2-on-1 Feeding Therapy
for 0-3 Year Olds

2-on-1 feeding therapy for this age group includes an Occupational Therapist, Taylah Cabrera from Finding Foundations, and a Paediatric Dietitian, Kate Annat from Cubs Paediatric Dietetics. Our focus is on assisting families and children who are struggling with selective eating and mealtime stress. 

 

Before commencing a 2-on-1 session, an initial assessment will be conducted by Finding Foundations, Cubs Paediatric Dietetics, or Brisbane Feeding Clinic to assess the child's medical history and family mealtime routines at home. 

 

As clinicians, our primary goal is to address the underlying reason for your child’s feeding challenges, before commencing food play based therapy. This could include concerns related to airway, posture and gross motor skills, allergies, nutritional deficiencies or oral motor skills. It is crucial to address these areas first as they are the starting point for your child feeling well, having stronger appetite, and feeling more ready to engage with food.  

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Our therapeutic approach is based on the SOS Approach to Feeding, Responsive Feeding, and the Division of Responsibility by Ellyn Satter. This means that our first goal is to empower parents to recognize their child's readiness cues and teach them when to support their child in being exposed to new foods.

 

This might look like understanding the anxieties around food-related tasks (such as touching, smelling, holding, and eating) and learning how to give them the space and independence to interact with new foods at their own pace. 

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For the our 0-3 group, our aim is to expose them to new foods through play, creating positive experiences that lead to acceptance. 

 

What we will be assessing prior to feeding therapy food play?

When an infant or a toddler starts refusing to eat it is essential to figure out when this happened. Was it a feeding issue since birth and breastfeeding was difficult or even bottle feeding. Was breastfeeding fine but the issue arose when they started on solids?

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Was it when they started to become constipated or when their iron levels dropped? Do they accept some textures but not others. It is always essential to figure out when the issue started and what were the symptoms present at the time of their change in behaviour. Our initial assessment will help you to understand the why your child is having feeding difficulties. This may be one or a combination of many things.

 

For example allergy, constipation, hayfever, low iron, seating and posture, tongue tie, enlarged adenoids or tonsils. Remember there is no point in doing feeding therapy unless the underlying root issues are firstly addressed. We will guide you on how to resolve these issues. 

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That is why the initial assessment is so crucial so as to not miss why your child behaves the way they do. 

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What you can expect from the feeding therapy sessions?

In these session's we will first work on what you child is able to tolerate at present based on their oral motor skill level. Often you will need to be seen by a Speech Pathologist initially to help us understand their oral structure. Luckily we work alongside Brisbane Feeding Clinic who will support you to make this assessment. 

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Based on this recommendations will be made to our team on where best to begin. We will aim to increase the amount of foods your child can accept within their skill set. 

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We will also assess self feeding skills and come up with strategies that support your child to find the right cups, bowls and utensils that support them to independently feed themselves. 

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Once these areas are addressed and in place then we can commence building up their skill level. Often families with children of this age are struggling with texture progression as their primary concern. We work towards children developing towards a mature chewing pattern by slowly grading up on textural difficulty.