Pediatric Advanced Feeding Therapy Program

If your child is refusing to eat or is experiencing a complex feeding or swallowing issue, our advanced feeding therapy experts can help.

Pediatric Nutrition

What causes feeding issues?

Feeding issues can range from common problems such as progressing slowly to solid foods or refusing to eat, to more complex swallowing disorders that can affect their airway and breathing. There are several potential causes, including:

• Difficulty tolerating certain food textures
• Oral sensitivity differences
• Reduced oral motor skills
• Other feeding problems that can delay development or feeding milestones

Difficulty swallowing, also known as dysphagia, may also have underlying conditions that are causing the issue, including neurological, respiratory or cardiac issues.

Advanced feeding therapy: Why choose Henry Ford Pediatrics?

• All ages: We treat all children, from infants and toddlers to adolescents.
• Expert Advanced Feeding Therapy team: Given the complexity of many child feeding issues, these are treated most effectively with a multidisciplinary team. Our team includes a pediatric gastroenterologist with specialized training in nutrition, pediatric dietitians, and speech-language pathologists with advanced training in feeding and swallowing disorders.
• Advanced diagnosis: When you are facing a child feeding or swallowing issue, you want answers. Our coordinated team understands this. We offer timely evaluations to help diagnose your child’s specific condition. Depending on your child’s particular needs, this may include a clinical feeding evaluation from a speech-language pathologist, a videofluoroscopic swallow study or other advanced diagnostic methods.
• Personalized, family-friendly care plan: After your child’s clinical feeding evaluation and any testing needed, we work with you and your family to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based care plan focused on the specific child feeding or nutrition issue, with goal-oriented interventional therapies. This includes providing treatment in a child-friendly environment to minimize stress on your child.
• Education and support: Managing child and adolescent feeding issues can be an ongoing process. Before, during and after treatment, we provide you and your family with effective tools and resources that you can use at home.

• Convenience: We offer complete care at our Royal Oak clinic. You’ll find pediatric specialists, testing facilities and procedure rooms, so your family can receive more services under one roof. We are also expanding our pediatric gastroenterology services to additional clinics throughout the region, with our latest new clinic opening at Henry Ford Medical Center – Grosse Pointe. Inpatient admission services as well as endoscopic procedural services are available at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.
• Innovation: Clinical trials and other research studies help to define the next gold standard of pediatric care, and our team is at the forefront of research. We have a particular emphasis on gastrointestinal research, and one of our focus areas is growth and the gut microbiome (helpful bacteria in the digestive tract). Your child may be able to participate in research and access the latest care methods through our science and learning.

Looking for a second opinion?

If you are receiving services from a community provider, we welcome the opportunity to take part in your child’s care. Offerings include second opinions to confirm a diagnosis or review treatment options. We see new patients promptly, especially when there is an urgent concern.