Debra Alvarez Feeding Kids Sydney

21/01/2026

I am excited to be presenting three workshops this year together with Val!

Happy 2026!

We are back from a restful break. While on holiday, we got asked by a friend about what makes our workshops different.

Here are 2 two points that we spoke to-

Our workshops are held live, so you can immerse yourself in listening but also have the time and space to ask questions as the content is delivered.

Do you want to know another difference? Our multidisciplinary approach means we always involve other allied health professionals in our workshops to ensure you get a strong team approach with your training.

The speaker feedback is consistent every year - the guest speakers (along with Val and Deb's engaging dynamic) helped everyone learn and love this area of paediatric feeding.

Head to our website to download our upcoming infant feeding workshop PDF flyer and lock in your February ticket: www.feedingtherapyaustralia.com.au

19/01/2026

Welcome Back! We are excited to continue exploring in the kitchen in 2026.

It's that time of year again where we start to prepare for the school year. Over the next few weeks we're going to share some helpful tips on how to support kids feel comfortable to eat while at school.

School or day care/preschool settings can be sensory overloading environments 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 these settings 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!

It's important to keep these in mind when you think about how you can support your child to feel the most comfortable at mealtimes at school.

19/12/2025

To all our friends who juiced, cooked, sliced, diced and baked; and those who thought about, tasted and explored new foods - thank you for a great year!

We are so lucky to be able to build such a lovely community. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, be kind to yourself and we will see you in 2026.

We will be back in the clinic from the 13th of January.

Debbie, Kylie and Alyssa 🎄

11/12/2025

As school, extra activities and sports start to wrap up and the focus shifts to Christmas and the holiday season, the stress around eating can also increase.

Eating at other peoples houses, at a restaurant or even at home when there is a family gathering, can be overwhelming for children and their parents.

Here are some tips we shared last year on how to make a Christmas meal; or any holiday, fun for everyone.

28/11/2025

Feeding Kids Sydney book corner is a corner of the internet where we’re going to share some of our favourite books on all things to do with food.
🍕🥦🌭🍓🍪

Reading books with different foods in them can help expose new foods to children without pressure on them to eat. It also makes food discussions fun.

Play with your plate by is a great book that allows kids to mix and match foods to make endless meal combinations. It showcases foods from different cultures and features foods of different textures, shapes and colours. This is a great way to encourage discussions about the sensory elements of foods.

The opportunities and discussions that can be formed using this book in therapy are countless.

What is your go to food book?

03/11/2025

"They normally eat chicken nuggets 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 known, preferred and comfortable foods.
Every time a child eats one of these foods their senses go through a process of checking off that the food looks, feels, smells and tastes the same way it always has 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 nugget." "That food is a danger!"
This triggers stress and anxiety and can result in a fight, flight, freeze response, for example, becoming upset (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 style of nuggets, one restaurants chips. It can take a lot of work from their sensory system to feel comfortable with small changes to these 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.

31/10/2025

Our friend and colleague Val is doing important research that will ultimately help all of us, so we would love to see some of our wonderful families involved.

If you know anyone who might be interested, please consider passing it on.
Every bit of support helps.
Thanks

05/10/2025

Toddler Eating

Toddler eating is variable and unpredictable. It can often cause stress at mealtimes. BUT it is okay, in fact quite expected for toddlers to eat different amounts of food each time it is served.

Alyssa took photos of five nights of dinner meals she served to her (at the time) 2 year old and this is what she decided she wanted to eat. Some of the nights she clearly ate more than others. On the nights there wasn’t much eaten it could have been easy to ask her to try one more bite or even make something else she might eat more of, but Alyssa chose to let her listen to her body and respected her choice to finish the meal when she did. This is the start of teaching her toddler to eat when she is hungry and stop when she is full.

One way that helped Alyssa with letting go of this stress was thinking about the intake across the whole day instead of that individual meal. On reflection she had eaten significantly more at other times during the day.
Some of the reasons why there is such variability in toddler’s intake from meal to meal include:
- Periods of rapid growth and development where at times they may seem ravenous and at other times it feels like they are surviving off air.
- Development of sensory food preferences.
- Increasing sense of independence and seeking more control in their day.
- Food Neophobia - a common developmental phase where there is a perceived fear of trying new foods, and a want to stick with what they know.
- Desire for consistency and routine.
- Familial modelling- what the toddler sees, and how they perceive their safe people’s relationship with food.

It is important to approach toddler eating with patience and flexibility, however if you are finding your toddlers intake is consistently low, the number of foods they eat is very small, there are consistent stressors every mealtime or you are struggling with mealtimes altogether a medical review by a GP or paediatrician; or a consult with an allied health feeding professional may be warranted.

25/09/2025

We're Bringing Back our Book Corner!

Our book corner is a space where we share some of our favourite books that may bring some joy on a feeding journey.
🍕🥦🌭🍓🍪

Reading and looking through books about foods can help build exposure and conversation about different foods without the pressure to eat them.

We can't share stories about eating without starting with 'But I’m NOT hungry for my dinner' by our wonderful colleague Valerie Gent.
Val is very talented and has written a story where children can relate to the character, and parents can see mealtime struggles from the perspective of the child. This book combines common challenges families have at mealtimes with feeding support strategies, into a beautiful picture book.

The opportunities and discussions that can come from this book in supporting parents in facilitating pressure free mealtimes are countless.

What is your go to food book?

16/09/2025

Eating out at parties or events can feel overwhelming for kids who find food challenging. It can make families dread seasonal gatherings, birthday parties or any eating activity outside of their typical routine.

New foods, busy environments, and potentially unwanted pressure to join in, can make it hard to feel comfortable at the table.

Sometimes preparation and communication can help make the event feel more enjoyable for all.
What's do you do to feel more comfortable to eat outside of the home?

11/09/2025

Eating out at parties or events can feel overwhelming for kids who find food challenging. It can make families dread seasonal gatherings, birthday parties or any eating activity outside of their typical routine.

There are a number of reasons why events or eating away from home can feel extra tricky.

In this series of posts we're going to look at the why, and then later next week we are going to look at how we can support kiddos enjoyment at events in their own way.

01/09/2025

Have you ever asked your child “What do you want for dinner?” only to be met by a blank stare, an immediate “I don’t know” or a request for the same dinner every night?

Often when faced with open-ended food options, children can be overwhelmed by the uncertainty which may trigger worry. Am I going to make the wrong decision? What if I choose something I don’t like? Will mum get angry if I choose the same thing again? Decision fatigue can be exhausting!

Offering closed choices around foods is an effective strategy to reduce the overwhelm due to its structure and predictability. This means offering choice within a set of options. This can be comforting to kids as you are identifying and honouring their sensory preferences and reducing the potential to get something ‘wrong.’

Closed choices provide a sense of control and familiarity and allow kids to feel confident in their decision making.
Reducing the complexity of choices can be a strategy that helps to pave the way for more positive and relaxed mealtime experiences.