Pediatric Feeding Therapy
Helping Children Build the Skills They Need for Successful Mealtimes
Eating is a skill—and for some children, it doesn't come easily.
If your child struggles with trying new foods, tolerating different textures, chewing, drinking, or safely swallowing, feeding therapy may help.
At And Then There Is You, our speech-language pathologists provide pediatric feeding therapy. We work with families to understand what's making eating or drinking difficult and develop an individualized approach based on each child's specific needs.
Concerned about your child's eating or drinking? Contact our team to learn more about a feeding evaluation.
Could Feeding Therapy Help My Child?
Feeding difficulties don't always look the same. For one child, mealtimes may mean eating only a handful of familiar foods. For another, it may mean difficulty chewing or progressing to age-appropriate textures. Other children may cough, gag, or struggle to coordinate eating and drinking.
Your child may benefit from a feeding evaluation if they:
- Eat a very limited variety of foods
- Completely avoid certain textures, temperatures, or types of food
- Have difficulty transitioning to new or age-appropriate foods
- Frequently gag when eating
- Difficulty manipulating foods in the mouth
- Hold or "pocket" food in the mouth
- Take an unusually long time to finish meals
- Have difficulty drinking from age-appropriate cups or straws
- Cough or choke while eating or drinking
- Become upset or distressed around food or mealtimes
- Have feeding skills that don't seem to be progressing with age
Every child is different. An evaluation can help identify your child's specific feeding strengths and challenges and determine whether feeding therapy is appropriate.
Schedule Your Child's Feeding Therapy Appointment Today!
What We Can Work On in Feeding Therapy
Feeding therapy isn't simply about getting a child to eat more foods. Eating and drinking involve a complex combination of sensory processing, oral-motor skills, coordination, swallowing, and learned feeding experiences.
Depending on your child's needs, feeding therapy may address:
Food Variety & Texture Acceptance
For children who have difficulty tolerating different foods, therapy may work toward increasing comfort with new tastes, textures, temperatures, and consistencies while supporting the development of a broader range of accepted foods.
Chewing & Oral-Motor Skills
Children need coordinated movement of the lips, tongue, jaw, and cheeks to effectively manage food. Therapy may address skills involved in biting, chewing, moving food within the mouth, and preparing food to be swallowed.
Age-Appropriate Feeding Skills
As children grow, their feeding abilities should continue to develop. Therapy may help children progress toward developmentally appropriate foods, textures, drinking methods, and greater independence during meals.
Drinking Skills
Feeding therapy may address the skills involved in drinking from bottles, cups, straws, or other developmentally appropriate drinking methods based on a child's needs and stage of development.
Feeding & Swallowing
Some children have difficulty safely or efficiently managing food and liquids. A speech-language pathologist can evaluate feeding and swallowing skills and determine whether additional assessment, treatment, or referral to another healthcare professional may be appropriate.
Mealtime Participation
Feeding challenges can affect more than the food itself. Therapy may also support skills and strategies that help children participate more successfully in everyday meals with their families.
Meet Megan M. Northcutt
Megan is a dedicated Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist with more than a decade of experience working with children and families across various pediatric settings throughout Florida. She is passionate about helping children build confidence in their communication skills while creating a supportive and encouraging environment for both clients and caregivers.
Her clinical experience includes working with children experiencing speech and language delays, childhood apraxia of speech, and voice disorders. Megan is known for her collaborative, compassionate approach and her commitment to helping families feel informed and supported throughout the therapy process.
In addition to her clinical work, Megan is actively involved in advancing the speech-language pathology profession and currently serves as President-Elect for the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
Our Approach to Pediatric Feeding Therapy
There is no single approach that works for every child.
Feeding difficulties can have different causes and may involve sensory, oral-motor, developmental, medical, nutritional, swallowing, or behavioral factors. That's why our approach begins with understanding your child, rather than applying the same feeding program to every family.
Our speech-language pathologists develop individualized goals based on your child's current feeding abilities, areas of difficulty, developmental needs, and evaluation findings.
Caregivers are also an important part of the process. When appropriate, we help families understand their child's feeding needs and provide strategies that can carry over beyond the therapy session and into everyday mealtimes.
When a child's needs extend beyond the role of speech-language therapy, we may recommend collaboration with or referral to other members of the child's healthcare team.
What to Expect During Your Pediatric Feeding Therapy Appointment
Feeding Evaluation
The process begins with an evaluation of your child's feeding skills and concerns. Your speech-language pathologist will gather information about your child's feeding history, current foods and drinks, mealtime experiences, developmental history, and the specific concerns that brought you to us.
The evaluation may also include observation of your child's feeding skills as appropriate.
Individualized Recommendations
Following the evaluation, we'll discuss what we observed and the next steps we recommend.
If feeding therapy is appropriate, your child's speech-language pathologist will develop goals based on their individual needs.
In some situations, additional medical or interdisciplinary evaluation may be recommended before or alongside feeding therapy.
Feeding Therapy
Therapy focuses on the specific skills identified during your child's evaluation. Because feeding needs vary considerably from child to child, the frequency, duration, activities, and goals of treatment are individualized.
Caregiver Support
Feeding happens every day—not just during therapy.
Caregiver education and collaboration can be an important part of treatment. Your speech-language pathologist may provide strategies to help support your child's developing skills during everyday routines and mealtimes.
Pediatric Feeding Therapy FAQs
Is feeding therapy only for extremely picky eaters?
No. Feeding therapy can address a range of concerns, including limited food variety, difficulty with textures, delayed feeding skills, difficulty chewing, oral-motor challenges, drinking difficulties, and concerns related to swallowing.
An evaluation can help determine the nature of your child's feeding difficulty and whether feeding therapy is appropriate.
Do speech-language pathologists provide feeding therapy?
Yes. Speech-language pathologists are trained in the anatomy and physiology involved in feeding and swallowing and play an important role in evaluating and treating pediatric feeding and swallowing difficulties.
What if my child's feeding difficulty has a medical component?
Feeding difficulties can involve multiple factors. Depending on your child's needs, their speech-language pathologist may recommend collaboration with their pediatrician or another healthcare professional, such as a gastroenterologist, ENT, dietitian, or other specialist.
What's the difference between picky eating and a feeding disorder?
Many children go through periods when they become more selective about food. Feeding difficulties become more concerning when they persist, significantly restrict the child's diet, interfere with development or nutrition, cause substantial distress around meals, or involve difficulty with the physical skills needed for eating and drinking.
Rather than trying to determine the difference on your own, a feeding evaluation can help identify whether your child's eating patterns warrant additional support.
Does my child need a diagnosis before receiving a feeding evaluation?
Not necessarily. Parents often seek an evaluation because they've noticed something about their child's eating or drinking that concerns them. Our team can discuss your concerns, determine whether a speech-language pathology evaluation is appropriate, and recommend next steps.
How long will my child need feeding therapy?
There isn't a standard length of treatment. Recommendations depend on your child's needs, the nature and severity of their feeding difficulties, their response to treatment, and their individual goals. Your speech-language pathologist will discuss recommendations with you following the evaluation and throughout treatment.
Feeding Therapy for Families in Saint Johns County
Finding the right support for your child's feeding difficulties can start with simply asking questions.
And Then There Is You – Integrated Health & Development provides pediatric feeding therapy as part of our speech-language therapy services for families throughout Saint Johns County and the surrounding Northeast Florida community.
Whether you're concerned about limited food variety, difficulty with textures, chewing, drinking, feeding skill development, or swallowing, our team can help you determine the appropriate next step.
Get Started With Pediatric Feeding Therapy
You don't have to determine on your own whether your child's feeding challenges are "serious enough" for therapy.
If something about your child's eating or drinking concerns you, we're here to listen.
Contact And Then There Is You today to learn more about pediatric feeding therapy or to schedule a feeding evaluation.