Picky Eating Habits or Sensory Processing Issues? Exploring Feeding Difficulties in Infants and Toddlers

For infants and toddlers demonstrating feeding problems, it is critical to find the basis for the problems to create more pleasurable mealtimes for the child, his or her family members, and caregivers. Feeding difficulties can affect general health, developmental gains, and emotional well-being. Understanding the cause of feeding problems and developing appropriate interventions can promote feeding-related developmental skills, facilitate overall development, and enhance family relationships. There is a growing knowledge base regarding sensory processing problems and their possible effects on daily routines and activities. A sensory processing problem refers to an individual's inability to process incoming stimuli from his or her environment in a productive way. This article describes assessment methods, strategies, and outcomes related to feeding problems with underlying sensory processing issues in infants and toddlers. The authors provide an overview of general feeding strategies and specific sensory modulation strategies that can be used to assist infants and toddlers with sensory-based feeding difficulties. (Contains 5 tables.)