Over the years I have met a number of parents who have told me that they are unsure if the way they introduced solids was the right way, or they were unsure if their child was ready, or that they had received conflicting advice about when and how to take this very exciting step into a new stage of development for their baby. It is so hard as parents being presented with so many differing opinions from sources that we trust such as family, health professionals and friends and trying to do what is right for our children and our families. Read more

There are many different nutrients that our body needs for good growth and development. A common nutrient that we hear about is iron; but why is iron important? This post will discuss the importance of iron for growing children, the key signs of iron deficiency and how to encourage iron intake in children with feeding challenges.

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Prior to working as a Speech Pathologist and Feeding Therapist, I spent ten years working as an Early Childhood Educator in child care and as a Preschool Teacher. In these settings, food was provided, cooked by an in-house cook and shared by children at mealtimes.

Over the years, I met many children who found mealtimes really challenging. Read more

As a Dietitian, I usually talk with parents and families a lot! It’s important to gather in depth detail about a child’s preferred and non-preferred foods, quantities of food eaten, growth patterns, fluid intake and stool patterns (and the list goes on) to conduct a thorough nutritional analysis and provide practical advice. Finding the gaps in a child’s diet to help them grow is like a puzzle and seeing how our advice can fit the pieces together for a family is extremely rewarding.

However, being able to provide practical advice to children and see their independence in the kitchen grow brings a whole other element to my work as a Dietitian. Cooking and being involved in the kitchen can be a fun and exciting way to learn about new foods. For many of the children I work with, they often haven’t been involved in meal preparation and cooking before. As a way to ease them into the kitchen, I start by cooking a familiar meal with them, so that they aren’t overwhelmed by too many new ingredients. From there, we adapt the recipes to introduce new foods based on the food groups that are currently missing from their diet.

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Mel has taken some time to reflect and write on the simple pleasures we can ensure, to assist in the ‘new normal’ of day-to-day…… Read more