Children's Hospital Colorado
A bright blue background with the "balloon boy" off center to the right. The balloon boy is a blue character who appears to be soaring by holding red, orange and yellow balloons above his head.

The Feeding and Swallowing Program at Children's Colorado offers care for patients with feeding or swallowing challenges through the focused attention of a team of experts. This clinic brings together pediatric experts from developmental pediatrics, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, nutrition, dentistry, pulmonology, psychiatry, gastroenterology and more. We offer specialized evaluation and treatment to children with a variety of feeding and swallowing conditions across Colorado and throughout the nation. The program also offers unique therapy options, as well as telemedicine support for our most remote patients.

Who we help in the Feeding and Swallowing Program

Our program is designed to support children and families living with feeding or swallowing difficulties. With our team of experts, we work to address:

  • Growth concerns
  • Difficulty gaining weight
  • Poor eating habits
  • Picky eating or food refusal
  • Choking, gagging, coughing and throwing up while eating
  • Inability to chew and/or swallow
  • Recurrent lung illnesses, such as coughs, cold, or pneumonias, that may be related to food and/or liquid entering the lungs when swallowing

Experts at our Feeding and Swallowing Program also find solutions to empower children to feed themselves if they are tube-fed or have had a previous tube placement.

Feeding and swallowing services we provide

The Feeding and Swallowing Clinic provides a wide range of evaluation and treatment services for children with feeding and swallowing difficulties.

Feeding and swallowing evaluations

Treatment for feeding and swallowing conditions

Once a child has received an initial evaluation or assessment, we make recommendations regarding the most appropriate feeding therapy and treatment. Within the Feeding and Swallowing Program, we offer a number of therapies to help patients.

Why choose the Feeding and Swallowing Program for your child?

Our program focuses on providing a comprehensive, family-centered approach to the assessment and treatment of children with feeding and swallowing difficulties. It is not uncommon for many different aspects of a child's health, development, growth, nutrition and overall wellbeing to be affected by these challenges. That's why we offer a patient-focused treatment program that considers medical and nutritional status, motor skills, sensory systems, behavioral and emotional factors and communication into our recommendations and treatment plans.

Contact us

You can reach the Feeding and Swallowing Program at 720-777-6168.

Get to know our pediatric experts.