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.
Based in New York City, Kids Feeding Wellness provides virtual feeding consultations and feeding therapy for families in New York State, with ongoing parent consulting available for families 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.
-
We look at developmental stages, sensory processing, emotional factors, medical history, and feeding experiences to understand what may be contributing to food resistance.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
We support families with children from birth through 10 years of age, including infants, toddlers, and school-age children experiencing feeding challenges.
-
We provide virtual feeding therapy and parent consulting 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.
-
Yes. Kids Feeding Wellness provides virtual feeding therapy for families located in New York State. Parent consulting services are available for families worldwide.
Virtual sessions focus on education, observation, and practical guidance parents can apply at home.
-
Kids Feeding Wellness offers both virtual and in-person services, with in-person support available for families residing in Astoria, NY. We provide feeding consultations, feeding therapy (for families in New York State), and parent consulting for families worldwide.
Our approach centers on empowering parents to take the lead during feeding. Because feeding is a deeply relational experience, children often eat best with the people they know and trust most.
Rather than relying on a provider to feed your child, our sessions focus on equipping parents with the tools, education, and guidance needed to confidently support their child’s feeding—both now and in the years ahead.
-
Yes. Virtual feeding therapy can be very effective because it takes place in your child’s natural eating environment — your home. Rather than relying on a clinician to feed your child, sessions focus on guiding and supporting you as you interact with your child during meals.
Feeding is a relational experience, and children often eat best with the people they know and trust most. During virtual sessions, the clinician observes your child’s mealtime routines, provides real-time guidance, and helps you learn strategies you can confidently use throughout the week.
Because you are present at every meal, this approach allows you to build confidence supporting your child’s feeding not just during sessions, but in everyday life.
Virtual services are best suited for many feeding challenges; however, they may not be appropriate for children with significant medical complexities or those experiencing severe chewing and swallowing difficulties that require hands-on clinical support. In those cases, in-person care with a specialized feeding team may be recommended.
-
Services begin with an initial 60-minute feeding consultation. For families in New York State, this consultation serves as a pre-assessment, where families complete an intake form and feeding screener so the clinician can review the child’s medical and feeding history, current concerns, and how feeding challenges are impacting the family. The screener reviews key areas of feeding development, including oral motor skills, sensory responses to food, mealtime participation, feeding patterns, and relevant medical or developmental factors, helping determine whether a more in-depth evaluation is recommended.
For families outside of New York, the initial consultation is an opportunity to share your concerns, ask questions, and receive education and guidance related to your child’s feeding difficulties. This session focuses on helping you better understand your child’s feeding patterns while providing practical strategies you can begin using at home.
-
Yes. Feeding evaluations are offered for infants and children located in New York State. The evaluation process includes a 2-week evaluation period, which allows for a more comprehensive and functional understanding of your child’s feeding skills over time.
Evaluations include a food journal log and home feeding videos to support a thorough assessment and, depending on the child’s age and needs, may also include a live feeding observation.
The information gathered during the initial consultation provides initial recommendations that families begin implementing during the evaluation period. This allows us to observe how your child responds to specific supports, identify what is most effective, and ensure that the feeding program is truly individualized and appropriate moving forward.
Following the evaluation, families receive a written report outlining evaluation findings, clinical impressions, and an individualized plan of care.
Based on the child’s needs, a recommended number of sessions will be provided, along with available service packages and payment plan options.
-
Services are individualized and based on each child and family’s needs. Some families feel supported after a single consultation, while others benefit from ongoing sessions depending on the nature and complexity of the feeding challenges.
-
Following each session, families receive a detailed written summary outlining key observations, recommendations, and clear next steps to support progress at home.
Families who purchase session packages are also provided with email support between sessions for brief questions, updates, or clarification. Email support is intended for short check-ins and does not replace a scheduled session. Questions that require more detailed discussion or guidance are best addressed during the next follow-up session.
Additional add-on services are available and may include home feeding video review and feedback on food journals.
-
Kids Feeding Wellness is an out-of-network feeding therapy provider and does not accept insurance. A superbill (an itemized receipt) is provided for families to submit to insurance for possible reimbursement.
Learn more about billing and insurance.
We've helped parents like you...
