Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids

Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids, by Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, is a must-read morsel of a book for those interested in making mealtimes with their child more enjoyable! Melanie is a feeding specialist who has shared her knowledge by writing a book about the "how" to feed a child, with topics ranging from proper seating to straw drinking to helping your child tolerate change and new foods.

This book is designed for busy parents. Each chapter consists of an appetizer, an entree and a quick bite. The appetizers are short, real life stories from Melanie's experiences as a feeding specialist. The entree dives into the topic introduced in the appetizer more thoroughly, and the quick bite gives a short synopsis of tips.

This book covers the basics of feeding your child in an easy to understand manner. If you are looking for a book that dives deep into techniques of feeding therapy, then this is not the book for you. If you're looking for quick, helpful, and easy to implement tips, then this book will leave you with plenty of straight forward tips to try right away with your child!

Topics covered include:

• Proper positioning
• Spoon feeding
• Getting messy (and why it's important!)
• Experiencing temperature and texture before taste
• Helping children tolerate change
• Straw drinking
• Behavioral strategies, including reinforcement and ignoring undesired behaviors
• Creating eating routines
• Tooth brushing
• Signs of choking
• Portion sizes

What Therapists Will Love:

• Quick, easy read!
• Great resource to have on hand with basic information about feeding and mealtimes to share with families.
• Chapters are so short, you can have a parent read one during your session, and then discuss what they learned.

What Parents Will Love:

• Quick, easy read. Even busy parents of toddlers can find time to read this book!
• Useful, basic information about feeding, especially for a first time parent or a first time parent of a selective eater!
• Great tips on common areas of concern, such as tolerating change, getting messy with food and learning to sit quietly in a highchair.
• Tips are easy to understand and easy to implement with your child immediately!

If you want to hear what others think of this book, please visit Amazon to read all of the reviews parents and therapists have written. Then, head on over to My Munch Bug to purchase the book directly from the distributor and save 20%. Even better, follow My Munch Bug on Facebook for tons of great information as well as frequent discount codes for Happy Mealtimes and Dancing in the Kitchen!

Wait, what is this Dancing in the Kitchen that I just mentioned? Melanie has teamed up with a childrens singer/songwriter to create a CD of fun music about food. Check out the video below of A Peas Operetta from Dancing in the Kitchen: Songs That Celebrate the Joy of Food to get a taste of what the CD has to offer!


As a therapist, I am always looking for good music to incorporate into therapy sessions, and Dancing in the Kitchen fits that bill! It's not just fun, it has therapeutic value too! This CD includes suggestions and strategies for incorporating these songs into your child's mealtime experience to get the most out of the music. You can purchase Dancing in the Kitchen from My Munch Bug or from Amazon.

Disclosure: The items reviewed in this post were received free of charge for review. All opinions expressed are my own.