improving family mealtimes, one bite at a time.

who are we?

One Bite at a Time Feeding (formerly known as West Coast Feeding and Behaviour Specialists) opened in 2011 after seeing the need for high-quality treatment for children with persistent feeding challenges.  Recognizing the need for feeding services nationwide, we have recently expanded our services to Eastern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)!  Our team is comprised of a group of professionals with expert knowledge and experience supporting a variety of feeding challenges and are supervised by a Behaviour Analyst who is registered with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO). 

One Bite at a Time’s primary goal is to improve child eating behaviour and the family mealtime routine. To this end, we consult closely with parents and other professionals to develop evidenced-based feeding therapies that are both effective and acceptable.

We meet families with open hearts and expert knowledge, tailoring our approach to their specific needs. "Happier" means calmer mealtimes, less anxiety, and parents regaining confidence in their ability to nourish their child. Healthier extends beyond nutrition: we help children develop a positive relationship with food, building awareness and the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.

the big question…

what exactly do we do?

 

At One Bite at a Time our Feeding Therapists provide you with an individualized step by step program, that gives your child structure and direction to help with their specific feeding needs. Our goal is to improve child eating behaviour, promote a child’s successful participation in a meal routine, and empower parents to successfully support their child during mealtimes. Here’s some common questions we get;

  • The children we treat range in age from 12 months to 18 years old and possess a wide range of complex medical and developmental histories.

  • We help children with a variety of feeding concerns through a behavioural approach, including;

    • Consuming a limited range of foods

    • Diagnosis of Avoidance/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

    • Fear of eating after a choking/vomiting incident

    • Gastrostomy (g-tube) or naso-gastric (ng-tube) dependence

    • Oral motor delay or inability to chew (failure to transition to table foods)

    • Bottle dependence

    • Dependence on oral nutritional supplements (e.g., Pediasure)

    • Vomits or gags when eating

    • Tantrums at mealtimes

    • Unable to self-feed

    • Refusal to drink fluids

  • Therapy occurs in person in the family’s home. Our Ontario team of therapists will travel to the family’s home and work one to one with the child and family in the natural meal routine.

There are three phases to our in-person feeding therapy; you can find out more about them below.

 

  • phase one, assessment

    Our assessment includes both a behavioural and nutritional assessment and review.

  • phase two, intensive therapy sessions

    We see families daily for sessions. The first half of therapy is the feeding therapist working directly with the child teaching them to accept and consume new foods. The second half of the therapy is devoted to parent training. Parents attend all the sessions and learn the techniques that the feeding therapist has been using to successfully encourage their child to eat. Our nutritionist consults to the family and our therapists through this phase of therapy.

  • phase three, monitoring support

    Following our daily therapy sessions, we schedule follow-up/monitoring sessions via videoconferencing. The purpose of these sessions is to continue supporting the parents in introducing new foods to their child and problem-solving any issues they are experiencing.

how do we know our therapy is working?

We use multiple methods of evaluation to assess the outcomes of the behavioural feeding intervention. These methods are designed to answer three central questions:

  1. Have our strategies promoted meaningful and durable behaviour change for the child?

  2. Do the parents and other caregivers use the strategies effectively?

  3. Do family members perceive the plan, goals, procedures, and outcomes as acceptable, effective, and feasible?

how we can help.

 With therapists based across Canada we are on a mission to help as many families as possible. We work with physicians on a regular basis to provide the expertise and specialty services mentioned above. If you're working with a family that could utilise our services, then fill out the form below and we will be in touch. Or send this link to your patient and they can book a FREE 30 Minute call with one of our therapists to find out more about how we can help.