Nutrition and Feeding Support for Children
If your child has trouble with eating or swallowing, it's stressful for everyone. You’ll be glad you found expert care at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
Our pediatric feeding specialists can help decrease your child’s reliance on a feeding tube. We help children with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or a cleft palate, learn to chew and swallow.
For more intensive feeding assistance, you'll want to know we are one of only a few intensive feeding programs in the United States, and the first and only program of its kind in Michigan. We customize our effective, age-appropriate inpatient and outpatient feeding programs to address the specific health condition that’s preventing your child from feeding or eating normally.
Features of Nutrition and Feeding Support for Children
If your child has chronic constipation or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a referral to one of our pediatric gastroenterologists is a good idea. We can help diagnose and treat your child's chronic digestive disorder.
Our speech therapists, nutrition therapists and occupational therapists use therapeutic feeding techniques to help children with physical disabilities learn to eat. We can also assist parents as their child transitions from baby foods to table foods, or from using a bottle to a cup.
On-Site Feeding Programs
Our on-site Intensive Feeding Program for Children offers many inpatient and outpatient treatment programs for children with feeding challenges. We address behavior, food acceptance and development of oral-motor and feeding skills.