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The Children's Nutritionist

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The Children's Nutritionist

I am a UK Registered Dietitian specialising in babies, toddlers and children. Visit my blog for free The Children's Nutritionist my nutrition consultancy.

I am a UK based Registered Dietitian and specialist in the diets of babies, toddlers & young children. I am an NHS Consultant Dietitian with over 20 years experience and also advise brands including Tommee Tippee, Annabel Karmel, Plum Baby and several private nurseries. I am also a passionate nutrition writer and have had my articles published in several parenting magazines, newspapers and the medical press. I also run my own blog at www.childrensnutrition.co.uk

I no longer take on one-to-one clients for nutrition counselling but help families via my digital course on Weaning and Baby Nutrition. Soon I will be launching my brand new online Food Parenting Coaching programme for those with fussy eaters or who just want to know the best way to feed their children....I'll give you a clue, it's not just about the food!

21/11/2025

Remember, your child is still learning to eat!

So when they refuse a meal or say “yuk” to a new food, they’re not being naughty...

It’s just that as adults, we are accustomed to a variety of foods and eating habits, whereas:

🥕 Your child has different sensory preferences to you, it’s part of what makes them unique.

🥦 Your child is still learning about different foods and most of their taste buds are still VERY immature.

🍅 Your child needs to explore foods with all of their senses before they become accepted.

They don’t just sit down and eat like we do.

There are actually 32 sensory micro-steps a child takes when introduced with a new food, including the look, smell, touch, taste and even the sound in their heads as they chew.

My best advice is to gather patience and encourage your child to play with their food so they can explore and learn in their own time.

Are you concerned that your child's fussy eating might be more that 'just a phase?' The quickest way to find out is by trying my FREE Quiz.

Text QUIZ below and I'll DM you the link

19/11/2025

My daughter was the world's fussiest eater! Now, she’s a “fearless foodie”. Here’s what changed… ⤵️

We struggled with:

❌ Daily mealtime battles
❌ Dishes rejected on sight
❌ A worryingly low range of 'safe' foods

Little did we know, but as a baby she'd had an undiagnosed egg allergy and grew up learning that food hurt her.

Despite my 10 years of experience as a paediatric dietitian, I couldn't get my daughter to eat. And neither could any of the doctors, nurses or therapists I worked with in the Children's Hospital.

So, I turned to the research and found a team of feeding psychologists in the US, and spent hours studying their papers… and wow!

Combining my expertise in child nutrition with everything I was learning about the psychology of eating, my daughter came on leaps and bounds!

Now, Maisie is 16 and a true “fearless foodie”. She loves exploring new foods, and even cooks us dinner!

This experience inspired me to help other families, just like me. I trained to be come a feeding therapist and with my newfound knowledge and skills, our clients’ results also skyrocketed…

🤩 96% of the families we work with say their childs eating improves with our FEASTS method.

🤩 Families are reporting that often within 6 weeks their children is trying a wider variety of food!

🤩 100% of parents report less stress at mealtimes!

✨ P.S. I am hosting a FREE masterclass to teach you some PRACTICAL, science backed strategies you can implement with your fussy eater and turn them into a fearless foodie! 🍽️😋

These strategies are a game changer for families that at at their wits end!

Comment the word MASTERCLASS below for the link to join us! 🥳👇

17/11/2025

Get ready for the upcoming week with one week of easy and fun breakfast ideas to satisfy your fussy eater…😋

Had enough of the 8am tantrums at the table?

Here are some super easy ideas for a fun, nutritious breakfast.

Save this one for later ✅

📆 Monday: Yoghurt popsicles

Mix yoghurt, peanut butter and pureed fruit together then spoon the mixture into ice lolly moulds, and freeze! It might be November but whats more fun than lollies for breakfast!

📆 Tuesday: Cheese and tomato quesadilla

This will take you less than 5 minutes to prepare!

📆 Wednesday: Bite-sized fruit pieces on skewers with a yummy nut butter and yoghurt dip

Children love food on sticks! Pick a selection of different fruits for nutritional variety.

📆 Thursday: Peanut butter banana toast

This one combines ingredients from multiple food groups: starchy carbs, protein, and fruit & veg.

📆 Friday: Dippy eggs and avo soldiers

Make breakfast time fun by getting your little one dipping strips of avocado toast into soft-boiled or poached eggs.

📆 Saturday: Egg burrito

Simply scramble up an egg, add some salad such as lettuce, cucumber, peppers or sweetcorn and wrap it in a tortilla.

📆 Sunday: Smoothie

Blend frozen fruits, yoghurt, a teaspoon of nut butter, a sprinkle of chia seeds and a splash of milk... and voila!

✨ P.S. I am hosting a FREE masterclass to teach you some PRACTICAL, science backed strategies you can implement with your fussy eater and turn them into a fearless foodie! 🍽️😋

These strategies are a game changer for families that at at their wits end!

Comment the word MASTERCLASS below for the link to join us! 🥳👇

14/11/2025

Is your child refusing to eat their “yucky” veggies? 🥕🌽🥦

Then this should help…

It’s useful to think of vegetables in two categories:

👉 Sweet veggies e.g. butternut squash, carrots, sweetcorn, and sweet potato.

👉 Bitter veggies e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and spinach.

Usually, children will turn their noses up to the bitter vegetables in particular.

That’s because children have mature sweet taste buds and quite immature bitter ones.

So the million dollar question… How do you get your child to eat veg? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

They have to LEARN to like them.

Here are 5 things you can do:

1️⃣ Serve vegetables at every meal and make sure they see you eating (and enjoying) them too.

2️⃣ Grow vegetables at home. Even a small planter box in the window can help to increase interest in veg.

3️⃣ Get them to help out when preparing veggies for dinner. Interacting with food without the expectation to eat, helps spark their natural curiosity.

4️⃣ Make vegetables look and smell appealing. First impressions matter greatly to young children.

5️⃣ Add extra veggies to meals. You can throw anything and everything into a tomato based pasta sauce - celery, onion, peppers, courgette, carrot, you name it!

P.S. I’ve created a FREE Nutrient Tracker to help you identify what nutrients your child may be falling short of so you can make informed decisions about their diet and ensure they're getting the best possible start in life.

With this handy tool, I’ve made it super easy for you to track your child's dietary intake to make sure they're getting ALL the essential nutrients they need to grow healthy bones and brains 💪🧠

👇 Comment the word TRACKER below if you want it 👇

12/11/2025

Here’s why nipping fussy eating in the bud ASAP is so important… ⤵️

A lot of parents have been told "it's just a phase" or think that one day something will just “click” and their child will finally start accepting new foods.

I wish that were true....

If you do nothing, fussy eating will get worse because the longer your child continues to be selective with their food choices, the harder it becomes to break those habits and teach them a new way.

It's psychology.

Leaving fussy eating can result in:

👉 Nutritional deficiencies
👉 Poor health and picking up bugs all the time
👉 A negative relationship with food
👉 Emotional eating / disordered eating as teens and preteens

Instead, when you address fussy eating EARLY you can:

😍 Raise a happy, healthy child with good eating patterns
😍 Make mealtimes stress free and enjoyable
😍 Go out for dinner, have holidays without self catering facilities, go to friends houses for meals
😍 Have a confident child around food who skips to the table, inquisitive to see what’s on offer, sits down and eats!

Ready to nip your child’s fussy eating in the bud?

You can get started for free with "Expand Your Child's Diet" my 3 part mini video training🥳

I share some of my best strategies to get your strong-willed child to eat new foods. They're short videos, pre-recorded and delivered to your inbox daily so you can watch in your own time too.

Comment VIDEO below if you want them.

10/11/2025

🍗 Is your child refusing to eat meat? 🍗 Try this...

You’ve probably tried blending it in sauces, chopping up the meat into teeny tiny pieces, even hiding it in their foods… is none of it working?

Here’s what to do:

1️⃣ Do not panic!

It's super common for children to go through a meat refusing phase. Swap the panic for patience.

2️⃣ Understand the potential reason why your child is refusing meat...

Some reasons might be:

👉The texture of the meat is off putting
👉The chewiness makes it too difficult to eat
👉Past negative experiences like choking or gagging on meat
👉Learning where meat comes from

3️⃣ Experiment!

The GOOD news is, there are loads of different sources of protein alternatives to meat. Whilst it’s a good idea to keep offering meat to your child so they remain familiar with it, also experiment with other protein foods to ensure they’re still get enough nutrients in their diet.

Some alternatives include:

🥚 Eggs
🫘 Beans
🌱Tofu
🥛 Dairy products
🥜 Nut butters

Here are some simple ideas for meals that don’t include meat but are high in protein:

😋 Greek yoghurt with chia seeds and berries
😋 Peanut butter and banana smoothie made with milk
😋 Pasta with a lentil bolognese sauce
😋 Scrambled eggs on toast
😋 Baked beans on toast

And if you’re feeling a little more adventurous:

😋 Lentil veggie nuggets!
😋"Breakfast pizzas" essentially an omelette with cheese and vegetables for a morning twist.

Save this for later ✅

P.S. Did you know some of the BEST secrets to helping your fussy eater try new foods don’t even involve food?!

If you want to learn these secrets, come along to my FREE masterclass - you have choice of dates!

Comment the word MASTERCLASS below for the booking link! 🥳👇

07/11/2025

Rewards...

One of the biggest mistakes you’re making with your fussy eater (which is making things worse for both you and your child)... ⤵️🙅‍♀️

This has been backed by research!

Rewarding your child by offering them something sweet for eating their main meal is one of the worst things you can do!

Of course, you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart and so your child gets the nutrients they need from their meal...
..and it works!

But this is only a short-term solution.

And it’s going to cause lots more problems in the long-run!

In the weeks, months and years to come…

❌ The sweet foods will become even more and more desirable.
❌ The nutritious meal will become more and more detestable.
❌ And what’s worse, your child is then more likely to experience emotional eating in their later years!

There are so many better strategies to get your fussy eater to eat the important nutritious foods you want them to (and none of them include tricks like reward charts, extra stories or watching an iPad to distract them…)

✨ Want to know what they are? Grab my FREE 3 part mini-training “Expand Your Childs Diet”

You’ll learn science backed methods to broaden your child's food preferences with ease and without the stress of mealtime battles!!

Comment the word VIDEO below and I’ll send it right to you.

05/11/2025

“My 2 year old had a blood test and he has an iron deficiency - He's so fussy, I feel like a failure!⁠”

I hear this from parents ALL the time. They have children who:

☹️ Resist food and cry at mealtimes.

☹️ Run away when called for dinner.

☹️ Drop food on the floor to 'escape' it⁠.

You become worried and frustrated...
And they often don't get the nutrients they need.

One of the first steps we take when fixing fussy eating is look at the mealtime vibe and how you and your child interact at mealtimes.

Things that bring big changes:

✅ Understanding your role in 'food parenting' so you can approach mealtimes with confidence and creativity...

✅ Learning how to introduce new nutritious options in a way that appeal to your child's curiosity

✅ Understanding how to optimise appetite so they come to the table eager to eat without being hangry.

✨ And if you want science backed strategies on how to expand your child's diet (that actually work!) Grab my FREE 3 part video mini-training, created for parents just like you.

Comment the word VIDEO below and I’ll send it right to you. ⬇️

03/11/2025

FREE Nutrient Tracker for Fussy Eaters! 🧀🥦🍗🍓

Designed to help you check to see if your child is getting all of their nutrients from food to be healthy and well 💪🧠

👇 Comment the word TRACKER below if you want it 👇

27/10/2025

I see it all the time…

One parent making three separate meals a night.
Another with a child who only ate six foods - and she rotated them on repeat, terrified of trying anything new in case he ate nothing at all.

They’d say things like:
💬 “I’ve tried offering rewards - they’re so stubborn they still wont eat.”
💬 “I just want one meal in peace.”
💬 “I feel so guilty, I can’t even nourish my own child.”

And often they’d give up with ‘healthy eating’ and make yet another beige freezer-food meal just so they’d eat something and avoid going to bed hungry.

And my heart would break - because I know exactly how painful this is.
When food becomes a battleground, it affects everything.
Your evenings. Your stress levels. Your mental load. Your confidence.

But here’s the thing I want you to know:
You’re not failing. You’re stuck in survival mode.

But it doesn’t have to stay this way. What if I told you there’s a way forward?
One that doesn’t involve persistently reminding your child, hiding veg, or start charts?

Let me explain my signature method called the FEASTS framework:

F Find Out Why – we uncover the real reason behind the refusals
E Educate – you’ll learn what your child’s body actually needs
A Adjust Mealtimes – for structure and calm
S Supportive Parenting – reduce anxiety and build mealtime trust
T Teaching Children – play-based exposure that works
S Success – celebrating every win, big or small

One client told me:
“My son just turned 3 and this week he ate Thai curry, salmon risotto, even fresh sardines. I can’t believe this is the same child. I’m no longer cooking his ‘safe’ foods - we actually enjoy mealtimes again.”
This is what’s possible.
And many families see results in just 6 weeks.

So if you’re ready to stop holding your breath as you serve dinner..
Drop “FEASTS” below or DM me and I’ll send more information

Let me help you fix fussy eating.

10/10/2025

Save for later!

Do you wonder if your child's fussy eating is just a phase or is it's something that needs to be taken seriously? Come and chat to me inside our App.

Comment the word APP below and I'll DM you the link 🥳👇

Address

Eastbourne

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 8pm
Tuesday	8am - 8pm
Wednesday	8am - 8pm
Thursday	8am - 8pm
Friday	8am - 8pm
Saturday	8am - 8pm
Sunday	8am - 8pm

Telephone

+447874485069

Website

https://linkin.bio/thechildrensnutritionist

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My Story

Children's Nutrition is my nutrition business, I’m Sarah Almond Bushell, a Registered Dietitian and Children’s Nutritionist and specialist in the diets of babies, young children and teens. I am an expert in weaning babies and nourishing toddlers and as a result am an independent consultant to Annabel Karmel, working with her to ensure babies and toddlers get the best start in life.

I’ve always been interested in being healthy. As a child I loved food, from growing vegetables in my granddads allotment to supermarket shopping with my mum. As a teenager I made celebration cakes and party food and when I started babysitting my creations became fun, child friendly foods made with healthy ingredients that the kids loved to eat.

Fast-forward 30 years and almost 20 years working in health & nutrition and the passion is still there.

Having my own two beautiful children allowed me plenty of opportunities to put theory into practice and as a result I’ve become an expert. Because of this I advise many baby and toddler food brands as well as supporting new Mums and Dads through their baby's weaning journey. I’ve helped hundreds of families over the years and I can help you grow your own superhero!