're trying to expand the food list at home. 🍽️But nobody is...
05/27/2026

Your child's speech therapist is working on the talking. 👄
You're trying to expand the food list at home. 🍽️

But nobody is connecting the two.

New episode is live — and this one is Jean's unfair advantage. As an SLP who specializes in feeding, she's the only one in the room who sees both sides of what's happening in your child's mouth.

🎙️ Episode 32: The Feeding-Speech Connection Nobody Talks About

In this episode Jean breaks down:
✅ Why the same muscles your child uses to eat are the ones they need to talk
✅ 5 signs the two are connected in your child
✅ What to say to your child's SLP if feeding has never come up
✅ Simple activities you can try at home this week
✅ When one specialist isn't enough — and how to build the right team

If your child is a late talker AND a picky eater — that's not a coincidence. This episode explains why.

🎧 Listen now — link in bio.

05/24/2026

Say it louder for the people in the back. 🎤

Traditional feeding therapy — SOS, food chaining, all of it — can actively make ARFID worse.

We’ve been applying a developmental feeding model to a fear-based disorder and calling it treatment. And the field keeps defending that approach because it’s what we know, it’s what we were trained in, and frankly — it’s what insurance reimburses.

But discomfort with a food and terror of a food are not the same clinical presentation. And they don’t deserve the same intervention.

Kids with ARFID are sitting across from us, white-knuckling their way through food exposures, racking up years of “feeding therapy” — with no psychologist on the team, no trauma-informed lens, no CBT framework — because someone decided sensory = SLP’s problem to solve alone.

We can be part of the team. We should not be the team.

The most courageous thing we can do for these kids is get honest about the limits of our scope — and stop letting professional turf protect a model that isn’t serving them.

Drop a 🔥 if you’ve been thinking this for a while. Or tell me I’m wrong — I want the conversation.

If Little Eaters & Talkers has ever made a difference for your family — would you take 30 seconds to leave us a review? ...
05/24/2026

If Little Eaters & Talkers has ever made a difference for your family — would you take 30 seconds to leave us a review? 💛

Scan the QR code or find the link in bio.
We're a small pediatric feeding and speech therapy practice in Bellaire, TX — and every review helps another Houston family find us when they're searching at midnight, not sure where to turn.

It means more than you know. Thank you. 🌟

When your child is losing weight and facing the possibility of a feeding tube, you need more than "wait and see."You nee...
05/22/2026

When your child is losing weight and facing the possibility of a feeding tube, you need more than "wait and see."

You need someone who will walk every step with you.

Kathryn came to us scared. Her daughter was struggling with feeding, losing weight, and facing the very real possibility of a feeding tube. She was also dealing with bottle aversion — refusing everything.

Jean guided them step-by-step. With knowledge, patience, and compassion. Always available. Always supportive. Never dismissive.

Because of that work — they avoided the feeding tube entirely. And now? Her daughter is eating solids, trying all different kinds of foods, and growing beautifully.

That's what feeding therapy can do when it's done right.

If your baby or toddler is struggling with feeding and you're in the Houston area — we'd love to help.

📍 Bellaire, TX — serving West University, River Oaks, Meyerland, Sugar Land & greater Houston.

🔗 Link in bio to learn more or book a consultation.

Most parents tell me they had no idea what feeding therapy actually looked like before they came in.They pictured someth...
05/21/2026

Most parents tell me they had no idea what feeding therapy actually looked like before they came in.

They pictured something clinical. Maybe stressful. Maybe their child being forced to eat.

It's nothing like that.

A feeding therapy session at Little Eaters & Talkers in Bellaire is calm, play-based, and pressure-free. We meet your child where they are — whether that's just touching a food, smelling it, or sitting near it without any expectation to eat.

Every session is built around your child's sensory profile, their comfort level, and what their nervous system can handle that day. We don't push. We build trust first.

Swipe to see what a session actually looks like 👉

If your child is struggling with eating — whether it's picky eating, sensory food aversions, or feeding delays — pediatric feeding therapy in Houston might be the next step worth taking.

📍 Bellaire, TX | Serving the greater Houston area
🔗 Book a feeding evaluation — link in bio

The "wait until 6 months" rule isn't the whole story. Here are the 4 signs that actually tell you your baby is ready for...
05/20/2026

The "wait until 6 months" rule isn't the whole story. Here are the 4 signs that actually tell you your baby is ready for solids — and they have nothing to do with the calendar.

The "wait until 6 months" rule isn't the whole story.

Your baby might be ready earlier. Or they might not be ready at 6 months yet. The date doesn't decide — their development does.

There are 4 readiness signs I look for in clinic before recommending any family start solids. If your baby has all 4, they're ready. If they don't, the calendar doesn't change that.

I just published a full breakdown on the blog — link in bio.

Comment READY and I'll send you our free Starting Solids Guide straight to your DMs. 💛

"They're just picky" — if you've heard that and it didn't sit right, trust that feeling.There's a difference between a k...
05/15/2026

"They're just picky" — if you've heard that and it didn't sit right, trust that feeling.

There's a difference between a kid who won't eat broccoli and a kid whose nervous system genuinely can't process certain textures, smells, or even the sight of a new food. One is preference. The other is sensory.

I put together 7 signs I look for in clinic when picky eating might actually be sensory — and what to do when it is.

Link in bio 👆 or read it at thelittleeaters.com/post/signs-picky-eating-is-sensory

Comment SENSORY and I'll send you our free Sensory Feeding Parent Guide 💛

If your toddler only eats with a screen, read this. 🤍I want parents to know this first: you are not failing.Most famili...
05/14/2026

If your toddler only eats with a screen, read this. 🤍

I want parents to know this first:
you are not failing.

Most families start using screens during meals because they are exhausted, worried, overstimulated, or simply trying to get their child to eat something. I see it every single day.

But here’s the hard part:

Distracted eating is very different from learning how to eat.

Eating is a developmental skill.
Children learn through:
• touching food
• smelling food
• watching others eat
• chewing and moving food in their mouth
• listening to hunger/fullness cues
• interacting socially at the table

When a child is fully focused on a screen, the brain is often paying more attention to the distraction than the actual eating experience.

That doesn’t mean you need to throw away the iPad tomorrow.

But it may mean we start asking:
“How can we slowly help mealtime feel safer, calmer, and more interactive without relying completely on distraction?”

Small changes matter.
Progress matters.
Connection matters more than perfection.

Link the bio to book a consult

If your child is on the autism spectrum and mealtimes are a daily battle — this is for you.As a pediatric SLP and feedin...
05/14/2026

If your child is on the autism spectrum and mealtimes are a daily battle — this is for you.
As a pediatric SLP and feeding therapist in Houston, TX, one of the most common calls I get is from parents of autistic children who have tried everything and nothing has worked.

Usually, it hasn't worked because the approach was designed for neurotypical kids.
I created the Autism & Feeding Mini Course specifically for this: the intersection of autism and food. Why traditional feeding strategies fail. What actually works. How to build a safe mealtime environment at home.

Comment AUTISM below and I'll send you the registration link directly. 💛
This course is available to families in Houston and across the country. Everything is on-demand and built around what I use in my own clinic in Bellaire, TX every week.

📍 Little Eaters & Talkers | Jean Hawney, M.A., CCC-SLP | Bellaire, TX (Houston)
🌐 thelittleeaters.com

Fear of food is a real clinical presentation — and I see it every single week in my feeding therapy clinic in Bellaire, ...
05/13/2026

Fear of food is a real clinical presentation — and I see it every single week in my feeding therapy clinic in Bellaire, TX.

I had a little girl recently tell me she wants to eat blueberries because her best friend at school loves them. I could see the fear in her body when she said it. She wanted to be brave. She just didn't know how yet.

That's what fear of food looks like. Not defiance. Not manipulation. Fear.

Here's what I need every Houston parent to hear:

For kids on the autism spectrum, starving them out does not work. Those children will choose hunger over a non-preferred food every single time. That approach causes harm, not progress.

For children where it's sensory or behavioral — we do push gently. But thoughtfully. Safely. At the child's pace.

The "just wait and see" approach costs children years they don't need to lose.

Comment SENSORY below for our free sensory feeding guide. 💛

📍 Little Eaters & Talkers | Jean Hawney, M.A., CCC-SLP | Bellaire, TX
Serving Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Pearland, Memorial + Virtual

🌐 thelittleeaters.com

Address

6300 West Loop South, Suite 290
Bellaire, TX
77401

Opening Hours

Tuesday 8am - 3:30pm
Wednesday 11am - 3:30pm
Thursday 8am - 3:30pm

Telephone

+18323043506

Website

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/feeding-your-baby-without-fear-tickets-1234981134819?

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