Paediatric SLT & OT · London
Paediatric feeding therapy - London.
Private feeding therapy for babies, toddlers and older children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder, ARFID, oral aversion, tube dependence and sensory-based refusal. Paediatric SLT, OT, dietitian and psychology working as one team, at home, in clinic or online.
Why parents choose us
- 01
A named paediatric feeding SLT, not a generalist
Feeding needs a therapist who works with babies and children every week. We match you with a specialist SLT or OT, not a generalist adult clinician taking a paediatric case.
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A proper MDT around your child
Feeding is rarely one profession. We bring SLT, OT, dietitian and paediatric psychology together, with a paediatric gastroenterologist on hand for the medical side.
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Independent, and free to you
We are paid by no clinic, so the recommendation is honest. If the answer is your NHS team plus a family-based plan, we will tell you.
Indicative pricing
What paediatric feeding therapy costs privately in London.
Indicative ranges across our London network. Tell us about your child and we come back with firm figures across two or three options.
In short
A first assessment: £220–£380. A three-month MDT package: £2,400–£4,500.
| Service | Indicative range | Typical duration | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial SLT or OT feeding assessment (60 to 90 min) | £220–£380 | 60–90 min | Same visit |
| Follow-up SLT or OT session (45 to 60 min) | £150–£280 | 45–60 min | Same visit |
| Paediatric dietitian session | £120–£220 | 45–60 min | Same visit |
| MDT package (3 months, SLT + OT + dietitian) | £2,400–£4,500 | 3 months | Ongoing |
| Intensive tube weaning (2 weeks, residential model) | £8,500–£16,000 | 2 weeks | Programme |
| ARFID assessment with paediatric psychology | £450–£800 | 90 min | Report in 7–10 days |
Prices vary by clinician seniority, by whether sessions are at home, in clinic or online, and by how many disciplines are involved. Tube weaning and intensive residential programmes sit at the top end and are quoted case by case.
What we mean
Not fussy eating. A recognised feeding disorder.
Paediatric Feeding Disorder is difficulty eating or drinking that sits outside typical developmental variation and affects growth, nutrition or family life. Formally defined in 2021 by an international consortium.
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It is a diagnosis, not a phase
Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) is impaired oral intake that is not age appropriate, with a medical, nutritional, feeding skill or psychosocial component. It needs a clinician, not just time.
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It affects the whole family
Long mealtimes, distress at the table, worry about growth and social eating away from home. Feeding difficulties are one of the most stressful things families deal with.
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Different from typical fussy eating
Fussy eaters usually grow well and eat a reasonable range over time. Feeding disorders are more intense, more persistent, and often have a medical or sensory driver underneath.
The journey
From first enquiry to a plan you can use, at your kitchen table.
One team from your first message to review. Parent-coached throughout, so the change lives at home, not just in the clinic.
Phase 1 · Before therapy
Concierge, off-stage for you
Phase 2 · Assessment
A mealtime observation and formulation
Phase 3 · After
Blocks, review, step down
- 01
Before
You tell us about your child
A short, confidential form. Age, weight history, tube or oral, current diet, red flags, and what a normal mealtime looks like at home.
- 02
Before
We come back with a plan
Within one working day: which clinician fits (SLT, OT, dietitian or full MDT), likely session count, and an indicative price. An honest read either way.
- 03
Before
We book the first assessment
Usually within one to two weeks. A 60 to 90 minute joint assessment, often with a mealtime observation, at home, in clinic or on video.
- 04
Assessment
Mealtime observation and assessment
The clinician watches a real meal, checks oral motor skills, sensory responses, posture and growth, and talks with you about family routines and past medical care.
- 05
Assessment
A written formulation and plan
You leave with a shared formulation, a small number of realistic goals, and the first steps for this week. Not a 30 page report you cannot use.
- 06
After
Weekly or fortnightly therapy
A block of 6 to 12 sessions is typical. Parent coached, child led, with short home tasks you can actually do in the middle of a school run.
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After
Review, discharge or step down
Growth, range of foods and mealtime distress are reviewed at the end of the block. Many families step down to monthly check-ins or discharge with a written maintenance plan.
Typical end-to-end: 1–2 weeks to first assessment. A block: 6–12 sessions. Tube weaning: 4–6 weeks.
Presentations
What paediatric feeding difficulties look like at home.
The patterns we see most, and the red flags that need paediatric review before therapy. Underlying drivers include prematurity, tube-weaning transition, sensory processing differences, ARFID, autism, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, post-cardiac-surgery oral aversion, GORD, cow’s milk protein allergy and developmental delay.
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Poor growth or weight loss
Weight crossing centiles downwards, static weight, or a child who never seems hungry. The first thing paediatrics wants to know is why.
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Extreme food selectivity, fewer than 20 foods
A child who eats only a handful of accepted foods, and refuses whole food groups. Different from typical fussy eating in intensity and duration.
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Gagging or vomiting at meals
Frequent gagging, retching or vomiting at the sight, smell or texture of food. Needs a look at oral motor skill and sensory tolerance together.
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Oral aversion, refusing to open the mouth
Babies and toddlers who clamp shut, turn away or cry at the spoon. Often after tube feeding, reflux or a distressing medical journey.
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Texture aversion and sensory sensitivity
Only smooth purees, or only dry crunchy foods. A pattern that fits with wider sensory differences in touch, sound or clothing.
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Prolonged mealtimes over 30 minutes
Meals that stretch on for 45 minutes to an hour, with distraction, screens or coaxing. A red flag for feeding disorder, not just slow eating.
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Dependence on formula or tube
A child over 12 months still relying on bottles or NG or gastrostomy feeds for the bulk of calories, with little oral progress.
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Red flag: choking without recovery, aspiration
Choking with colour change, wet breathing after swallows, or chest infections need urgent dysphagia review before a feeding therapy plan.
Therapy approaches
Feeding therapy is a family of approaches, not a single method.
The best plan is usually a blend: sensory work, oral motor where needed, a calm structured table, and parent coaching. Older children with ARFID also benefit from adapted CBT and family therapy.
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SOS Sequential Oral Sensory
A step-by-step hierarchy from tolerating a food on the plate, to touching, smelling, licking and tasting. Well suited to selective eaters and sensory-based refusal.
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Get Permission Approach
A child-led, trauma-informed approach. The clinician follows the child, never forces a bite, and rebuilds trust in the adults at the table first.
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Beckman Oral Motor and Talk Tools
Structured oral motor work for lip, tongue and jaw strength and coordination. Used where feeding is limited by oral motor skill, not just behaviour.
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Behavioural feeding, at the table
Structured sits at the table, small graded exposures, and clear parent-led boundaries. Best delivered with an experienced clinician, not from a book.
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Parent-mediated therapy
The Paediatric Feeding Disorders Consortium is clear: parents are the therapists at every meal. We coach you, not just your child.
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Tube weaning programmes
Structured NG or gastrostomy weaning with SLT, dietitian and psychology. Hunger provocation used cautiously, with growth and hydration monitored daily.
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CBT-ARFID for older children
A cognitive behavioural approach adapted for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Family-based sessions, exposure work, and anxiety management.
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Second-opinion review
A specialist review of your NHS letters, growth charts and current plan. Sometimes the answer is patience and coaching, not a new programme.
The MDT around your child
A small London panel of feeding specialists, we picked them.
A paediatric SLT for motor and oral function, an OT for sensory and self-feeding, a paediatric dietitian for nutritional adequacy, a psychologist for older children with ARFID or anxiety, and paediatric gastroenterology and paediatricians for the medical side.
Selection criteria
How we choose every clinician on our London panel.
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Paediatric SLTs and OTs who specialise in feeding, not generalists
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Registered paediatric dietitians for growth, allergy and tube-fed children
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Paediatric psychology for ARFID and anxiety-driven refusal
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Clear pathways to paediatric gastroenterology, allergy and cleft services when the medical picture matters
Where in London
We work alongside teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital International Private Feeding Clinic, The Portland Hospital paediatric feeding service, HCA The Wellington paediatric SLT, London Speech Therapy, Feeding London and independent paediatric feeding specialists registered with ASLTIP. Introductions are made privately once we understand your child.
Safety and when to seek help
The principles we hold to, and when to escalate.
Seek help early if your child is crossing centiles downwards, if meals consistently last more than 30 minutes, if there is complete food refusal, choking without recovery, or if the table has become a battleground that is affecting family life.
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This is not typical fussy eating
Paediatric Feeding Disorder, defined in 2021, is impaired oral intake that is not age appropriate and is linked with medical, nutritional, skill or psychosocial dysfunction. It needs a clinician, not just patience.
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Safety comes before range
If there is any suggestion of unsafe swallowing, aspiration or choking, we start with a dysphagia assessment, not a feeding programme. Airway first.
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Growth is monitored throughout
Weight, height and hydration are tracked. If a child is losing weight during a programme, the plan changes, and paediatrics is involved quickly.
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Tube weaning is done cautiously
Hunger provocation can work, but only with daily monitoring, clear stop rules, and a route back to top-up feeds if a child is not managing.
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No force feeding, ever
Force feeding damages trust and worsens oral aversion. Our clinicians use responsive, child-led methods aligned with Get Permission and modern behavioural feeding.
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Parents are the therapists
Change happens at your kitchen table, not in a weekly clinic hour. Sessions are shaped around what you can realistically do at home.
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Screens off, table on
Distraction feeding gets calories in short term, but delays skill and self-regulation. Most programmes move families away from screens and towards short, calm table sits.
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Autism and sensory differences respected
Autistic children often have genuine sensory reasons for selective eating. The goal is safe, adequate nutrition and a calmer table, not neurotypical eating.
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When to escalate
Persistent weight loss, dehydration, choking with colour change or blue episodes, or new refusal after illness need paediatric review the same day, not next week.
Reading your assessment
Your feeding plan in four parts. Read the last one first.
Whichever clinician led the assessment, the write-up you get keeps to the same shape.
A quiet reminder
Feeding progress is measured in weeks and months, not single meals.
If you would like us to talk you through the plan before you start, just ask.
- 01 Header
Presentation and background
What you came for, birth and medical history, previous NHS input, current growth centiles, and a plain-language summary of how mealtimes look now.
- 02 Assessment
Oral motor, sensory and behavioural findings
What the clinician saw at the meal: oral motor skill, sensory responses, posture, self-feeding, and the pattern of accepted and refused foods.
- 03 Formulation
Why feeding looks like this for your child
A shared explanation that links medical history, skill, sensory profile and mealtime dynamics. Not a label, a working model everyone can use.
- 04 Plan
Goals, home tasks and review
Read this first: three or four realistic goals, this week's home tasks, the therapy block ahead, and when the plan is reviewed.
Recognised by major UK insurers
Cover for paediatric feeding therapy varies by insurer and by diagnosis - often funded for ARFID, tube dependence or post-surgical oral aversion. We confirm cover before booking.
Frequently asked
Everything parents ask us about feeding therapy.
Quick answers on fussy eating, insurance, tube weaning, online sessions, autism and ARFID.
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How is a typical fussy eater different from a child with a feeding disorder?
Fussy eating is common, usually peaks between two and five, and children still grow well and accept a reasonable range of foods over time. A feeding disorder is more intense and persistent: fewer than around 20 accepted foods, distress at meals, dependence on specific brands or textures, poor growth, or mealtimes that consistently last more than 30 minutes. If in doubt, a single assessment with a paediatric feeding SLT will tell you which one you are dealing with.
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Will private health insurance cover paediatric feeding therapy?
Sometimes. Cover varies by insurer, by policy and by whether there is a clear medical diagnosis such as ARFID, tube dependence, cleft palate or post-surgical oral aversion. Bupa, AXA, Vitality and Aviva do fund feeding therapy in some cases, often for a limited number of sessions. We check cover before booking so there are no surprises.
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How does tube weaning actually work?
A structured programme, usually over four to six weeks, that gradually reduces tube feeds while a paediatric SLT and dietitian build oral intake and a psychologist supports the family. Hunger provocation, where tube feeds are cut back to trigger appetite, is used cautiously and only with daily weight and hydration checks. Intensive residential models over two weeks exist and can work well for the right child, but they are not right for every family.
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Can feeding therapy be done online?
Yes for many families, especially for coaching parents, reviewing mealtime videos and running follow-up sessions. The first assessment is usually best in person or in the home so the clinician can see posture, oral motor skill and sensory responses properly. Many packages blend one in-person visit with online follow-ups.
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My child is autistic. Is this the right approach?
Yes, as long as the clinician is experienced with autistic children. The goal is not to make an autistic child eat neurotypically. It is safe, adequate nutrition, less distress at the table, and a slowly wider range of foods where possible. Sensory differences are respected, not overridden.
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How is ARFID different from other feeding difficulties?
ARFID, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, is a DSM-5 diagnosis usually made in older children and adults. It is driven by sensory aversion, low interest in food, or fear of choking or vomiting, and it leads to weight loss, nutritional deficiency or clear psychosocial impact. It is treated with a mix of CBT-ARFID, family-based work, and sometimes medication for the anxiety component. Younger children with similar patterns are often described as having Paediatric Feeding Disorder rather than ARFID.
Related treatments and tests
Looking for something else?
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Dysphagia therapy
Swallowing assessment and rehabilitation.
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Voice feminisation therapy
Specialist SLT for voice work.
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Stammering therapy - adult
Fluency and stammering support.
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Aphasia rehabilitation
Post-stroke language rehab.
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FPIES and non-IgE food allergy
Non-IgE food allergy in babies and children.
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Milk ladder reintroduction
Structured cow’s milk reintroduction.
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Egg ladder reintroduction
Structured egg reintroduction.
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Baby and toddler allergy assessment
Paediatric allergy testing pathway.
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Eating disorder treatment
For older children and teenagers.
Learn more
Ready when you are
Tell us about your child. We will match you with the right feeding clinician within one working day.
A short, confidential enquiry. Independent, and free to you. If the honest answer is a different pathway, we will say so.