Children with feeding disorders have been a problem for many years and requires special treatment. This article will discuss the many factors that affect children's eating habits.

Feeding therapy is a treatment that addresses feeding issues in children to prevent them from developing other nutritional or growth problems. The first thing you need to know is that existing medical conditions can have an impact on feeding behavior, such as Hirschsprung disease, gastric acid reflux, and so forth. Safe treatment methods must be ensured by other medical professionals. These elements will provide you with more options as a parent.

Feeding therapy is not an individual job. What we refer to as a "medical team" is a team that includes a team of doctors, occupational therapists, nutritionists, and behavioural analysts. To help your child better, you should familiarize them with these people. Let the child understand why he or she is visiting the doctor so often. This will help the child feel secure and comfortable.

In order to give your child a healthy, balanced diet, there are many interventions. A behavioural feeding program is one of these. The clinician believes that nutrition is the main issue in this strategy. Offer foods that have been proven to satisfy hunger and increase appetite during mealtime. Introduce new foods gradually during snack time in a calm environment. You can gradually increase the number and time of the new foods until your child is comfortable with them. Consider the height and smell of the food, as well as the utensils. Pay attention to the child's reactions during mealtime.

Another method is the instructional hierarchy. It has three stages or parts: the acquisition period, fluency and generalization. The acquisition period is when the child adjusts to new behavior towards food. The child demonstrates the learned behaviour towards food while in fluency. The child can then apply the learned behavior to new foods in the generalization phase.

Preventive feeding therapy can also be used to make changes to the size and appearance of food. Consequence-based feeding therapy is used to reinforce positive behavior and to extinguish bad habits. Positive reinforcement is when the child receives a favorite toy and verbal praise for completing the task. Gradually increase difficulty of the task. If the child refuses to accept within a time limit (i.e. If the child refuses to accept within a set time (i.e. five seconds), then no toy should be provided and the feeder shouldn't pay any attention. Although initially, the disregard of negative behavior may lead to an increase in them, persistence will allow them to reduce their behaviours over time.

It is difficult to supervise children with feeding difficulties. It is essential to use a team approach in order to manage all aspects of the child’s care including nutrition, positioning, medical issues, sensory issues, and feeding and swallowing. The intervention team must be patient and creative to ensure the child's well-being and success. For more detail visit https://betterrehab.com.au/what-we-do/occupational-therapy-children/