Feeding Therapy Australia

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Sydney, NSW
Feeding Therapy Australia

Owned by Valerie Gent ('s Eat! Feeding Therapy) and Debbie Alvarez ( Kids Sydney)

14/04/2026

We love a good resource, podcast, and journal article, so this year we are going to share our favourites with you that align with some of the workshops we are already running.

First up - a fabulous podcast headed up by Professor Bronwyn Hemsley and supported by UTS. This particular 3-series is hosted by Fiona Given, a researcher and person with a swallowing disability.

The podcasts are 20 minutes long and very easy to understand - listen to all 3, and you will definitely learn some tips to help your clients.

Link: https://omny.fm/shows/whats-got-us-talking-the-uts-speech-pathology-pod/mealtimes-can-be-tricky-dysphagia-and-nutrition-for-people-with-swallowing-disability

10/04/2026

Responsive Feeding Workshop 2 - 4 September 2026.

⭐ Build your knowledge and skills in completing a feeding assessment and running a feeding therapy practice.

⭐ Understand how to support feeding differences in children with PFD and ARFID.

⭐ Learn how to use our Responsive Feeding House Model.

⭐ Know how to use neurodiversity-affirming feeding practices.

Attend face to face in Sydney or via livestream. Head to our website feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au to book tickets. Early bird ends 30 June 2026.

Happy weekend all.
Deb and Val

01/04/2026

Do you help children with their chewing difficulties?

Here is a sneak peak into one of our sessions. How impressive is this little girl?

For us, helping a child to develop chewing skills isn’t just about food—it’s about building their confidence, and trust.

In Responsive Feeding Therapy, we work alongside families to help children build chewing skills at their own pace, following their cues, and celebrating small steps along the way. Every child’s journey is different, and progress happens best in a supportive, pressure-free environment.

If you’re a therapist supporting (or interested in supporting) disabled children with feeding difficulties, then join us later this year for our two-day online workshop.

Head to www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au for workshop details

Deb and Val

24/03/2026

What are the 2026 changes to our training?

In 2025, we ran our 4‑Day Responsive Feeding House Model workshop, which included a ½‑day session on supporting disabled children with complex feeding needs.

For 2026, we’ve split this into two separate workshops:
✨ 3‑Day Responsive Feeding House Model
Focused on supporting children with restricted eating, sensory-based feeding differences in autistic children, PFD and ARFID.

✨ NEW Disability Feeding Workshop
An expanded version of the 2025 half‑day session, now covering all multidisciplinary areas with SIX SPEAKERS.

We’ve added:
• a deeper dive into EDAR
• a systems approach to understanding disability
• a session with Dr Liz Thompson (Rehab Specialist) on medical influences on feeding in disabled children.
• Favourite guest speakers, including Kate Headley (SP), Rebecca Penfold (OT) and Lauren (DT), along with Val and Debbie, will be back.

If you attended Days 1 & 2 in 2025 and want to join Day 3, email us and we’ll organise your ticket.

If you completed all 4 days in 2025 and are considering the disability workshop, you’ll find expanded content waiting for you.

Interested in knowing more? Head to our website and download the PDF for both workshops.

https://feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au/workshops-all/

23/03/2026

🌱 What is Responsive Feeding?

Responsive feeding, as described by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a feeding approach that supports children’s autonomy and development by being emotionally supportive, developmentally appropriate, and timely.

At its core, responsive feeding means:

✔️ Recognising and responding to a child’s hunger and fullness cues

✔️ Feeding in a way that is patient, encouraging, and never forceful

✔️ Creating a mealtime environment where a child feels co-regulated

✔️ Supporting confidence and curiosity with eating

🧠 Why is this important?

Responsive feeding helps build long lasting healthy eating behaviours, supports emotional development, and reduces stress—for both the child and the caregiver.

💡 Top tip:
Responsive feeding starts as soon as a child starts their feeding journey with breast/bottle and solids. If your child turns their head or closes their mouth during a meal, pause and give them space. These may be signs they’ve had enough.
Respecting these cues fosters trust and comfort at mealtimes.

Want to learn more about how we support families using evidence-based feeding strategies? Visit 🔗 feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au

MealtimeSupport ParentingTips FeedingCues

06/03/2026

It was wonderful to welcome over 55 people to our Infant Feeding Workshop last week.

We explored assessment and treatment for babies with breastfeeding, bottle feeding and transition to solids. Add a lactation consultant for a deeper discussion on supply lines and ni**le shield, a dietitian discussing all things formula and growth charts as well as an excellent discussion on thickeners and aspiration.

It was a jam packed 2 days … the best part? A chance to chat through cases so it remained practical and evidence informed.

Lovely to have met you all! Val and Debbie

19/02/2026

Growth Charts Don’t Feed Babies — Clinical Reasoning Does.

A baby crossing percentiles is data, not a diagnosis.

Growth charts are screening tools. They tell us what is happening, but they don’t tell us why.

A shift upward or downward needs context:
• Oral motor skill
• Feeding efficiency
• Milk transfer
• Intake volume
• Medical history
• Parent–infant dynamics

Weight alone doesn’t tell us whether a baby can coordinate suck–swallow–breathe.

It doesn’t tell us about fatigue. It doesn’t tell us about sensory regulation. And when we focus purely on the curve, we risk increasing pressure at mealtimes — which can create secondary feeding difficulties.

Our role as health professionals isn’t to chase percentiles. It’s to understand the entire feeding system.

If you would like to explore this topic further, join us next week for our Responsive Feeding Infant Workshop, where Lauren Gladman, a Dietitian, will review growth charts, formula considerations, introduction to solids, and allergy foundations — all through a responsive, multidisciplinary lens.

Link in the profile- www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au

09/02/2026

Thickening feeds… but are we doing it right? 👀🍼
In our upcoming Infant Feeding Workshop, we’re getting practical.

✔️ Reviewing the different paediatric feeding thickeners currently on the market
✔️ Sharing real-life recipes for thickening formula and breastmilk
✔️ Tips and tricks we’ve learned the hard way (hello clumps, changes over time, and flow surprises)
✔️ A clear, honest discussion about when thickeners are helpful — and when other strategies should come first

Because thickening isn’t just about consistency.
It’s about safety, tolerance, participation and supporting families without over-medicalising feeding.

If you work with infants with feeding or swallowing challenges, this is one you won’t want to miss.

www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au

03/02/2026

📣 Ticket Sales now open: 2026 Feeding Therapy Workshops
Three workshops. Expert speakers. Practical learning you can use straight away.

Full PDF learning outcomes, along with who the guest speakers are, and costs are all now on our website. If Responsive Feeding Therapy is the way you want to work as a therapist, then these workshops will build your skills and knowledge in feeding assessment and therapy.

Visit www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au

01/02/2026

Only 3 weeks to go!

Our Infant Feeding Workshop is back — and it only happens every two years.

If you’re keen to build confidence in early feeding (breast, bottle, and the transition to solids), this 2‑day online workshop with Val (SP), Deb (SP), Lauren (DT) and Emma (IBCLC) is the training you don’t want to miss.

Across the two days, you’ll learn:
• Feeding assessment skills — cranial nerves, OMA, feeding assessment tools

• Treatment strategies — breastfeeding attachment, bottle feeding, chewing difficulties and practical solutions

• Breastfeeding support — attachment, pumps, shields

• Nutrition & growth — formulas (which ones and why), reading growth charts, allergy considerations and important nutrients like iron for bubs.

Both of our teams say this is the best infant feeding training they’ve ever done — and we still use the slides in clinic.

Trust us… You’ll want to be there.
Val & Deb

27/01/2026

Systematic reviews are important articles to consider because they review the current state of evidence in the field.

A recent one in Sept 2025 was done by another Aussie SLP, Emma Necus who is doing her PhD with Dr Sharon Smart.

In Emma's systematic review, she analysed all the currently available tongue tie tools for the assessment of structure and function.

Based on 117 studies, she found that the Lingual Frenulum Protocol for Infants (LFPI) had the most reported reliability and validity but her article finds out a lot more so head to the link below to have a deeper read.

Free access PDF: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165587625002721

23/01/2026

Research update alert!
Have you heard about the Children’s Oral Feeding Screener (COFS) tool? Christie Grunke, a PhD student working with Dr Jeanne Marshall, has just published her e-Delphi study sharing the results of COFS. This tool is the first nurse-led paediatric dysphagia screening tool designed broadly for all children admitted to acute and/or critical care settings. Whether you work in the acute or community setting, this study is well worth a read and even better, it’s published by an Aussie.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41462767/

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Sydney, NSW

Website

http://www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au/

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