Debra Alvarez Feeding Kids Sydney

18/05/2025

NDIS changes to how funds are accessed start tomorrow. This is a great summary of the changes and how they might affect families using funding to access therapies.

08/04/2025

Do you hear “I don’t eat eggs.” and want to respond with “Yes you do; you eat omlettes!”

Expanding food variety can start by looking at what food a child prefers to eat and then serving this food in different forms. For some children, who find trying new foods challenging, this might be trying a different shape of egg or even alternating between eggs from two different cafes.

For our more adventurous eaters, offering foods in different forms means that not only did their one preferred food change but it became a whole different food altogether, sometimes in ways they have never seen or tried before.

When familiar foods are presented in different forms, we build variety within their preferred food categories which leads them to be more open to trying new foods. Today we are looking at how eggs can be prepared, served, and enjoyed in many different ways.

Using a child’s sensory food preferences, e.g., crunchy and salty foods, to expand variety builds their confidence and feelings of safety about trying something that is new to them. It is also a celebration that your child doesn’t just eat egg but they may eat frittata, omelette, hard or soft yolks.

It is important to note that for some children the sensory change from something like a hard boiled egg to a soft boiled egg is too much for now and that is okay too. Having the child involved in the process of preparing and serving the food can also help them to learn how a food can start by looking one way and end up by looking different and still be a safe food.

31/03/2025

Have you ever been to a birthday party, wedding or just out for lunch with family or friends and your child wants to leave almost immediately?
Have they become really upset when the food arrives, or people start singing "Happy Birthday"?

Eating at events can be especially tough for kiddos with specific food preferences. The combination of new environments, unfamiliar foods, and the pressure to eat around others can be overwhelming. For some, the different flavours, textures, or smells might feel uncomfortable, while for those with dietary restrictions, there’s often limited familiar options.

It can turn the eating part of the event into a stressful experience rather than an enjoyable one.

Ways you can help reduce the overwhelm could include:

- eating a larger volume of food before or after the event to take the pressure off eating at the time
- researching menus or asking about food options beforehand to reduce the chances of sensory surprise
- packing an alternative of known foods if you are able to

What do you do to make event eating easier?

08/03/2025

A great week in Singapore teaching therapists our Responsive Feeding House Model. We have had so much fun sharing our knowledge and helping delegates problem solve how it can be applied to the clients they see. We also had time to eat lots of delicious food and take in some sights.

04/03/2025

04/03/2025

I am currently in Singapore with Val from Let’s Eat- Feeding Therapy presenting our Responsive Feeding House Model. Before the workshop started, we had lots of fun exploring all the different foods in the supermarket. We even popped into McDonalds to check out their nuggets.

21/02/2025

"They normally eat muesli bars so why won’t they eat those ones, they’re exactly the same.”

Why do children, especially those with a limited number of foods, find trying new foods so difficult?

Many of the children we see eat the same food every day. These foods are their "safe foods".

Every time a child eats a "safe food" their senses go through a process of checking off that the food looks, feels, smells and tastes like their safe food and this can make them feel calm and anxiety free.

When they are offered a new food, their senses start the checklist process and most commonly their eyes go "that is NOT your safe bar." "That food is a danger!"
This triggers stress and anxiety and can result in a fight, flight, freeze response, for example, becoming upset or having a tantrum (fight), constantly getting down from the table (flight) or sitting at the table but refusing to eat (freeze).

That is often why children eat one flavour of noodles, one brand of bars, one restaurants chips. This is their safe food, and it can take a lot of work from their sensory system to feel safe and comfortable with small changes to their safe foods.

Although subtle, the changes between these foods may require lots of sensory processing, which is why it is important that a child feels safe and regulated when a change may occur.

15/02/2025

At Feeding Kids Sydney we strive to be neurodiversity affirming in our feeding therapy.

When working with neurodivergent children in feeding therapy:

✨ Be mindful of individualising all your therapy strategies.

✨Continue to challenge yourself not to put a neurotypical lens on it.

✨Talk to neurodivergent people to increase your understanding of feeding differences and accommodations that could be made to support their well-being and mental health around eating.

Here is a podcast we love by Naureen Hunami talking about feeding differences: https://www.themindfuldietitian.com.au/blog/ep-84-naureen-hunani

12/02/2025

Do you hear “I don’t eat banana.” and want to respond with “Yes you do; you drink banana smoothies!”

Expanding food variety can start by looking at what food a child prefers to eat and then serving this food in different forms. For some children, who find trying new foods challenging, this might be trying a different shape of banana cut up, or even alternating between banana bread from two different cafes.

For our more adventurous eaters, offering foods in different forms means that not only did their one preferred food change but it became a whole different food altogether, sometimes in ways they have never seen or tried before.

When familiar foods are presented in different forms, we build variety within their preferred food categories which leads them to be more open to trying new foods.

Today we are looking at how banana can be prepared, served, and enjoyed in many different ways.

Using a child’s sensory food preferences, e.g., crunchy and salty foods, to expand variety builds their confidence and feelings of safety about trying something that is new to them. It is also a celebration that your child doesn’t just eat banana but they may eat banana chips, banana bread and whole bananas at school.

It is important to note that for some children the sensory change from something like a banana bread to a banana smoothie is too much for now and that is okay too. Having the child involved in the process of preparing and serving the food can also help them to learn how a food can start by looking one way and end up by looking different and still be a safe food.

07/02/2025

Feeding Tube Awareness Week (2 - 8th February 2025) was this week! The week focuses on raising awareness around tube feeding and bringing together the tube feeding community.

Some of the children we see at Feeding Kids Sydney, are not able to eat and drink enough and so their feeding tube provides a way for them to grow and thrive.

Last year, this young man, made some amazing progress with his chewing and is now enjoying eating a variety of tasty foods.

Having a feeding tube does not always mean that a child cannot eat orally. For some, it is needed while they develop their skills in their own time.

Thank you to this little legend for allowing me to share his photo.

30/01/2025

Getting Ready for the School Year.

This series is looking at quick tips on how to help
promote feeling comfortable to eat in the school
setting.

School/Preschool is a sensory overloading
environment with lots of sound, movement, smells and
social expectations.
If you then also have difficulties with feeding,
lunchtimes can be incredibly overwhelming for some
kids.

It is very common to expect children to eat at school
because of how much mental and physical work they
are doing and how much fuel they need to do so, but
children’s lunch boxes often come home from
daycare/school untouched, especially if there are new
foods in it.

This can be due to a number of factors including:
- sensory overload at lunchtime
- not enough time to eat- especially for those kiddos
who have chewing difficulties
- new foods or non preferred foods in their lunchbox
- changes to the environment or the way their food
looks
- too busy playing!

25/01/2025

Getting Ready for the School Year.

This series is looking at quick tips on how to help promote feeling comfortable to eat in the school setting.

School/Preschool is a sensory overloading environment with lots of sound, movement, smells and social expectations.
If you then also have difficulties with feeding, lunchtimes can be incredibly overwhelming for some kids.

It is very common to expect children to eat at school because of how much mental and physical work they are doing and how much fuel they need to do so, but children’s lunch boxes often come home from daycare/school untouched, especially if there are new foods in it.

This can be due to a number of factors including:
- sensory overload at lunchtime
- not enough time to eat- especially for those kiddos who have chewing difficulties
- new foods or non preferred foods in their lunchbox
- changes to the environment or the way their food looks
- too busy playing!