Developing Safe, Comfortable, and Confident Eating Skills
Mealtimes should be enjoyable, but for some children, eating and drinking can be challenging. Our Feeding & Eating Therapy program helps children develop the skills they need to eat safely, comfortably, and confidently while making mealtimes less stressful for the whole family.
Our occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists work together to understand each child’s unique needs. We create individualized treatment plans that focus on building positive eating experiences while supporting healthy growth and development. Families are an important part of therapy, and we provide education and strategies that can be used at home.
Feeding & Eating Therapy Can Help With:
- Picky eating
- Eating only a small variety of foods
- Difficulty trying new foods
- Sensitivity to food textures, temperatures, smells, or tastes
- Gagging or coughing while eating or drinking
- Difficulty chewing food
- Difficulty swallowing
- Trouble drinking from a bottle, cup, straw, or open cup
- Difficulty transitioning to solid foods
- Challenges with self-feeding using fingers or utensils
- Mealtime behaviors and food refusal
- Long or stressful mealtimes
- Oral motor skills for eating and drinking
- Weak lip, tongue, or jaw muscles
- Food pocketing (holding food in the mouth)
- Overstuffing the mouth with food
- Limited food variety affecting nutrition
- Feeding challenges related to developmental delays, autism, sensory differences, prematurity, neurological conditions, genetic conditions, or medical diagnoses
Our Approach
Our therapists use evidence-based treatment, play-based activities, and positive mealtime experiences to help children become more comfortable and confident with eating and drinking. We work at each child’s pace while supporting safe feeding and healthy nutrition.
Our goal is to help children enjoy mealtimes, expand the foods they eat, develop safe eating and drinking skills, and build confidence while reducing stress for the entire family.
