More often than not, the main obstacle to adding new foods to a child’s diet is not related to how the food tastes, what the child’s chewing skills look like, or what flavor preferences the child has. The main obstacle is that as soon as the mere idea of a new food is presented, kids immediately go into “NO” mode. Every so often, you may entice your child to examine the food in question or even pick it up...but that’s as far as they’re going to take it. Many times, the offend

As a Feeding Therapist, I find myself having a good deal of food-related conversations with my friends or acquaintances that I meet. After all, feeding kids can be one of the most frustrating tasks that a parent faces, and sometimes a good commiseration sesh is in order! I’ve seen pretty much every imaginable mealtime challenge, so when my friends vent to me about their various feeding grievances, I can usually provide a suggestion in addition to a sympathetic ear. Most of th

How do you approach family gatherings with a child who doesn’t like to eat? I think that most parents can agree that while the holidays bring excitement and comforting traditions, they also present their own unique challenges. Many parental concerns involve finding the shortest line for a photo with Santa or convincing their two-year-old to wear a wool reindeer sweater long enough to have One. Decent. Picture. taken. Parents of picky eaters often have a special kind of holid

**This entry is a re-post from feedingtherapyhelp.com. My daughter is now almost three years old, and she continues to enjoy a wide variety of foods :-) This post was inspired by the work that I have done with my own daughter, Adair, who is 16 months old. Even before Adair was born, I felt that I owed it to myself and the families that I work for to make sure that Adair accepts (and enjoys) a wide variety of foods. Feeding therapy is not easy, and I expect a lot from the fam

I have some serious pet peeves about a few feeding “milestones” that all of our little ones pass through (although I’ll tell you right now that I skipped them!*) These are milestones in more of a marketing sense than in actual physical development...products that seem to have become so ubiquitous, every parent just hops right on board because that’s how it’s done, of course! If you use these products, STOP RIGHT THIS MINUTE! Too much?? I’m only kidding...kind of. It’s highly

Now, before you throw your kale and brownie mix-covered whisk at me, hear me out! I understand why hiding veggies seems like a good idea, and I have even recommended it to families in rare circumstances and with specific guidelines. Of course, for a child who is severely nutrient deficient, you are going to get whatever you can into their tummies to keep them healthy and growing. But...we all know it’s a band-aid. It fixes the issue without addressing the underlying problem.

As I have developed my own approach to feeding therapy as a behavior analyst, and later as I have worked to build Sprouts Feeding Therapy as a business, I have often gotten to thinking about what “behavioral feeding therapy” may mean to the average person, perhaps a parent trying to find an appropriate service provider for their child. The behavioral approach to feeding therapy is not the go-to method that most doctors and other professionals recommend to families (typically