Children's Emergency Department is now located in Children's Tower: 1001 E. Marshall Street.

Learn more
View alerts close
Feeding

Helping all children form healthy eating habits 

Our feeding specialists help children who have medical conditions that have affected their feeding and growth. Your child is not alone in this – in fact, 25% to 40% of children are affected by a feeding disorder. Our treatment is designed for children to overcome their feeding issues – which are often associated with complex medical conditions – and establish proper feeding and nutritional habits. Developing good habits now can also avoid larger problems later.   

Family-centered feeding care 

An interdisciplinary team of specialists works with your child and you to address the multiple factors involved with eating. Our program takes a supportive, comprehensive approach that not only incorporates a child's medical and developmental needs, but addresses behavioral and oral-motor feeding issues as well as family education and training. 

Treatment is only successful if the education and guidance you and your child receive carries over into daily life. Family is a crucial part of treatment and parents and other caregivers are important part of the care team. Training and education for parents or caregivers begins once an effective treatment has been established.  

In addition, we provide training for teachers or relatives, which often occurs in the child’s daily living setting. Aftercare, consisting of outpatient therapy and follow-up visits, provides further support and ensures strides made during treatment are maintained. 

Our services 

We serve children from birth to age 21 with feeding issues including: 

  • Food/drink refusal 
  • Inability to chew and/or swallow 
  • Lactation support for parent and baby
  • Oralfacial myology therapy (to address tongue thrust, lip tie, tongue tie or jaw issues)
  • Recurrent gagging or vomiting 
  • Food or swallowing phobias 
  • Food selectivity (by type or texture) 
  • Mealtime behavior problems (tantrums, lengthy meals) 
  • Failure to thrive (unable to gain proper weight for age) 
  • Tube-dependency (nasogastric or gastrostomy tubes) 

How our feeding program works 

Initial appointment: Our first meeting with you and your child includes medical and nutritional services. If we determine that feeding therapy is needed, we will schedule follow-up appointments with a feeding therapist and behavioral psychologist. There are two co-pays for the initial visit. 

Kids may be recommended for our outpatient program, which involves weekly visits for feeding therapy with a feeding therapist and psychologist, follow-up visits in the feeding clinic, and additional appointments as needed. 

Our feeding team includes behavioral psychologists, doctors, dietitians, feeding therapists (specially trained occupational therapists and speech/language pathologists), nurse practitioners and a social worker.

Preparing for your first visit 

The following documents and forms will be sent to new patient families to complete/review prior to their first visit:

Three-day food diary form
Parent intake form

Virtual tour: Feeding program

Expert care, in your home

Expert care, in your home

Schedule a telehealth appointment from the comfort of your home. Our virtual visits offer safe and convenient options for you and your child.

Learn more
 

Meet the team

View all providers
Sarah Benton, PsyD, LCP
Sarah Benton PsyD, LCP Feeding Read more
Sangita Kling, RD
Sangita Kling RD Feeding Read more
Kimberly Ritenour, MS, RN, CPNP
Kimberly Ritenour MS, RN, CPNP Feeding Read more
Angela Smith, PhD, LCP
Angela Smith PhD, LCP Feeding Read more

Locations

View all locations