Helping Families Find Calm at Mealtimes Again
Individualized feeding support for children who are hesitant, selective, or overwhelmed by new foods—so mealtimes can feel more peaceful and connected.
Serving families in Queens, NY and across New York City, with virtual feeding support available worldwide.
When Mealtimes Start to Feel Heavy
Mealtimes often start with the best intentions. Parents offer food, children push it away, and over time that tension can quietly grow. What begins as mild hesitation around certain foods can slowly turn into worry, power struggles, or routines built around avoiding conflict altogether.
For some families, these challenges show up early. For others, they build gradually over months or years. Meals may happen at different times or in different places, food choices become increasingly limited, and parents find themselves constantly thinking about what their child will—or won’t—eat. What was meant to be a shared, nourishing experience can start to feel exhausting and emotionally charged.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone and it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. Feeding challenges are complex, but with the right support, mealtimes can begin to feel calmer and more connected again.
Why We Use the Term “Cautious Eating”
While “picky eating” is the term most commonly used to describe selective eating habits, at Kids Feeding Wellness we often use the term cautious eating.
Children are rarely refusing food “just to be difficult.” Many are hesitant to eat new or unfamiliar foods because of underlying factors that haven’t yet been fully understood such as sensory sensitivities, oral motor challenges, medical complexities, past experiences, developmental stages, or anxiety around how food will feel, taste, or affect their body.
Viewing children as cautious rather than picky helps families shift from frustration to understanding.
When a child resists food, families often find themselves trying different approaches in an effort to get through meals with less stress. At different times, this may look like:
What Many Families Find Themselves Trying
Encouragement that can unintentionally feel like pressure
Offering reminders to eat, negotiating bites, using rewards, or setting expectations around food intake
Avoidance-based strategies
Pulling back on new foods or sticking closely to familiar options to keep meals peaceful
Most families move between these approaches depending on stress levels, schedules, life events, the support they have, and often the feeding experiences they grew up with themselves. These are reasonable responses to (and not the cause of) persistent selective eating habits that usually come from a place of care and concern. Over time, these patterns can unintentionally reinforce one another, creating a cycle that keeps cautious eating feeling stuck for both the child and the family.
How We Support Families with Cautious Eating
Cautious eating isn’t something to fix. Rather, it’s something to understand. Every child’s relationship with food is shaped by their development, experiences, and environment, which means progress looks different for every family. At Kids Feeding Wellness, we don’t promise quick fixes or specific outcomes. Feeding progress depends on the child, their stage of development, and the factors surrounding them.
What we do offer is lasting support: a clearer understanding of why your child is struggling, calmer and less stressful mealtimes, and practical strategies that support food learning over time. Our approach is designed to move families out of cycles of pressure and worry and toward strategies that feel sustainable and respectful.
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We look at developmental stages, sensory processing, emotional factors, medical history, and feeding experiences to understand what may be contributing to food resistance.
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All children move through stages that can increase cautious eating, including food neophobia—a common stage marked by fear of new foods. We help parents understand what’s typical, what may need support, and how to respond without escalating stress.
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Food preferences are not fixed traits—they are learned skills. We guide families in understanding how children develop comfort with food through repeated, meaningful exposure.
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We use our Kids Feeding Wellness™ 5 Levels of Food Exposure protocol to help families support food learning step by step—starting with safety and familiarity before expecting tasting or eating.
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We help families identify and reduce behaviors that may be increasing pressure or resistance, while building routines and environments that support curiosity, autonomy, and confidence.
What to Expect From a Virtual Feeding Consultation
*In-home services are available to families residing in New York state.
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Families begin by scheduling a 60-minute virtual consultation. Your child does not need to be present for this call. The goal is to understand what mealtimes have been feeling like, how long feeding challenges have been present, and what you’re hoping will change.
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Before the consultation, you’ll complete an intake form that reviews your child’s feeding history, current eating patterns, medical background, and how feeding challenges are impacting daily life. This allows Argie to come prepared and focus the session on what matters most to your family.
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During the consultation, you and Argie will talk through your child’s eating behaviors, developmental stage, past feeding experiences, and current mealtime dynamics. This is also an opportunity for families to share the challenges they’ve been facing with feeding, express what feels hardest right now, and talk through what they’re hoping to gain from support. In addition, families receive foundational guidance on how children learn to feel comfortable with new foods, what that learning process looks like, and the common factors that can support—or get in the way of—progress, all in a supportive, judgment-free space.
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After the consultation, you will be provided with beginning steps that feel manageable, supportive, and aligned with your family’s goals.
The type and level of support recommended will depend on your child’s age, developmental stage, and the severity and complexity of their feeding challenges.
Not every child needs direct feeding therapy. For many families, guidance on how to approach new foods, reduce pressure, and create a supportive feeding environment is all that’s needed to begin seeing meaningful change.
For children with more complex or long-standing feeding challenges, a comprehensive feeding evaluation may be recommended. This may include a review of home videos and a food journal, and when appropriate, an oral motor assessment to gain a deeper understanding of your child’s feeding patterns, skills, and underlying challenges. Referrals to other healthcare professionals may also be suggested based on signs and symptoms observed.
Follow-up support is always discussed collaboratively and customized to align with your goals and your child’s needs.
Learn about Billing & Insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I support families with children from birth through 10 years of age, including infants, toddlers, and school-age children experiencing feeding challenges.
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I provide feeding therapy and parent coaching for a range of challenges, including bottle feeding, starting solids, and picky eating. Support is grounded in parent education, collaboration, and practical strategies for home.
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Yes. I provide virtual feeding support and parent coaching for families regardless of location. Virtual sessions focus on education, observation, and practical guidance parents can apply at home.
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Yes. In-person feeding support is available for families located in New York City. Sessions take place in your home to support feeding in a familiar, real-life environment.
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In-home sessions include a travel fee of $20 per half hour of round-trip travel, calculated from the clinician’s home to the client’s home.
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Services begin with an initial 60 minute feeding consultation. Families complete an intake form so I can understand your child’s medical and feeding history, current concerns, and how feeding challenges are impacting your family.
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Yes. Virtual and in-home feeding evaluations are offered for infants and children. Evaluations require a food journal log and home feeding videos, and when needed and oral motor exam, to support a thorough assessment.
Following the feeding evaluation, families are provided with a written report that includes evaluation findings, clinical impressions, and an individualized plan of care.
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Services are individualized and based on each child and family’s needs. Some families feel supported after one consultation, while others benefit from ongoing sessions.
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Families receive a detailed written session summary with clear next steps following each session.
Optional add-on supports, available for an additional fee, include email support, home video review, and food journal feedback.
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Kids Feeding Wellness is an out-of-network feeding therapy provider and does not accept insurance. A superbill (a detailed receipt) is provided for families to submit to insurance for possible reimbursement.
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