For SLPs, OTs, PTs, RDs, IBCLCs and Early Intervention professionals

Moving From Liquids to Solids.
A Responsive Plan for Success.

Comprehensive NFA™ Toddler Feeding Success™ takes you from assessment to action. Identify what’s underneath the feeding struggle, match foods to developing chewing skills, and build a responsive plan using concrete strategies, real cases, clinical tools, and a complete sample report with goal bank.

Save $45 today · Early bird ends September 29

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4.5 PDH · 3.5 hours on demand + 1 hour live Q&A · Certificate on completion

The questions that stall a session

“I know feeding, but I’m not always sure what to target next.”

“Why is this child stuck?”

“What foods actually build this skill?”

“Is this sensory, oral-motor, behavioral, or all three?”

“How do I explain this clearly to parents?”

Clinical Confidence

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

Identify the stage

Use evidence based developmental norms to determine the child’s current oral sensory motor and chewing stage.

Match food to skill

Pair the NFA™ Stage 1–3 food hierarchy to the oral-sensory-motor skills actually present.

See what is interfering

Separate sensory, oral-motor and behavioral contributors rather than treating all three at once.

Build the pathway

Leave with a treatment sequence you can explain to a parent, a physician and a payer.

Enroll now

$205 early bird · ends September 29 $250 · 6 months of access

Who is this course for?

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)
Occupational Therapists & Physical Therapists (OTs/PTs)
Hospital & Early Intervention professionals
Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs/CLCs)
Registered Dietitians & nutrition professionals
Pediatric medical providers (physicians, NPs & PAs)
Students, new graduates and clinicians who want a deeper understanding of toddler feeding through the Nurtured Feeding Approach™

Continuing education

Earn 4.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Certificate of Completion provided after course completion and submission of the course feedback form

PDHs count toward ASHA certification maintenance requirements

Continuing education note

Participants are responsible for verifying acceptance with their individual licensing board, employer, or credentialing organization.

What is inside

Four Modules, Developmental Norms + Responsive Techniques, Provider/Family Handouts + Real World Cases + Assessment to Plan of Care Tools - data collection from birth & medical history through chewing development, plus a sample report template & goal bank.

Module 1 30 minutes

Transition to Solids: Schedules & Methods

Introduction and course objectives, then the feeding schedules and methods that set up the whole transition to solids.

A smiling toddler self-feeding with a spoon, food on their face and bib

Module 2 Includes handouts

Chewing Development and Food Hierarchy Match, NFA™ Stages 1–3

The core clinical module. Chewing progression matched to the NFA™ Stage 1–3 food hierarchy, plus cup and straw development. Comes with the handouts clinicians say they refer back to most.

A toddler biting into a piece of bread, relaxed and smiling

Module 3 30 minutes

Mealtime Peace, and How It Is Possible

Worked through a real case, on video, start to finish. This is the module clinicians name when they say the course changed how they run a session.

Common allergen and first foods including peanuts, avocado, broccoli and green beans

Module 4 Guest lecture

Allergen Considerations, From a Registered Dietitian

A Registered Dietitian on the transition to solids and allergen introduction, so you get the nutrition lens alongside the therapy one.

3.5 hours on demand, plus a 1 hour live Q&A · 6 months of access

Enroll now

$205 early bird · ends September 29 $250 · 6 months of access

Google reviews

Clinicians and families, in their own words

Google review, five stars, from Caity Wessels: 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.

Google review, five stars, from K B: 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.

Google review, five stars, from Judit Illes: 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.

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 clinicians ask

How do I assess a toddler’s chewing development?

I assess oral sensory motor skills based on the child’s age and developmental stage, then determine whether their chewing skills match the foods being offered. Through the NFA™ Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match, we look at jaw and tongue development, biting and chewing patterns, sensory skills, texture management, and safety. Matching foods and textures to the child’s current skills helps feeding feel safe and successful while providing a clear path toward more mature chewing.

What do I do when a toddler will not chew?

We start by finding the why and building the foundation for chewing. Using the NFA™ Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match, we meet the child at their current developmental stage and build from there. A mismatch between chewing skills and food textures can contribute to gagging, vomiting, overstuffing, spitting, refusal, or simply not chewing. We build skills and carefully progress textures as confidence and ability grow, without pressure or repeated unsuccessful experiences.

How do I know if it is a skill problem or a behavior problem?

In the NFA™, we view refusal as communication and look for the why behind the behavior. Eating may be too difficult, uncomfortable, unpredictable, or beyond the child’s current skills. We consider chewing and sensory development, medical and nutritional factors, hunger and feeding patterns, feeding history, and the feeding relationship. Rather than pushing volume, textures, or “just one more bite,” we address what the child is communicating and build the skills, safety, and confidence needed to progress.

How do I move an older child from liquids to solids?

The NFA™ Toddler Feeding Success™ Roadmap looks at the whole child, including liquid intake and timing, nutrition, hunger, chewing and sensory development, and current food skills. We create an individualized plan that protects nutrition while establishing feeding patterns that support interest in solids. Using our Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match, we build skills and progress foods step by step. Whether a child is 1 or 5, we meet them where they are and provide a clear, peaceful roadmap toward solids.

What order should I introduce textures in?

There isn’t one texture progression that fits every child. The NFA™ Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match provides a strategic roadmap for selecting foods and textures based on the skills the child is actually developing, rather than age alone. Through teaching, practical strategies, and visual handouts, parents and providers learn where to start, which foods match each stage, and how to progress toward increasingly complex textures and more mature chewing safely and confidently.

How does the NFA™ support typically developing children with feeding challenges?

Even typically developing children can have a mismatch between their oral sensory motor and chewing skills and the foods being offered. The NFA™ looks at developmental skills first, then matches foods and textures through our Stage 1–3 Chewing Development & Food Hierarchy Match. We identify where the child is today, build the foundational skills they need, and provide a thoughtful progression toward more complex foods and mature chewing patterns while supporting confidence, positive feeding experiences, and a healthy feeding relationship.

How does the NFA™ support neurodivergent children or children with developmental or neuromuscular differences?

Every child needs the same foundational feeding skills, but the pathway and pace may look different. The NFA™ respects sensory system maturation, developmental level, neuromotor skills, and individual abilities rather than relying on chronological age alone. The foundational roadmap remains the same. We build from the skills the child has today, match foods and textures to their abilities, and progress peacefully and without pressure. Collaboration with OT, PT, medical, nutrition, and other providers helps create a thoughtful, coordinated plan for the whole child.

How does the NFA™ support children who are tube fed?

Children who are tube fed need the same foundational feeding roadmap while protecting their medical and nutritional needs. Through our NFA™ Tube Feeding Considerations™, parents and providers learn how tube schedules, volumes, nutrition, feeding tolerance, hunger, oral opportunities, and delivery methods can support feeding development and avoid unnecessary overfeeding. We also consider oral sensory motor and chewing skills, along with developmentally appropriate real food via tube when medically appropriate, while collaborating with the medical and nutrition team to support each child’s highest feeding potential.

Advanced NFA™ training goes deeper into tube feeding, feeding patterns, growth, intake, and interdisciplinary planning to help children progress toward solids safely.

What is the Nurtured Feeding Approach™?

The Nurtured Feeding Approach™ (NFA™) is a responsive, relationship based, evidence informed approach that helps parents and providers understand the WHY behind feeding challenges and provides a systematic roadmap for WHAT to do next. NFA™ brings together feeding development, oral sensory motor skills, medical and nutritional considerations, hunger and feeding patterns, and the feeding relationship. We meet children where they are, build the skills they need, and progress feeding without pressure, moving from worry to understanding, pressure to connection, and stress to pleasure.