What Is Feeding Therapy? A Deeper Look at the Support Families Actually Need When Feeding Gets Messy

Feeding is one of the most complex things a baby or child will ever learn

And one of the most emotionally loaded things a parent will ever navigate.

But it’s often dangerously oversimplified. The dominant narrative focuses on weaning methods, routines, or behavioural advice without acknowledging the intricate coordination of sensory processing, motor skill, gut function, emotional safety, and relationship.

So when feeding becomes difficult whether that be breast, bottle, solids, textures, restricted diets, it’s rarely recognised for what it is:

• A breakdown in safety, skill, or progression that needs clinical interpretation.

And too often, families are left navigating this alone, not because they haven’t sought help, but because the kind of help that’s needed hasn’t been made visible to them by those around them.

Feeding therapy exists and it's essential.

But in most public narratives, it’s completely absent.

So what actually is feeding therapy?

Feeding therapy is a clinical intervention for babies and children who struggle with feeding at any stage. From the newborn who won’t latch, the 4 month old who looks at a bottle like its poison, to the toddler stuck on a handful of foods, to the child whose relationship with eating has never felt easy or completely broken down: feeding therapy helps us understand why things aren’t working, what needs to change and gives you the vital tools to make that happen.

It draws on multiple domains:

• Sensory processing

• Oral-motor skills and postural control

• Emotional and behavioural responses

• Medical history (including heart & lung problems, NICU stays, reflux, allergy, constipation, tube feeding the list goes on)

• Developmental readiness

• Relationship dynamics during feeding

  
  

Feeding therapy doesn’t apply a method, give you a list of complex recipes or prescribe a routine. It interprets the root of the difficulty and creates a path forward that aligns with the child’s current capacity, not just age-based expectations.

What kind of difficulties does feeding therapy address?

Feeding therapy spans the full journey and often, the need for it shows up far earlier than people expect.

At the milk-feeding stage:

• Refusal of breast or bottle

• Coughing, spluttering, becoming breathless or sleepy during feeds

• Distress during feeds (arching, crying, clamping, pulling away)

• Feeding only when asleep or in motion

• Inconsistent intake or grazing behaviour

• Difficulty transitioning between breast and bottle

• Bottle aversion after reflux, illness, or pain

• Ongoing feeding challenges that don’t improve despite multiple bottle changes

  
  

During solids and texture progression:

• Delayed or absent interest in food

• Gagging or vomiting on textures

• Coughing, choking or changes to colour/breathing during mealtimes.

• Refusing finger foods or anything beyond smooth purées

• Taking food in but not chewing or swallowing

• Holding food in the mouth or spitting out

• Regression in feeding after illness or disruption

• Reliance on distraction, games, or coercion to get food in

  
  

In toddlerhood and childhood:

• Entrenched food selectivity (e.g. fewer than 10 accepted foods)

• Emotional distress linked to food or feeding situations

• Extreme rigidity around presentation, brand, or preparation

• Refusal linked to past discomfort, trauma, or masking

• Feeding anxiety in the child or in the parent

• Past medical complexity (NICU, NG tube, allergy, etc.) that continues to shape feeding behaviour

  
  

These aren’t quirks, they’re indicators. And while some children move through early feeding bumps with time and exposure, many do not especially when the root issue hasn’t been identified.

Why feeding therapy isn’t more widely offered

Just because it isn't... doesn't mean it shouldn't be...

The dominant framework still assumes that feeding is mostly behavioural. That babies will feed when they’re hungry. That children refusing food are testing limits. That anxiety can be overridden with firmness, persistence, or routine.

That model doesn’t hold. And for families who are already burned out from trying everything, it can make things worse.

Feeding therapy provides a completely different lens, one grounded in interpretation, not instruction.

What feeding therapy actually involves

Feeding therapy isn’t a one-size-fits-all intervention. It’s an investigative, responsive, and clinically structured process.

In my practice, this includes:

• A full review of your child’s feeding history and current challenges

• Video analysis of real-life feeding moments (breast, bottle, food, whatever’s relevant)

• Identification of the barriers to progression (motor, sensory, emotional, relational)

• A tailored feeding plan that builds skills and safety gradually, without pressure

• Ongoing review and clinical input to support shifts over time (this is where the magic happens).

  
  

It doesn’t matter whether your child is breastfed, bottle fed, just starting solids, or already several years into selective eating. What matters is understanding where they are now and meeting them with the right input at the right time.

Why Speech and Language Therapists are often best placed to lead feeding therapy

Feeding is a highly specialised area and not everyone offering advice or strategies is clinically trained to assess what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) are often the professionals best positioned to lead feeding therapy because of their expertise in oral-motor development, swallowing function, sensory integration, child development, neurology, early communication, coordination needed for safe, effective feeding and are armed with endless tools and strategies to enable your child to meet their full feeding potential.

Not all SLTs are trained in this work. Feeding therapy is a specialist area that requires additional, advanced training at post-graduate level, particularly when working with infants, complex cases, or dysphagia (disorders of the swallow)

What to look for when seeking a feeding therapist

If you're considering feeding therapy, it's important to know what to check for beyond job title or friendly advice.

✅ Professional registration with an appropriate clinical body (e.g. HCPC for SLTs in the UK)

✅ Specialist training in paediatric feeding and swallowing (often referred to as dysphagia)

✅ Experience with the specific age group and feeding stage you’re seeking help for — whether that’s breast and bottle, weaning, or selective eating

✅ Use of clinical assessment and/or video review, not just surface-level observation

✅ An approach that focuses on skill-building, safety, and trust, rather than pressure or quick fixes

✅ Willingness to collaborate with medical teams (e.g. dietitians, GPs, paediatricians) when needed.

Feeding therapy is a clinical intervention. It requires more than reassurance, it requires someone who knows how to interpret feeding development through the right lens, and how to respond safely and effectively for the long run.

You don’t need to wait for a crisis point

Feeding therapy is often treated as a last resort something to explore only when everything else has failed but early intervention matters. When feeding difficulties are misread or dismissed, they tend to become more entrenched and the longer you spend in cycles of pressure, avoidance, or guesswork, the harder they are to unpick.

If you’re questioning whether what you’re seeing is “normal”...If feeding feels emotionally loaded...If you’re constantly adjusting just to keep things afloat...

That’s a clinical red flag. Not for panic, but for precision.

What parents often say once we begin:

“I didn’t even know feeding therapy was a thing.

“We were told to wait and see.”

“We kept trying new things but nothing worked.”

“This makes so much more sense now.”

Most families don’t delay because they don’t care. They delay because no one has clearly named the kind of help that matches the level of difficulty they’re facing.

That’s what this work does.

If you're ready for input that matches the complexity of what you're facing (and yes it is that complex)..

I work with families around the world to interpret feeding difficulties with the depth they deserve, from early breast and bottle refusal to entrenched feeding challenges in later childhood.

• If you need to understand what’s happening and what your child needs next - start with a First Step Call

• If you’re navigating a more complex or long-standing feeding difficulty The Feeding Breakthrough Package offers 3 months of tailored, high-touch input this is where the major shifts happen.

• If you’re in the earlier stages or want to explore independently I have plenty of DIY resources here.

Final word

Feeding difficulties aren’t always obvious. They can take hold early. They can escalate quietly. And they’re often misunderstood for far too long.

What looks like fussiness, refusal, or aversion is often a symptom of something deeper something that does need help.

Not more trial and error. Not more waiting. Not more hoping they’ll grow out of it.

Feeding therapy exists because feeding difficulties are real and they deserve to be met with the same level of seriousness as any other developmental concern.

If feeding no longer feels functional, sustainable, or safe, this is something that needs to be addressed to prevent long-term health issues. The earlier it’s recognised for what it is, the easier it is to shift.

I would love to help you on this journey. If you aren't sure where to start Book a Call, we can work it out together.

Laura x