Nurtured Feeding Approach™ Academy

When you understand feeding development, the next step becomes clearer.

Twenty-seven years of pediatric feeding practice, built into on-demand courses and clinical tools. Learn what is actually typical from first foods through chewing, textures and cups, so you know what a child can manage now and what comes next.

Feeding Should Not Feel This Hard

Parents ask

“Why is breastfeeding or bottle feeding so hard?”

“Why is my baby refusing the bottle or not taking the volumes they’re supposed to?”

“They’re gagging and I’m afraid they’ll choke.”

“Why can’t my child move past purées or progress to more textures?”

“Why have mealtimes become such a battle or source of fear?”

“Are they eating enough and growing well? Why are they dropping percentiles?”

Providers ask

“How do I help a family struggling with breast, bottle, solids, or feeding aversion?”

“How do I assess suck, swallow, breathe coordination and choose the right nipple or feeding system?”

“Why is this child stuck, and what skill should I target next?”

“How do I know if this is sensory, oral motor, medical, behavioral, or a combination?”

“How do I help a child progress from liquids and purées to chewing, textures, and family foods?”

“How do I know when feeding patterns, intake, growth, reflux, or discomfort are part of the problem?”

What We Help With

Infant Feeding

  • Breast & Bottle Feeding
  • Reflux & Allergens
  • Coughing, Gulping & Clicking
  • Tongue Ties & Oral Function
  • Weight Gain, Intake & Growth
  • Limited or Inconsistent Hunger Cues
  • Feeding Aversion
  • Prematurity, IUGR/SGA & Medically Complex Infants
  • Feeding Tubes

Feeding Refusal & Aversion

  • Bottle & Breast Refusal
  • Feeding Refusal & Aversion
  • Long, Stressful Feeds
  • Not Meeting Growth or Volume Goals
  • Limited Repertoire & Low Volume
  • Fear or Distress Around Feeding

Solids, Textures & Mealtimes

  • Transition to Solids
  • Gagging, Chewing & Textures
  • Picky Eating & Limited Foods
  • Stressful Mealtimes
  • Anxiety & Worry About Food
  • Sensory Regulation
  • ARFID
  • Tube Feeding & Transition to Oral Eating

Two Paths. One Approach.

For Parents

From Fear To Peace

Understand the why. Know what comes next. Enjoy feeding again.

You have been handed a great deal of conflicting advice and very little explanation. These courses give you the explanation. Understand what may be driving the feeding struggle, what your child can manage right now, and how to move forward with more confidence and less stress.

  • Breast and bottle feeding, nipple flow, refusal, reflux and feeding discomfort
  • Hunger cues, intake, weight gain and growth patterns
  • Starting solids, textures, chewing, cups and developmental progression
  • Gagging, choking fears, feeding aversion and picky eating
  • Practical schedules, strategies, parent guides and handouts you can return to

For Providers

From Guessing To Clinical Confidence

Know what you’re seeing, why it matters & what to do next.

The NFA™ gives you a clear clinical roadmap for infant, toddler and childhood feeding. Build confidence assessing the whole child across feeding skills, development, growth, nutrition, sensory needs and the feeding relationship, then turn what you see into responsive, practical intervention.

Use structured clinical assessment tools and worksheets to break down the evaluation, identify contributing factors, develop recommendations and treatment plans, and clearly explain your clinical reasoning to parents, physicians and the broader care team.

  • Suck, swallow, breathe coordination, nipple flow, breast and bottle feeding
  • Feeding patterns, intake, growth, reflux, allergens, refusal and aversion
  • Solids, chewing, textures, cups, food progression and mealtime challenges
  • Responsive feeding methods, clinical handouts, assessment tools and family resources
  • On demand provider courses with PDH certificates, clinical mentoring, Lunch & Learns and staff training

What Families and Clinicians Say

“I attended a course presented by Ann Marie on infant and toddler feeding for service providers. Ann Marie is very knowledgeable in this area and went above and beyond when I consulted her on a complex feeding case. You are in good hands.”

Caity Wessels

Google review

“Do not hesitate to call Ann Marie. She helped us through sensory issues with our little one as well as an eosinophilic esophagitis diagnosis. Our son wasn’t eating any solids at 13 months. Ann Marie is nothing short of a miracle worker who changed our son’s life.”

Karen Zelnick

Google review

“I’m so grateful for Anne Marie’s help! My 4-month-old was refusing the bottle, and I was feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Anne Marie listened with compassion, reassured me that there was nothing wrong with my baby, and helped me create a clear, practical plan to introduce the bottle. Her support made a huge difference—I felt much more confident after speaking with her. My baby was taking the bottle within the timeline we discussed, which was such a relief. Anne Marie also followed up to check on our progress, which meant so much. I highly recommend her to any parent needing feeding support!”

Melissa Feinberg

Google review

“Ann is an incredible therapist and truly cares about her patients. She is an expert in pediatric feeding and swallowing. What sets her aside from other therapists is her desire to get to the root cause of the issues and her desire to collaborate with other professionals as needed. I cannot recommend Ann enough.”

K B

Google review

“Ann Marie is amazing!! Our son had been dealing with poor weight gain and gagging/vomiting regularly during meals from when we started solids to when we reached out to Ann Marie, when our son was 2.5 years old. During our initial phone call and listening to our story, Ann Marie diagnosed my son right away. No doctors we had seen (during lots of sick visits and trips to urgent care) knew how to help him. Ann Marie figured out a plan and coordinated care with the additional specialist we needed. She deeply cares about her patients and families, and saw us through the whole process from start to finish. A few months out from seeing Ann Marie, our son has gained 2.5 pounds and is a great eater with no issues! We couldn’t be more pleased, and would absolutely recommend Ann Marie to anyone dealing with feeding issues!”

Mary Horan

Google review

“Ann-Marie was wonderful to work with. She pinpointed the issue my daughter was having with food and eating within the first 10 minutes of our first visit. Three visits later our daughter is eating as expected of a soon to be one year old.”

Alison Stern

Google review

“Ann Marie is so knowledgeable and helpful! We went to Ann Marie because my 4 month old was having very uncomfortable feedings and a lot of gas when he would drink from his bottle. Ann Marie was so kind, gentle, and gave us lots of tips in our session. There was an immediate difference! He felt so much better and I was so relieved knowing that we could have peaceful feedings. She followed up to make sure we were continuing to improve and offered advice for the future of solid foods too! Ann Marie gave me the confidence to be able to feed my son. We are so grateful!”

Nicole Escudero

Google review

“Ann Marie is an excellent feeding specialist. She was instrumental in helping me overcome difficulties with breast feeding and also provided very useful guidance on how to best feed our baby solids. Her work is evidence-based and research-driven and she is highly responsive to follow-up questions.”

Judit Illes

Google review

“Anne Marie saved our feeding journey! Now I am able to exclusively breastfeed as I had intended to. I couldn’t have imagined doing so two months ago. Our pediatrician became obsessed with our son’s weight and pressured us to triple feed. After a disastrous and exhausting two weeks, we reached out to Anne Marie and she worked with the pediatrician to get us on a feeding plan that worked for our family. She got us back on track and I’m so grateful for her help.”

Lucia Ponce Peñalva

Google review

The Nurtured Feeding Approach™

Build skills. Protect trust. Support feeding development.

Start with the relationship

Feeding is reciprocal. Observe the child, the caregiver, the cues and the meal before changing what happens next. Trust and confidence grow when both child and caregiver feel understood.

Analyze the whole picture

Look beyond a single symptom. Feeding patterns, intake, growth, comfort, sensory needs, oral motor skills and the feeding relationship all help explain the why and guide the plan.

Match expectations to development

Feeding skills develop over time from breast and bottle feeding through solids, chewing, cups and family meals. Understanding what is developmentally realistic reduces fear and helps adults support the next skill at the right time.

Progress with trust and confidence

Use responsive feeding to build skills without pressure. The goal is not simply more bites or more volume. It is a child and caregiver who trust each other, feel confident at the table and build the foundation for happy, healthy eating.

Ann Marie Presberg-Martinez, MS, CCC-SLP, founder of FirstSTAGES Feeding Specialists

Ann Marie Presberg-Martinez, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech & Language Pathologist  ·  Pediatric Feeding Specialist  ·  Mom of Five Boys

27+ years of pediatric feeding experience

NICU & hospital  ·  Early Intervention  ·  Private practice

Ann Marie brings clinical expertise and a compassionate, evidence based approach shaped by decades of clinical practice and her own experience as a mom of five boys. She empowers families and professionals with the understanding, tools, and confidence to uncover the why and what behind feeding challenges.

Founder

FirstSTAGES Feeding Specialists, LLC

Developer

Nurtured Feeding Approach™
Infant Feeding Success™
Toddler Feeding Success™

Creator

FirstSTAGES Proprietary Tools™
Age & Evidence Based Guide™
Feeding Calculator™
Feeding Tracker™
Tools for Your Toolkit™

Where would you like to start?

Every course here is built on the same approach.