Family Dietetics - Food Play & Grow: Where Play and Paediatric Dietetics Meet

At Food Play Grow, we provide specialised feeding therapy for infants, children and adolescents who experience challenges with eating, drinking, or mealtime participation. Our approach is led by paediatric dietitians, ensuring every session supports not only feeding skills, but also nutrition, growth, and long-term health outcomes.

We support children with:

• Fussy or selective eating 
• ARFID and eating disorders
• Sensory feeding challenges 
• Tube feeding and transition to oral intake 
• Oral motor and developmental feeding delays, including Paediatric Feeding Disorder
• Disability and neurodivergence 
• Growth concerns and limited food variety

Feeding therapy can be delivered by different allied health professionals - however, dietitians are uniquely qualified to manage both feeding and nutrition simultaneously.

At Food Play Grow, our dietitians:

• Are trained in eating disorder management, including ARFID 
• Ensure nutritional adequacy and growth optimisation throughout therapy 
• Monitor growth, nutrient intake, and medical risk 
• Integrate feeding therapy with evidence-based nutrition care 
• Provide a holistic approach that supports both behaviour and biology 

This means your child’s feeding progress is always balanced with their health, development, and nutritional needs - not just food exposure.

 Our therapy is play-based, responsive, and child/individual-led, creating a safe and positive environment to explore food.

We combine:

• Evidence-based feeding therapy approaches (including responsive and sensory-based methods) 
• Play-based learning to build confidence and curiosity 
• Gradual exposure to new foods in a low-pressure environment 
• Family-centred strategies to support mealtimes at home 
• Neurodiverse affirming lens
• Trauma-informed care processes

Our sessions are delivered in our Therapy Kitchens or in-home, or via Telehealth, depending on your child’s needs.

Our feeding therapy is led by experienced paediatric dietitians in Melbourne, specialising in feeding therapy, paediatric nutrition, ARFID, eating disorders, and complex feeding difficulties in children. Our dietitians are uniquely qualified to assess both feeding skills and nutritional adequacy, ensuring children receive the energy, nutrients, and support needed for optimal growth and development.

As part of our feeding therapy process, our dietitians provide comprehensive feeding assessments, growth monitoring, and individualised nutrition plans, supporting children with fussy eating, sensory feeding challenges, tube feeding, disability, and neurodivergence. This ensures therapy not only improves food acceptance but also protects nutritional intake and health outcomes.

Feeding therapy sessions may also be delivered by our experienced early childhood therapist, Leesa, under the guidance of dietitian-led feeding therapy plans, ensuring a consistent and collaborative approach.

Leesa is a qualified feeding therapist who brings a trauma-informed, play-based feeding therapy approach, supporting children to feel safe, regulated, and confident during food exploration. Her expertise in early childhood development complements our paediatric dietitian-led therapy, creating engaging sessions that support progress in both feeding skills and positive relationships with food.

Food Play Grow provides feeding therapy under the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) for eligible participants.

We support families to:

• Access therapy through Capacity Building supports - Dietitian and Early Childhood Educator
• Access dietetics therapy through Improved Health and Wellbeing - Dietitian
• Use funding for both dietitian-led therapy and key worker support 
• Coordinate care with other providers 

We also accept:

• GP Care Plans; GP Chronic Condition Management Plans, Eating Disorder Care Plans, M10 (Complex Neurodevelopmental Condition; Assessment and Therapy)
• Private Health Insurance rebates 

If you’re unsure how to access services, our team can guide you through the process.

If you’re concerned about your child’s eating, growth, or mealtime behaviours, early support can make a meaningful difference.

Contact Food Play Grow to learn more about our paediatric feeding therapy services in Hastings, Melbourne.