Feeding Challenges in Young Children

Specific, practical, research-based guidance on resolving diverse feeding issues in children birth–5: that’s what readers will get in this comprehensive, accessible resource which includes 50 pages of helpful tools and forms on CD-ROM.

Young children’s feeding issues can be a complex challenge for early childhood professionals, especially since most get little to no training addressing this key developmental area. Now there’s a single comprehensive resource that provides early childhood educators and interventionists with specific, practical, research-based guidance on resolving a wide range of feeding issues.

Ideal for a wide range of professionals working with young children birth–5 years across school, home, and child care settings, this book-and-CD set gives readers in-depth background information, how-to strategies, and helpful tools for addressing feeding challenges. Integrating the dual perspectives of the authors—a child development expert and an early childhood special education expert—the book helps readers:
• understand the entire process of feeding development and how feeding affects early childhood development
• gain familiarity with variations in feeding contexts, including diverse cultural and at-risk groups and their impact on feeding choices and attitudes
• support children with specific feeding issues (see sidebar) with specialised, evidence-based interventions and strategies
• learn the basics of screening and assessment procedures and widely used instruments
• develop appropriate, individualised feeding plans that align with children’s IEPs and IFSPs
• strengthen collaboration between parents, caregivers, and professionals on a child’s feeding team
• monitor feeding progress through anecdotal records, observations, and data-based approaches

With almost 50 pages of printable tools, forms, and handouts, the included CD-ROM gives professionals practical help with every step of improving children’s feeding issues. Professionals will get daily feeding logs, record keeping forms, quick-guides to feeding milestones and red flags, and tip sheets on critical issues such as breastfeeding, feeding team requirements, and positioning strategies and specialised feeding equipment.

A vital resource for every member of a child’s feeding team, this much-needed guidebook helps readers resolve one of the most critical issues in early childhood development—and ensure better overall outcomes for young children.

Helps young children with risk factors for feeding difficulties, sensory-based feeding issues, oral motor difficulties, neurological disorders, anatomical differences, and tube feeding requirements