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Feeding therapy is a specialized service designed to help children and adults learn to eat or improve how they eat. At the Center for Orofacial Myology in Boise, Idaho, our expert therapists work with patients of all ages – from infants to teens – to address feeding and swallowing difficulties. Many families seek feeding therapy when a child has a very limited diet or shows extreme pickiness and stress around trying new foods. By focusing on each individual’s unique needs, our feeding therapists help expand diets, improve chewing and swallowing skills, and make mealtime a more positive experience.

Our pediatric feeding therapy team includes specially trained speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists who collaborate closely on each case. Because feeding challenges often involve both sensory and oral-motor components, our team approach ensures the most effective care. We create personalized plans that may include introducing new textures gradually, practicing safe swallowing techniques, and strengthening the muscles involved in chewing and bolus (chewed food) control. These plans are tailored to each patient’s diagnosis and goals, whether that means overcoming gagging, improving nutritional intake, or simply learning to enjoy a wider variety of foods again.

What Is Feeding Therapy?

Feeding therapy is a comprehensive intervention that addresses any difficulty with eating, drinking, or oral motor development. It goes beyond simple dietary advice and looks at the underlying issues that make mealtime hard. Common concerns we address include:

• Picky eating and limited diets: Some children eat only a very small number of foods, often avoiding textures or flavors that others find easy.

• Texture and sensory aversions: Sensitivity to food textures, temperatures, or flavors can cause refusal of certain foods.

• Chewing and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia): Medical conditions or muscle coordination issues can make it hard to chew, form a food bolus, or swallow safely.

• Gagging or choking during meals: Some children gag easily or even choke when trying new foods.

• Oral motor delays: Weakness or poor coordination of the muscles of the mouth, tongue, jaw, or lips affects chewing and swallowing.

• Transition to solids: Babies and toddlers may have trouble moving from breast/bottle feeding to purees and solid foods.

• Feeding aversions after illness or trauma: Children who have had a medical procedure (like surgery, intubation, or tube feeding) might have developed fear or aversion to eating.

In our Treasure Valley clinic, we focus on helping children with all these challenges. Feeding therapy often involves working on sensory integration, where we gently expose a child to new textures or flavors in a fun, pressure-free way. It also uses oral motor exercises to strengthen the jaw, tongue, and lips. The ultimate goal is not only to make mealtimes safer and more efficient, but also to reduce stress and anxiety around food. Parents often see a big difference: children start enjoying mealtime more, are willing to try new foods, and gain confidence in eating independently.

Signs Your Child May Need Feeding Therapy

Every child is different, but there are some common signs that suggest feeding therapy could help:

• Very limited variety of foods: Eating only a handful of specific foods (e.g., only bland or soft textures)

• Extreme pickiness or food refusal: Stress, tantrums, or meltdown when presented with new foods

• Gagging or vomiting easily: Excessive gagging during meals or frequent gag reflexes

• Difficulty chewing: Spitting out or chewing only lightly on certain textures (e.g., unable to handle crunchy or chewy foods)

• Prolonged mealtimes: Meals that last an hour or more because of slow eating or refusal

• Feeding skill regression: A toddler who used to feed well but suddenly won’t eat certain foods

• Poor weight gain or growth concerns: Signs of not getting enough nutrition due to picky eating

• Oral aversions or sensitivities: Covering ears or nose at mealtime, refusing to sit at the table

• Difficulty swallowing (choking or coughing with liquids or solids): This may indicate a swallowing (dysphagia) issue

If you notice any of these behaviors, it does not necessarily mean your child will need intensive therapy forever. Sometimes, a few targeted sessions can help overcome fears or awkward technique. Other times, children with medical or developmental issues may benefit from ongoing support. Our feeding therapists will evaluate your child’s skills and challenges to recommend the best path forward.

How Feeding Therapy Works

Feeding therapy always begins with a comprehensive assessment. During this evaluation, our therapist will watch your child eat, note any difficulties, and often take a detailed feeding history. We assess oral motor skills, such as how the lips, cheeks, tongue, and jaw move, as well as sensory responses to foods. For infants, we may observe breastfeeding or bottle-feeding technique, latch, and positioning. For toddlers and older kids, we look at how they handle different food textures. We also review medical history (such as reflux, allergies, or surgeries) and growth charts to understand the full context.

Based on this evaluation, we develop an individualized treatment plan. This plan will address your child’s specific needs. For example:

• Introducing new textures: If a child avoids crunchy foods, we might start with gently exposing them to very mild crunch (like baby crackers) paired with a favorite food to make it positive.

• Chewing practice: For children with weak jaw or tongue muscles, we use playful exercises (like blowing bubbles or using whistles) to strengthen the oral muscles. Gradually we practice biting and chewing on foods (starting with very easy textures and progressing as they improve).

• Swallowing safety: If there’s a risk of aspiration (food going into the airway), we teach safer swallowing strategies, sometimes using special utensils or teaching body positioning (like tucking the chin to swallow).

• Sensory play: A feeding therapist often uses a sensory-based approach, involving activities with different materials (like textured mats, flavored toys, or food play) to reduce texture sensitivity.

• Behavioral strategies: Some feeding difficulties are related to anxiety or learned behaviors. We use positive reinforcement (praise, small rewards) and routine building to encourage trying new foods.

• Family involvement: We work closely with parents and caregivers, demonstrating techniques to practice at home. Every family is empowered with tips and strategies to use outside of therapy sessions.

Therapy sessions can be one-on-one, or we may include parents, siblings, or even run small group sessions depending on needs. Since feeding challenges often benefit from a team, we regularly collaborate with pediatricians, occupational therapists, dietitians, and lactation consultants. This multidisciplinary approach ensures that all aspects of the child’s health and development are considered. For example, if a tooth alignment issue is contributing, we will work alongside an orthodontist. If breastfeeding is affected, we partner with lactation experts. The Center for Orofacial Myology’s collaborative network helps make feeding therapy more effective by treating the “whole child.”

Comprehensive Services We Offer

At the Center for Orofacial Myology, our feeding therapy program includes a wide range of services to meet every family’s needs:

• Infant Feeding Support: Assistance with breastfeeding and bottle feeding issues. We help newborns and babies latch correctly, and teach safe bottle feeding techniques. We guide parents on positioning, pacing, and how to handle common problems (such as tongue-tie or reflux) that make feeding difficult for infants.

• Pediatric Feeding Therapy: Support for toddlers and older children who have trouble with certain foods. This includes working on transitioning from purees to mashed to solid foods, managing texture and temperature aversions, and building oral motor skills for chewing and swallowing.

• Sensory-Based Feeding Techniques: Using play and sensory activities to help children become comfortable with different textures and flavors. This may involve exploration of food with hands or mouth in a non-pressure way, which can help reduce anxiety around mealtime.

• Oral Motor Therapy: Exercises and activities that focus on strengthening the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and jaw. These not only improve chewing and swallowing, but also often benefit speech production and oral posture.

• Swallowing Therapy (Dysphagia Management): For children with medical issues (such as neurological conditions or after surgery) who have difficulty swallowing safely, we provide targeted exercises and strategies to reduce the risk of aspiration and improve the mechanics of swallowing.

• Behavioral Strategies and Family Training: Guidance for parents on how to set up a positive mealtime environment, encourage new foods, and use proven behavior techniques. We provide home exercise programs so that progress continues outside of our sessions.

• Nutritional Monitoring: While our therapists are not dietitians, we track each child’s growth and diet to ensure they are getting adequate nutrition. If needed, we can refer to a nutritionist to address any weight or diet-related concerns.

By combining these services, we aim to tackle feeding challenges from all angles. Our goal is to see gradual but consistent improvement: better eating skills, more food variety, and happier, less stressful mealtimes for the whole family.

Who Can Benefit from Feeding Therapy?

Feeding therapy helps a wide range of individuals in Boise and the Treasure Valley. It is not just for children with medical conditions – even “otherwise healthy” picky eaters can benefit if their diet is very limited or causing family stress. Typical people who seek feeding therapy include:

• Infants and Babies: Particularly those with tongue-tie, reflux, prematurity, or difficulties with latching and breastfeeding.

• Toddlers and Young Children: Those who will only eat a few foods, have sensory-based picky eating, or are behind in feeding milestones (for example, not chewing by age 2).

• Children with Special Needs: Kids with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, genetic syndromes, or sensory processing disorders often experience feeding challenges. Our therapists have specialized experience helping these children learn new feeding skills in a supportive way.

• Children with Speech or Oral-Motor Disorders: Since feeding and speech share the same muscles, children who struggle with articulation (like lisps or tongue-thrust) may also have feeding issues. Addressing oral motor function can improve both eating and speaking.

• Children with Gastrointestinal or Medical Concerns: Children who have had gastroenterological issues, surgeries, or chronic illnesses sometimes develop feeding aversions; therapy can help retrain the body to eat normally.

• Anxious or Avoidant Eaters: Kids who have developed anxiety around food—perhaps after choking or feeling sick—often need gentle re-exposure to build confidence.

In short, if a family is worried about their child’s eating in any way, feeding therapy is an option. Early intervention often leads to faster progress, but we also help older kids who have had years of picky eating and now need a fresh start. Our Boise feeding therapy specialists have helped many families turn mealtime into a more positive experience.

Meet Our Pediatric Feeding Specialist: Marla Ambrose, MS, CCC-SLP

Marla Ambrose is our lead specialist in pediatric feeding therapy at the Center for Orofacial Myology. With over 18 years of experience as a certified speech-language pathologist, Marla has helped infants, toddlers, and children overcome a wide range of feeding and oral motor challenges.

Marla earned her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Idaho State University and has worked in diverse settings, including outpatient rehabilitation clinics, sensory integration centers, and early intervention programs for children ages 0–3. Her extensive background allows her to create effective, compassionate therapy plans tailored to each child’s unique needs.

Marla’s post-graduate training has focused heavily on feeding and oral motor development, including:

• Supporting infants and parents with breastfeeding and bottle feeding (she is currently pursuing IBCLC certification to further her expertise in lactation support)

• Helping babies and toddlers transition to solid foods safely and successfully

• Addressing feeding aversions and picky eating behaviors

• Treating oral motor dysfunction, such as chewing and swallowing difficulties

• Integrating orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) and craniosacral therapy techniques to enhance feeding outcomes

Families working with Marla appreciate her warm, patient-centered approach. She not only helps children improve their feeding skills but also provides parents with the knowledge and confidence to support their child’s progress at home.

Meet Our Feeding Therapy Specialist: Heidii Roberts, MS, CCC-SLP

At the Center for Orofacial Myology, our feeding therapy is led by qualified speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. One of our standout experts is Heidii Roberts, MS, CCC-SLP, a certified speech-language pathologist with more than 20 years of experience. Heidii brings extensive knowledge and compassion to her work. After a decade running her own practice in the Portland area, she moved to Boise to join our team.

Heidii has a passion for working with children, especially those on the autism spectrum. She has helped hundreds of kids develop crucial feeding and communication skills through play-based, family-centered therapy. Her expertise spans articulation (helping kids produce sounds clearly) and Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) – which focuses on correcting tongue posture, tongue thrust, and other muscle patterns. Many feeding challenges overlap with orofacial myology issues. For example, a child who pushes the tongue forward to swallow (tongue thrust) might struggle to eat properly. Heidii’s combined skillset means she can address those underlying oral posture problems as part of feeding therapy.

Heidii’s collaborative approach sets her apart. She works closely with your child’s pediatrician, dentists or orthodontists (to address bite or alignment issues), ear-nose-throat doctors (if medical issues like reflux are present), and lactation consultants (for infant feeding). This teamwork ensures every aspect of the child’s care is coordinated. Families appreciate how she explains strategies clearly and involves them as active participants in therapy. Outside of work, Heidii is an outdoor enthusiast, reflecting her energetic, creative nature. She and her family love exploring Idaho’s trails and parks – a passion she brings to making therapy sessions feel fun and adventurous for kids.

By choosing our feeding therapy program, you’re getting someone like Heidii – a caring professional who will tailor sessions to your child’s personality and strengths. Many parents have told us they feel encouraged and hopeful after working with Heidii’s team, seeing slow but steady progress in expanding their child’s diet and enjoyment of meals.

Why Choose the Center for Orofacial Myology for Feeding Therapy?

Choosing the right feeding therapy provider is important. Families in Boise and the Treasure Valley trust the Center for Orofacial Myology for several reasons:

• Specialized Expertise: We were the first clinic in Idaho to focus on orofacial myology, and we carry that expertise into feeding therapy. Our therapists understand how jaw and tongue muscles affect eating, giving us a unique edge in treating complex feeding issues.

• Comprehensive Care: We offer a full range of services under one roof – from infant tongue-tie treatment and lactation support to speech therapy and craniofacial therapy. Many feeding challenges require addressing overlapping issues, and our integrated services make coordination easy.

• Individualized Approach: Every child is different, so we never use a one-size-fits-all method. Your child’s therapy plan is based on detailed assessment results and your family’s goals. We adapt techniques to each child’s age, learning style, and comfort level.

• Family Involvement: We believe parents and caregivers are part of the therapy team. We make sure you’re comfortable implementing strategies at home by demonstrating activities during sessions and providing written guidelines. A supportive home environment often accelerates progress.

• Proven Track Record: With over 30 years of combined clinical experience in our team, we have seen many success stories. Parents often report significant improvements in their child’s diet, weight gain, and confidence around eating after enrolling in our feeding therapy program.

• State-of-the-Art Facility: Our Boise clinic is equipped with the latest tools and a friendly atmosphere. We have child-sized furniture, oral motor exercise materials (like chew toys and bubble machines), and visual aids. The environment is playful yet professional, designed to keep kids engaged.

• Compassionate Team: Many parents comment on how kind and patient our therapists are. We prioritize building trust with your child so that therapy feels safe and enjoyable, not like a chore or exam.

• Positive Outcomes: Improved nutritional intake, smoother mealtimes, and a broader diet are just a few of the benefits our families see. As one satisfied parent shared, after therapy their “kid went from eating just two foods to enjoying an entire plate.”

By choosing the Center for Orofacial Myology, you’re choosing a leader in feeding therapy in Boise. We proudly serve Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Eagle, and all of the Treasure Valley. Our team is well-versed in local community resources too, and can connect families with nutrition services or support groups if needed.

Feeding Therapy for Every Age and Stage

Feeding therapy is not one-size-fits-all. Our approach changes as a child grows:

• Infants (0-12 months): We focus on things like latching and sucking patterns, transitioning to bottle or breastfeeding, and introducing purees. If issues like tongue-tie or reflux are present, we address those first so feeding can improve. Proper positioning and gentle stimulation exercises help infants learn to feed efficiently without fatigue or stress.

• Toddlers (1-3 years): This is a time when new motor skills develop and diet variety should expand. We work on chewing more complex foods and encourage trying table foods in a playful way. For very picky toddlers, we use fun food play activities (like touching or licking safe textured foods) to build tolerance slowly.

• Preschoolers (3-5 years): As children start school, social factors around eating become important. We help preschoolers handle new foods in group settings and strengthen advanced chewing skills. Oral motor exercises often become more sophisticated, preparing the child for mature chewing and swallowing patterns.

• School-Age (6+ years): By this time, we may focus on any lingering challenges, fine-tune oral motor function, and integrate feeding goals with other therapies (like speech therapy). We might introduce adaptive tools (special utensils or cups) if needed, and work on self-feeding skills to increase independence.

At every stage, parents and caregivers learn how to support healthy eating habits. We might provide meal-time routines, snack ideas, or sensory tricks (like using crunchy snacks before meals to prime the mouth). Our goal is to guide your family through each feeding milestone so progress continues between sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What issues does feeding therapy help with?
A: Feeding therapy targets a range of eating difficulties: extreme picky eating, food texture aversion, poor weight gain, swallowing (dysphagia) issues, oral motor delays, mealtime anxiety, and more. It can benefit children with developmental, sensory, or medical conditions, as well as those without diagnoses who simply avoid many foods.

Q: How long does feeding therapy take?
A: Every child is unique. Some children respond quickly, with noticeable improvements in a few months. Others may need ongoing support. Sessions are typically weekly or biweekly, and as your child makes progress, we may space out visits. Rest assured, we continue working with your family as long as necessary to meet your goals. We track progress at each stage and adjust the plan to keep moving forward.

Q: Do I need a doctor’s referral?
A: In Idaho, you generally do not need a referral to begin feeding therapy. You can call us directly to schedule an evaluation. However, if your child has complex medical issues, we will want to coordinate with your pediatrician or specialists for the best care.

Q: Will insurance cover feeding therapy?
A: Many insurance plans cover speech therapy and occupational therapy for feeding issues. Our billing team can check your benefits for you. We also offer reasonable self-pay rates and payment plans if needed.

Q: Can my child improve even if they resist eating right now?
A: Yes! Even children who initially refuse therapy often make progress once they feel safe and supported. We use a gentle, positive approach to encourage tiny steps forward. Parents typically find that after a few sessions, their child becomes more curious and willing to try new things.

Schedule Your Free Consultation Today

At the Center for Orofacial Myology in Boise, we understand how stressful feeding challenges can be for families. Our team is ready to help you find solutions. We offer a FREE initial screening with a feeding therapist to discuss your concerns and outline potential next steps. Whether your child is an infant struggling with feeding or an older child with sensory aversions, we’re here to support you.

Take the first step towards stress-free meals: Call us at (208) 793-7006 to schedule your free consultation. You can also visit the “Schedule Consultation” page on our website to get started. Our Boise clinic serves the entire Treasure Valley area, and we welcome patients from Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Eagle, and beyond.

With feeding therapy from the Center for Orofacial Myology, your child can gain the skills and confidence to enjoy a fuller, healthier diet. We look forward to partnering with you on this journey—no matter how long it takes.