Pediatric Feeding Program

• Members of our team have special training in their field and in the unique needs of children who struggle with eating or who have growth or feeding concerns.
• Our team includes a gastroenterologist, child psychologists, registered dietitians, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, licensed behavior analysts, social workers and nurse practitioners.
• We evaluate your child together — at the same time and in the same room. Each team member brings their special focus to the visit. Then we combine our knowledge and skills to provide care custom-made for your child and family.
• We work as a team to understand:
  • Your child’s feeding concerns
  • Your child’s skills
  • Any sensory or medical challenges your child has that relate to eating
  • How your child has learned and felt about eating
  • Your child’s response to feeling hungry or full
  • How feeding concerns affect your family
• Based on your child’s needs, we will involve healthcare providers from other areas of Seattle Children’s, like Gastroenterology, Neurodevelopmental Medicine and the Aerodigestive Program.

• Our goal is to improve your child’s eating skills and build healthy feeding patterns that your child and family can keep using at home and in the community. We focus on providing targeted treatment that leads to meaningful change.
• Each child with a feeding issue is different. We consider lots of different treatment methods and make a treatment plan and schedule with options that work for your family.
• As a parent or caregiver, you know your child best. You will have an active role in setting treatment goals and figuring out what works.
• We count on you to practice treatment during visits and at home. This leads to the best results for your child.

• During treatment, we may ask you and your child’s team to carefully collect data to learn what is working for your child.
• We may ask your child to answer questions about themselves, if they can. We may also ask you about your child’s behavior and symptoms related to feeding. Based on your child’s needs, we may ask you to complete data sheets tailored to your family and feeding questionnaires.
• These and other tools help us track your child’s progress and refine their treatment to make it a success.
• Our program does research to learn more about the best ways to help children and families with feeding disorders. We meet with and teach other healthcare providers about feeding disorders and treatment.

We meet you and your child to assess your child’s feeding concerns and to see whether our program is right for your child and how we can best help them. An evaluation involves watching your child eat so we can see their challenges and skills. We want to make sure we understand your goals for treatment. We also check if your child is medically ready to take part in treatment.

At the end of the evaluation, our team gives you feedback about the best next steps for your family. We may:

• Recommend treatment within the Pediatric Feeding Program.
• Recommend services through other Seattle Children’s programs or clinics.
• Refer you to services in the community.
• Discuss your child’s evaluation with the provider who referred you. If your referring provider has questions, we are happy to talk with them.

We offer a range of services, including monthly check-ins, weekly visits and intensive feeding therapy, which is every day for 2 to 3 weeks. The services and how often your child has appointments depend on your child’s evaluation.

Your child will see the experts from our team who match your child’s needs. We will teach you strategies to use at home.

As your child’s main feeding partner, you will play an active part in preparing your child’s food and practicing the strategies we teach you. We may give you tools to track your child’s progress. At each clinic visit, we practice treatments and check progress together.

Visits may be:

• In person at Seattle Children’s Autism Center. (The Pediatric Feeding Program is located here. We see children with or without autism spectrum disorder.)
• Via videoconference. You can take part in video visits from a Seattle Children’s regional clinic, a home or a community setting like your child’s school. The video-visit option depends on factors like your child’s needs, the providers your child sees and your insurance. Read how our video-visit option saves time and travel for our patients.

For children who need more intensive treatment, we offer an intensive program.

If we recommend this service for your child, your child will come to Seattle Children’s with at least 1 parent or caregiver from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, Monday through Friday, for 2 to 3 weeks.

During this time, your child’s care team will:

• Work with you and your child on focused treatment custom-made for you
• Provide one-on-one therapy for your child
• Teach you treatment methods to practice at home
• Give you tools to track your child’s progress

The goals of intensive therapy are to:

• Improve your child’s eating skills
• Increase your child’s intake of food and fluids
• Reduce their need for a feeding tube

No matter which services your child needs, we are here to answer your questions and connect your family with helpful resources. Supporting parents and caregivers is an important part of what we do.

We offer classes to help you understand feeding disorders in children and the first steps towards care. Classes are meant for families who are on the waiting list for an intake visit or feeding therapy services. You can take classes:

• In person at the clinic.
• Using a tablet, laptop or desktop computer that has a camera. You can take part from a home, workplace, school, library or wherever you are.

Learn about Feeding First Steps: Parent Education Class (PDF).

Based on your child’s health needs and where you live, we may connect you with feeding providers in your community to provide treatment and support, including long-term services, if your child needs this. We help you find providers close to you so care is easier for you and your child.