Nurturing Healthy Eaters from the Very Beginning
Expert guidance for optimizing growth and development, addressing feeding challenges including picky or selective eating, and building positive food relationships. Helping you help your child thrive.
THE SERVICE
What is Pediatric Nutrition Therapy?
Pediatric nutrition therapy is specialized nutrition counseling designed specifically for infants, toddlers, and young children, along with the parents who care for them.
We understand feeding children involves much more than just providing nutrients. It’s about fostering a positive relationship with food that will last a lifetime.
Our pediatric approach recognizes that most children are naturally intuitive eaters when given a calm, supportive, and encouraging environment. We work with families to create feeding experiences that are nourishing, enjoyable, and free from power struggles or mealtime stress.
Whether you’re navigating the transition to solid foods, dealing with picky eating, engaging in troublesome power struggles around food, managing food allergies, or concerned about your child’s growth and development, our pediatric nutrition therapy provides compassionate, evidence-based guidance tailored to your family’s unique needs.
We believe feeding should be pleasurable, not stressful, for both children and parents. Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to raise a child who has a healthy, joyful relationship with food.
OUR APPROACH TO PEDIATRIC NUTRITION THERAPY
Child-Centered, Family-Focused Care
Our pediatric nutrition approach is grounded in the understanding that children thrive when feeding feels safe, predictable, and pressure-free.
We combine evidence-based feeding practices with deep respect for each child’s individual temperament, development, and preferences.
What Sets Our Approach Apart:
- We honor your child’s natural hunger and fullness cues
- We address feeding challenges with patience and understanding, not pressure
- We provide practical strategies that work within your family’s lifestyle and values
- We consider the whole child, their development, sensory preferences, and personality
- We support parents in creating calm, connected mealtimes
- We take a long-term view, focusing on building positive food relationships
HOW WE WORK WITH FAMILIES
We start by understanding your child’s current eating patterns, your family’s food culture, and any specific concerns or challenges you’re facing. Together, we develop strategies that feel manageable and sustainable for your family, always respecting your role as the parent and your child’s natural eating instincts.
Our sessions may include hands-on guidance, strategic nutrition recommendations aimed at optimizing intake, meal planning support, grocery shopping guidance, and techniques for introducing new foods, textures, flavors and combinations. We also provide ongoing support as your child grows and their needs evolve, including thoughtful guidance around the language we use with food and support for navigating those tricky food and body questions that children often ask.
WHO IS IT FOR
Pediatric Nutrition Therapy Is Ideal If Your Child Exhibits:
Pickiness or sensory integration challenges
- Your child is a picky or selective eater with a limited food repertoire.
- New textures or foods are difficult for them to accept.
- They show signs of sensory sensitivity around food.
Medical or growth concerns
- Your child has been diagnosed with failure to thrive, or there are concerns about their growth.
- They have food allergies or intolerances.
- Digestive issues are affecting how they eat.
Feeding and mealtime challenges
- Your child has feeding difficulties related to developmental delays.
- They show signs of food anxiety or distress at mealtimes.
And for parents & families that experience:
Stressful mealtimes
- You feel stressed or overwhelmed about your child’s eating habits.
- You worry about your child’s nutrition intake or growth.
- You want to navigate feeding challenges without power struggles.
- You feel stress or even dread during, or in anticipation of, mealtimes, and it is hard to decide what and how to feed your children.
A desire to build healthy feeding habits
- You want to prevent picky eating before it becomes entrenched.
- You need guidance on age-appropriate feeding practices.
- You are concerned about creating positive food relationships.
- You need support for special dietary needs or medical conditions.
If meal time has become challenging and unpleasant, you’re not alone.
Rebecca Appleman, RD, our practice director, can speak with you about your child’s food behaviors and patterns and how we can help.
How Your Family Will Benefit
Improved Nutrition
Ensure your child receives adequate nutrition for optimal growth and development
Reduced Mealtime Stress
Transform mealtimes from battles to pleasant family experiences
Positive Food Relationships
Foster a healthy, joyful relationship with food and body that lasts a lifetime
Expanded Food Acceptance
Help your child gradually accept new foods and textures
Family Harmony
Create peaceful mealtimes that bring your family together
Confident Parenting
Gain the knowledge and tools to handle feeding challenges with ease
Long-term Success
Build sustainable feeding practices that evolve with your child’s development
Who you will work with
Care starts with a conversation with Rebecca Appleman, RD, our practice founder and executive director. She is the first point of contact for every person that reaches out to us; she completes every discovery call and supervises the clinical work of the team as a whole. Alongside her is a small team of registered dietitians with focused clinical interests, which often guide the clinical match for the client. The practice uses a tiered system of individual and group supervision to maintain clinical excellence.
Our clinicians are introduced on our team page, which details each dietitian’s clinical focus.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
At what age should I consider pediatric nutrition therapy?
We work with families from birth through early childhood. Whether you’re nursing, bottle feeding, introducing first foods, dealing with toddler pickiness, or preparing for school-age eating challenges, it’s never too early or too late to seek support.
My child is very picky. Will you make them eat foods they don’t like?
Our approach focuses on gradual exposure, making foods feel safe and familiar, and working with your child’s natural curiosity about food. We never use force or pressure, but we do help untangle the difference between a true dislike and reactions that stem from unfamiliarity or sensory responses. Sometimes what appears as rejection is actually your child’s body responding to something new, and with gentle guidance and understanding, many children learn to accept and even enjoy foods they initially avoided.
How do you handle extreme picky eating or food aversions?
We use evidence-based techniques like food chaining, gradual exposure, and sensory exploration to help children slowly expand their diets. We work at your child’s pace and celebrate every small step forward.
Do you provide meal plans for children?
Rather than rigid meal plans, we provide flexible frameworks and practical ideas that work with your family’s schedule and preferences. We focus on teaching you how to create balanced, appealing meals that support your child’s growth and development, while working within your family food context.
Will you address my concerns about my child’s weight?
We take all parents’ concerns seriously and discuss and explore them without judgment. Likewise, we take a Health at Every Size approach, focusing on overall health and well-being rather than weight alone. We’ll work with you and your child’s healthcare provider to ensure healthy growth and development patterns.
How do you work with children who have sensory sensitivities?
We understand that many feeding challenges are rooted in sensory processing differences. We teach gentle, play-based approaches to help children explore foods in non-threatening ways, gradually building comfort and tolerance.
What if my child has multiple food allergies?
We have extensive experience helping families navigate food allergies while ensuring adequate nutrition and positive food experiences. We’ll work with you to create safe, appealing meal options and teach age-appropriate safety skills.
Do you see children in your office, or do you primarily work with parents?
Depending on your child’s age and comfort level, sessions may include your child, focus on parent guidance, or be a combination of both. We adapt our approach to what works best for your family’s specific situation.
READY TO TALK
Give Your Child the Gift of Joyful Eating!
Let us help you create the peaceful, nourishing feeding experiences your family craves.
Insight from the practice
Occasional information and updates on nutrition and wellness from the Appleman Nutrition team.
By signing up you agree to receive email from Appleman Nutrition. Unsubscribe anytime.