For parents of toddlers navigating transition to solids, picky eating, weight gain concerns and other feeding challenges
Mealtimes Should Be Peaceful.
Comprehensive Toddler Feeding Success™ for Parents helps you understand what is underneath feeding challenges, match foods to the skills your child has today, and build more successful, peaceful mealtimes without pressure.
When Feeding Feels Harder Than It Should
“Mealtimes are so stressful. My child just throws, gags or spits out food.”
“They will chew, but they won’t swallow.”
“They only want the same foods and refuse anything they do not like.”
“They only take a few bites, and then that’s it.”
“Sometimes we have to use the TV just to get our child to eat.”
From Worry to Understanding
Understand the skills behind eating, meet your child where they are, and move feeding forward peacefully.
Understand Development
Learn what feeding and chewing development can look like and what skills your child is building now.
Match Food to Skill
Choose foods and textures that match your child’s current chewing, oral motor and sensory skills.
Build Hunger & Interest
Use NFA™ feeding schedules to support the hunger and interest children need for learning to eat solids.
Bring Peace Back to Meals
Use responsive strategies that reduce pressure, support food exploration and strengthen the feeding relationship.
$75 · 3 years of access
Who Is This Course For?
Parents who want to:
- Understand their child’s feeding development
- Build a positive foundation for eating
- Find practical ways to navigate feeding challenges
- Beginning the Transition to solids
- Managing picky eating
This course provides guidance to help make feeding more successful and peaceful.
Feeding Challenges
- Your child eats a limited variety of foods or is becoming increasingly selective.
- Mealtimes are stressful, with refusals, anxiety, or frustration.
- Your child struggles with transitioning to solids or new textures.
- Your child prefers liquids, bottles, or pouches over solid foods.
- You rely on distractions, screens, or encouragement to get your child to eat.
- You are unsure what feeding skills or eating patterns are typical for your child’s age.
What Parents Will Learn
- Age-appropriate feeding schedules and methods for transitioning to solids.
- How chewing, oral motor, and sensory skills influence eating.
- How to choose foods and textures that match your child’s developmental skills.
- Responsive feeding strategies that reduce pressure and mealtime stress.
- Practical ways to encourage food exploration, variety, and independence.
- How to recognize feeding concerns and when additional support may be helpful.
What Is Inside
Four modules, practical parent handouts, developmental guidance and a real-world family case.
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Transition to Solids: Schedule & Methods
Introduction and course objectives, then the feeding schedules and methods that set the foundation for success. Handout included.
Chewing Development and Food Hierarchy Match, NFA™ Stages 1–3
Walk through chewing development stages, what to expect, and how to promote skill development by matching appropriate food hierarchy choices. Handouts Included - First Foods, Chewing & Food Match Examples, Cup Drinking & More!
Mealtime Peace and Progressing from Liquids to Solids
Follow a 14-month-old step by step through 12 weeks of NFA™ parent coaching, from poor weight gain, breastfeeding on demand, tantruming at the chair and throwing foods to eating spaghetti with meat sauce. Handouts Included.
First Foods, Transition to Solids & Allergen Introduction
A guest lecture from a Registered Dietitian covering first foods, the transition to solids and allergen introduction. Handouts Included.
3.5 hours on demand · fully self-paced · 3 years of access
$75 · 3 years of access
Families and feeding professionals, in their own words
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™
Questions parents ask
How do I know if my child’s chewing development is on track?
The course walks you through feeding and chewing development so you can better understand the skills your child is building now. You will learn to look at chewing, oral motor and sensory skills together and choose foods and textures that match those skills rather than comparing your child with what you see online.
Why does my child gag, spit out food, or chew but not swallow?
Gagging, spitting out food, or chewing without swallowing can happen when a food is harder to manage than a child’s current skills support. We walk through chewing development and the NFA™ Stage 1–3 Food Hierarchy Match so you can better understand what your child can manage now, what to offer, and when additional assessment may be helpful.
Why will my child eat a food one day and refuse it the next?
Toddler eating can vary from day to day. A child may accept a food one day and refuse it the next. The course focuses on reducing pressure, continuing peaceful exposure, and helping you respond to refusals without pressure.
How do I move my child from liquids, bottles or pouches toward more solids?
We look at feeding schedules, hunger and interest in solids, cup drinking, the transition away from bottles, and foods that match your child’s current skills. The goal is to support progress toward a wider variety of solids while protecting the feeding relationship and avoiding pressure.
What foods and textures should I offer next?
There is not one food progression that fits every child. The NFA™ Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match helps you choose foods based on the chewing, oral motor and sensory skills your child has today, then build toward more complex foods as those skills develop.
What if my child will only eat with a screen or distraction?
Screens and distractions often enter mealtimes because eating has become stressful for everyone. We help you move away from screens while eating. This course helps you understand what may be making meals difficult and introduces responsive feeding and food engagement strategies that can reduce pressure while helping your child participate more comfortably.
My child only takes a few bites. How do I know if they are eating enough?
The amount a toddler eats can vary from meal to meal and day to day. The course helps you understand age-appropriate feeding patterns, meal and snack schedules, hunger and interest in solids, and signs that suggest individualized medical, nutrition or feeding support may be needed.
Can this course help if I am worried about weight gain?
Yes, especially when weight concerns are happening alongside low appetite, limited intake, heavy reliance on liquids, or stressful meals. The course helps you understand feeding patterns and development and recognize when collaboration with your child’s pediatrician, dietitian or feeding specialist may be appropriate. It does not replace individualized medical or nutrition care. Parent group learning and individual NFA™ parent coaching are also available separately, live in Virginia or online internationally.
What is the Nurtured Feeding Approach™?
The Nurtured Feeding Approach™ (NFA™) is a responsive, relationship-based, evidence-informed approach that helps parents understand the why behind feeding challenges and what to do next. It brings together feeding development, oral sensory motor skills, hunger and feeding patterns, nutrition and medical considerations, and the feeding relationship so children can build skills without pressure. NFA™ parent coaching and groups are available separately, live in Virginia or online internationally.
One course. One price.
Everything below is included.
3 years of access from the day you enroll.
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3.5 hours of on-demand video
watch at your own pace and return to any section when you need it -
Four focused modules
Transition to solids, chewing and food hierarchy, mealtime peace, and nutrition guidance -
Parent handouts and visual guides
Keep the schedules, food choices, chewing guidance and recommended tools close at hand -
NFA™ Stage 1–3 Chewing & Food Hierarchy Match
Choose foods and textures that fit the skills your child has today -
Responsive feeding and mealtime strategies
Reduce pressure while supporting food exploration, variety and independence -
Guest lecture from a Registered Dietitian
First foods, transition to solids and allergen introduction -
3 years of access
Enough time to revisit the course as your child’s feeding skills develop
Fully self-paced · 3 years of access
