Feeding Therapists – Adelaide and Beyond

‘Lively Eaters’ is a private practice of allied health Feeding Therapists with professional training in Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Paediatrics and Mental Health. We support children and their families who are experiencing mealtime, tube feeding, eating and/or drinking difficulties from birth through the early school and teenage years. We have 2 family focused Centres in Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills and for over 12 years have worked with children Australia wide and Internationally.

What Do We Do?

Underlying our practice is the philosophy that feeding an infant/child is one of a parent’s most important jobs and a central component of the parent-infant/child relationship. Feeding/eating is so much more than ‘putting food in the mouth, chewing and swallowing’ and there are many physical, medical and emotional aspects to consider.

Children are highly sensitive to their environment and the development of a successful “feeding partnership” can be adversely affected by many different factors in the child and/or parents. The Lively Eaters team provides multi-disciplinary team assessment and therapy services for a wide range of infant, children and adolescent feeding difficulties. We strive to bring together all of the components which we know to impact successful and functional eating – relational, emotional, sensory, motor, behavioural and medical – and work together with families to better understand the impact of these within their family unit and how to move ‘forward’.

Our Lively Eaters Feeding Therapists can support you at ‘our place’, ‘your place’ (if clinically indicated), via tele-therapy or at The Memorial Hospital (for our inpatient tube weaning program). We strive to provide the level of support your family requires in the setting that will best achieve your child’s feeding therapy goals.

We create a team for each child that meets your family’s needs rather than assimilating you into a pre-determined therapy program. As we are a team, you benefit from being able to work with a range of Feeding Therapists all in one place – whether by training they be a Dietitian, Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist or Mental Health Specialist, you have access to our wealth of knowledge all within ‘our place’.

NDIS Provider

How we can help

  • Babies with difficulty attaching for breast or bottle feeding
  • Babies (term or premature) with poorly coordinated sucking abilities
  • Babies and infants coughing and ‘choking’ on milk feeds (breast or bottle)
  • Babies struggling to move from breast/bottle to solid foods (weaning difficulties)
  • Infants refusing any foods with lumps or those that require chewing (ie. only tolerating smooth puree)
  • Children gagging on lumps or vomiting on food
  • Infants, babies and children with faltering growth (poor weight gain) or weight loss due to inefficient eating and/or drinking
  • Parents who require support to manage the impact of their child’s development/challenges on their own wellbeing.
  • Behavioural challenges related to food and eating (toddlers to teens)
  • Restricted, particular and selective eaters (toddlers to teens – ‘fussy eaters’)
  • Children with oral sensory defensiveness and oral aversions (toddlers to teens)
  • Babies, children and young adults with medical, physical or neurological conditions affecting their mealtime abilities (eg. Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, specific genetic conditions)
  • Children and adolescents with anxiety or trauma impacting their food choices /ability to eat
  • Transitioning from tube feeds to oral feeds (tube weaning)
  • Introducing home-made blended foods via PEG feeding

Do any of the above apply within your family?

If so, Lively Eaters would be happy to assist whether you live locally, interstate or internationally.

Latest Blog Posts

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Social and Behavioural Challenges During Mealtimes

Mealtimes for children and young people can often be a daunting and scary task, therefore, it is common for many families to face significant social and behavioural challenges throughout the day. Some obstacles families may face include difficulties…

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What is an Oral Eating and Drinking Care Plan (OEDCP)? An OEDCP is a document which outlines the support needs for children with eating and drinking difficulties. It is completed and regularly reviewed by a speech pathologist in collaboration…

Language at mealtimes

The language we use at mealtimes can have a significant impact on our children. Feeding is based on relationships and trust for both the parent and the child. If parents are feeling stressed and anxious about mealtimes, children will too. It’s…