While occasional pickiness is a normal part of childhood, ongoing feeding challenges can affect a child’s nutrition, growth, and family harmony – and that’s where a Speech Pathologist can help.

Understanding Fussy Eating

Fussy or selective eating can happen for lots of reasons. For some children, it’s simply part of how they explore their independence and preferences. But for others, it may be linked to underlying challenges such as:

• Sensory sensitivities: certain textures, smells, or temperatures may feel overwhelming.

• Oral-motor difficulties: chewing or swallowing certain foods might be physically harder.

• Feeding experiences: stressful mealtimes, medical conditions, or early feeding issues can affect a child’s comfort with food.

How Speech Pathologists Support Fussy Eaters

A Speech Pathologist is trained to look beyond the behaviour to understand why a child is struggling and find practical ways to help. They can:

• Assess feeding and swallowing skills to identify any oral-motor difficulties.

• Explore sensory preferences to find out which textures, tastes, or smells your child enjoys or avoids.

• Develop positive mealtime strategies that reduce pressure and build comfort and curiosity around food.

• Support gradual food expansion using gentle, play-based steps to increase a child’s confidence in trying new foods.

At First Choice Allied Health, our Speech Pathologists have been trained in the “Get Permission Approach” to feeding — a responsive, sensitive, and supportive approach to feeding therapy. “Get Permission” strategies lovingly support children and their families to create positive change at mealtimes.

Regardless of the cause of your child’s fussy eating, our speech pathologists work closely with each child and family to:

• Help them manage food and fluid safely, and

• Improve their ongoing relationship with food through a responsive, child-led therapy approach.

What Feeding Therapy Looks Like

Feeding therapy is tailored to individual needs and may include:

• Play-based food exploration: Using games and sensory play to help children interact with food in fun, low-pressure ways.

• Skill development: Practising chewing, sipping, or tongue movements in enjoyable and supportive sessions.

• Family coaching: Helping parents build calm, consistent mealtime routines and respond confidently to food refusals.

Progress often happens step by step – the goal isn’t just to add more foods to your child’s plate and to eat a greater variety but to make eating a relaxed and positive experience for the whole family.

Parent Involvement: A Key Part of Feeding Success

Whilst medical assessment and intervention are necessary in many cases, parents should not underestimate the role they can play to help children develop a positive relationship with food and the skills they will need for the future. Health professionals highly recommend that parents get children involved in activities such as:

• Grocery shopping (giving them a list of items they need to get)

• Helping to wash fruits and vegetables

• Helping to put groceries away

• Stirring and mixing during cooking

• Cutting with kid-safe knives and supervision

• Getting them to help read and follow recipes

These strategies help your child to interact with those newer foods in a pressure-free way where they aren’t expected to eat the foods in the moment. In addition, having shared mealtimes and modelling the behaviour you want to see is incredibly valuable to children as they grow up.

When to Seek Professional Support

It’s important to seek support from a qualified health professional if your child:

• Eats fewer than 15–20 different foods

• Avoids entire food groups (such as all fruits or all vegetables)

• Gags, chokes, or vomits when eating certain foods

• Becomes distressed or anxious around mealtimes

• Has trouble chewing or swallowing safely

Helping a child with fussy eating is never about forcing or pressuring them to eat it. It’s about understanding, patience, and building trust.

If you’re unsure where to start, a Speech Pathologist can be an excellent first point of contact. It may also be helpful to consult your GP or Paediatrician - especially if your child has ongoing medical, growth, or nutritional concerns. These professionals can help rule out any underlying medical issues and can work alongside your therapy team for the best outcomes.

No matter where you begin, seeking support early can make a big difference. With the right guidance, most children can learn to enjoy mealtimes, build confidence with food, and take positive steps toward a healthy relationship with eating.