A variety of medical conditions can impact your child’s ability to eat, including:

• Attention deficit disorder (ADD)
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Brain injury
• Cerebral palsy
• Constipation
• Cystic fibrosis
• Downs syndrome
• Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)
• Failure to thrive
• Food allergies
• Gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD)
• Mitochondrial disorder
• Noonan syndrome
• Prematurity of birth
• Reflux
• Short bowel syndrome

We believe that parent and family involvement is critical to your child’s success in meeting his or her feeding goals. Beyond just the scope of our program, here are some ways that parents can help their child improve their feeding:

• Speak with your child’s pediatrician about your feeding concerns.
• Keep a detailed food log of what and how much your child eats.
• Videotape your child during mealtime to share with your child’s pediatrician or specialist.
• Set a good example by eating healthy, nutritious foods.
• Do not bribe your child to eat or clean his or her plate.
• Put appropriate portions on your child’s plate.
• Establish a routine of snacks and mealtimes to help decrease grazing behaviors throughout the day.
• Provide repeated exposure to new and less preferred foods.
• Share meals together as a family as often as possible.
• Make mealtimes and snacks fun by serving vegetables with dip or sauces, using cookie cutters to make sandwiches or pancakes, or using vegetables and fruits to make simple shapes or characters.
• Give finger foods or cut foods into bite-size pieces, which can assist with improving independence with self-feeding.
• Engage your child by having them help with meal planning, shopping and cooking meals.
• Once a food has been accepted, you can offer it prepared in different ways or offer other foods prepared in a similar way.

Many times, children are referred to the Feeding Difficulties Center for a fairly general problem related to eating, such as failure to thrive or being a picky eater. Once they are seen by our specialists – including our gastrointestinal physician or our neurodevelopmental physician – we sometimes discover an underlying condition that is causing the feeding issue.

Through a thorough history and physical exam, we can oftentimes evaluate for a potential medical condition that is causing the child to have trouble with eating. Depending on the symptoms and issues your child is exhibiting, we may perform specialized diagnostic tests:

• Complete blood panel. All children in our program will undergo a complete blood panel. Blood tests can diagnose certain conditions, including food allergies. If a food allergy is present, our team will know to eliminate that food from your child’s diet in hopes of improved feeding.
• Fiberoptic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). In this study, a thin, flexible instrument is inserted into the nose and to the throat. Using this, the speech-language pathologist can observe what happens when your child swallows liquids or foods.
• Oropharyngeal motility (swallowing) study, or OPMS. Also known as a modified barium swallow test, your child will consume small amounts of foods and liquids containing the mineral barium. X-rays will be taken to see what happens to the liquid as it travels through the GI tract.
• Upper gastrointestinal (GI) series. In this test, a technician takes a series of X-rays of your child’s upper GI tract to see what happens when he or she drinks liquids.
• Endoscopy. With this test, the doctor passes a thin, flexible tube with a camera through the mouth and into the esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine. Several samples are taken and analyzed in the lab. We can assess for gastrointestinal conditions such as Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Eosinophilic esophagitis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and other problems
• Blood tests-evaluate for certain medical conditions in addition to nutritional deficiencies

Note that in some cases, children need to receive behavioral intervention services to address an underlying condition – such as ADHD – before we can effectively treat the child specifically for feeding difficulties.

Once we have received the referral from your child’s pediatrician or other primary care provider, we will contact your insurance company and provide you with detailed information on your plan’s coverage. This way, you will know what may or may not be covered prior to your child’s first appointment with us. (Note that we cannot ever guarantee insurance payments, and any balance accrued at the Feeding Difficulties Center is ultimately your responsibility).

Our professional team takes the time to get to know your child so that we can create a customized care plan just for him or her. No two children’s care plans are exactly alike, and we pride ourselves on the expert recommendations and care plans we can provide to families due to our years of success in caring for children with feeding disorders. By entrusting us with your child’s care, we ask that you respect our professional recommendations and follow our care plan that is backed with years of experience in treating children like yours.

You and you child will meet with many different specialists all in one day. You will not need to make multiple trips to the hospital or schedule several different appoints. You should expect the visit to take three to four hours.