Finding trusted information can be hard when you have ALL the information at your fingertips.
Here are some of our favourite resources for parents and carers to help make mealtimes happier.
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Helpful Online Resources
Feeding and child development:
Raising Children Network For information on child development, parenting, mealtimes and nutrition.
Eat For Health Information on Australian Dietary Guidelines, with examples of serving sizes.
RCH Guide to foods. Baby's first year Information for introducing solids to your baby and the progression of solids until 12 months of age.
Ellyn Satter Institute For information on ages and stages, nutrition and growth, family meals and feeding problems.
The Family Dinner Project Lots of ideas and resources for fun, food and conversations at mealtimes.
Information if you have concerns that your child has more than typical fussy eating:
Typical and Problematic Feeding and Mealtime Behaviours The Royal Children's Hospital provides a list of examples of typical or problematic feeding behaviours.
Feeding Matters This organisation provides, information, support, and resources to support children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder. Their Feeding Questionnaire is a great tool to help identify problem areas. They also have a helpful Service Directory.
Responsive Feeding Therapy Pro is a collective of experienced practitioners from multiple disciplines, committed to providing high-quality professional development and training to those working with children who struggle with eating. Their White Paper on Responsive Feeding Therapy: Values and Practice is a great resource for anyone supporting a child who is struggling at mealtimes.
Emotional health and well-being for parents:
Parentline (Victoria only) Provides a statewide telephone counselling service to parents and carers of children aged from birth to eighteen years
Beyond Blue Healthy Families is all about giving you the information, knowledge and confidence to support the young people in your life – whether you’re a parent, guardian, grandparent, favourite uncle, or an awesome auntie.
Recipes and Meal Ideas:
Follow our journey on Instagram where we put a few recipes to the test!
First aid courses
We recommend parents/carers attend a infant/child first aid course. We want you to feel confident feeding your child a range of food that is developmentally appropriate. We know parental/carer anxiety around mealtimes can influence children’s feeding behaviour. Knowing how to respond to choking or allergy reaction will provide you confidence. Here are just some of first aid courses available in Australia and online.
Allergy advice
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) was established in 1990 as the peak professional body of clinical immunology/allergy specialists in Australia and New Zealand. It promotes the highest standard of medical practice, training, education and research, to improve the health and quality of life of people with immune system disorders. These include allergic diseases, immunodeficiencies and other immune diseases.
ASCIA: How to introduce Solid Foods to Babies for Allergy Prevention FAQ
Discounts from our friends for handy eating tools:
10% off Messy Mealtime Smock (affiliate link)
10% off Grub Kids (use the discount code LEARNTOEAT10)
Books
“Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense” By Ellyn Satter
Widely considered the leading book involving nutrition and feeding infants and children, this revised edition offers practical advice that takes into account the most recent research into such topics as: emotional, cultural, and genetic aspects of eating; proper diet during pregnancy; breast-feeding versus; bottle-feeding; introducing solid food to an infant's diet; feeding the preschooler; and avoiding mealtime battles.
“Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater: A Stage by Stage Guide to Setting your Child on a Path to Adventurous Eating” by Nimali Fernando and Melanie Potock
Paediatrician Nimali Fernando and feeding therapist Melanie Potock (aka Dr. Yum and Coach Mel) know the importance of giving your child the right start on his or her food journey—for good health, motor skills, and even cognitive and emotional development. In Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater they explain how to expand your family’s food horizons, avoid the picky eater trap, identify special feeding needs, and put joy back into mealtimes.
“Helping your Child with Extreme Picky Eating: A Step-by-Step Guide for Overcoming Selective Eating, Food Aversion, and Feeding Disorders” by Katja Rowell and Jenny McGlothlin
A family doctor specialising in childhood feeding joins forces with a speech pathologist to help you support your child's nutrition, healthy growth, and end meal-time anxiety (for your child and you) using the clinically proven STEPS+ approach.
“Anxious Eaters, Anxious Mealtimes: Practical and Compassionate Strategies for Mealtime Peace” by Marsha Dunn Kliein
Internationally known Feeding Therapist Marsha Dunn Klein draws on her own food learning experiences and her years of experience working with anxious eaters as a Feeding Therapist to share practical, proven and compassionate strategies for parents and professionals working with anxious eaters.
"The Whole Brain Child" by Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
While not specifically about mealtimes, we highly recommend this book if you want to feel better equipped to nurture your child's developing mind, and not just survive everyday parenting struggles, but to help your family thrive.
"But I'm Not Hungry for my Dinner" by Valerie Gent
This picture book is is written by an Australian Speech Pathologist for children aged 2-6 years, it is perfect in helping parents and children navigate the preschool challenges of fussy/picky eating. It promotes responsive feeding strategies.
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