An Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) is a professional with a university qualification in nutrition and dietetics and recognised by Australia’s national authority, Dietitians Australia (DA). Paediatric Dietitians work with mothers, babies, children and teenagers to provide expert nutrition advice, applying the science of nutrition and the human body to improve one’s health and wellbeing.

A Dietitian can support families with a broad range of paediatric nutrition concerns including faltering growth, gastrointestinal concerns, food allergies and intolerances, fussy eating, supplementation, and general nutrition concerns.

Paediatric Centre Gold Coast Dietitians can provide education and guidance on a range of areas for your family including but not limited to:

For Mum

• Preconception nutrition
• Nutrition during pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding
• Gestational Diabetes
• Various conditions including PCOS and Endometriosis
• Gastrointestinal health including IBD and IBS
• Coeliac disease
• General nutrition guidance

For Baby and Toddlers

• Recognise when your baby is ready for solid foods
• The introduction of solid foods and progression
• Management of food allergies including CMPA and FPIES
• Faltering Growth
• Optimising your child’s nutrition
• Feeding Therapy for picky eaters (including renowned methods such as the SOS Approach to Feeding and the Get Permission Approach for Anxious Eaters, Anxious Mealtimes)
• Gastrointestinal concerns i.e. constipation
• Prevent and manage fussy eating
• Setting up positive and supportive feeding environments

For Child through to Teenager

• Feeding Therapy for picky eaters (including renowned methods such as the SOS Approach to Feeding and the Get Permission Approach for Anxious Eaters, Anxious Mealtimes)
• Food intolerance and allergy
• Coeliac Disease
• Diabetes
• Nutrition to support growth and development
• ASD and ADHD nutritional management
• Gastrointestinal concerns such as constipation  
• Diagnosed nutritional deficiencies such as low iron 
• Supplementation guidance

What is Feeding Therapy?

It’s not uncommon for children to start to appear as fussy eaters around the age of 14 months to two years old, when they insist on being independent! In fact, research shows us that 1 out of 5 children struggle with eating at some point by the time they are 7 years old, and 50% of these children will require extra help to outgrow these challenges. Our Dietetics team is trained in a range of feeding therapy approaches including:

SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding

An internationally renowned and evidenced based program developed by Dr Kay Toomey from USA. The SOS Approach supports fussy eaters and problem feeders by increasing their tolerance to new and unfamiliar foods via a ‘steps to eating’ hierarchy and developing the skills they need for eating. It encompasses a holistic approach to feeding, assessing and supporting the child’s learning capacity, environment, nutrition status, senses, and physical needs.

Get Permission Approach for Anxious Eaters, Anxious Meal Times

The get permission approach is a relationship-based approach to support children and their families experiencing feeding challenges. The strategies aim to guide families in creating peaceful mealtimes, and supporting children to have the skills, confidence, and internal motivation to eat in a pressure free environment.  

Is your child a fussy eater? What are the signs? Just some of the signs we commonly see in children include:

• Poor weight gain or weight loss
• Avoids food from specific food groups or texture types
• Prefers specific brands of foods
• Cries or gets upset when you put a new food on their plate
• Mealtimes are stressful for the family
• You are preparing separate foods at mealtimes
• They stop eating foods that were previously liked

If any of these signs resonate with your family, please touch base with our friendly team and we will be happy to arrange a consultation for further support.

Our Approach

Your child is a unique individual. At Paediatric Centre Gold Coast we manage both the mother and child’s requirements in a very personalised way. This includes an evidence based clinical approach that is tailored to you and your child’s needs and challenges. We use our experience, latest research, care, understanding and non-judgemental clinical styles to ensure positive outcomes are always achieved.