DIETETICS & NUTRITION CLINIC
🍏 About Our Nutrition Service 🍏
PAEDS PLUS Dietetic Clinic provides support, nutritional advice and tailored dietetic plans for babies, children and adolescents. Our experienced dietitians support families with general nutritional advice through to managing more complex dietary issues.
Our dietitian works collaboratively with our multidisciplinary team, Paediatricians and GPs in the management of patients with specific medical conditions. These include unsettled babies, feeding difficulties, growth faltering, food allergies and intolerances, chronic abdominal pain/digestive problems, constipation, poor weight gain, overweight/obesity, iron deficiency /nutritional imbalances and more.
Private Dietetic consultation is also available for children with nutritional concerns only.
NUTRITION
Has a significant impact upon a child’s growth, development
and overall health!
At PAEDS PLUS we value the important role Nutrition has in a child’s Health and Development.
That’s why we have a Paediatric Dietitian in our team, to provide holistic care for our patients.
If you’re experiencing Nutritional Challenges with your child, we’re here to help you.
With support and great nutrition, you can help your child to thrive, play and learn.
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU
Our areas of interest & Specialty Nutrition clinics include...
🍏 Unsettled Babies
& Infant Nutrition
🍎 Childhood Nutrition
🍎 Fussy Eating
🍏 Growth Concerns
🍏 Food Allergies &
Intolerances
🍎 Weight Management
🍎 Gastrointestinal Concerns /Disorders
🍏 ADHD
Nutrition Support
🍏 Iron Deficiency
Nutritional Imbalances
🍎 GP Chronic Health Conditions Care Plans
Unsettled Babies and Infant Nutrition
Many parents worry about whether their child is growing to their full potential and nutrition is the main driver of growth in children under two years of age.
Whether breastfeeding, bottle-fed, transitioning to solids or on family meals, our dietitan provides non-judgemental advice and supports parents in confidently providing optimal nutrition for their child to establish a healthy growth curve and promote settled behaviour.
Our Dietitian also works collaboratively with our Paediatricians, supporting the care of babies seen in our Unsettled Babies medical clinic. Tailored dietetic care is provided for babies from feeding issues, CMPI, and specialised low-allergen formula requirements.
Fussy Eating
Fussy eating is a common source of stress and frustration to many parents. While stages of fussy eating are common in children, it can be detrimental to growth and overall health if it continues long term.
Our dietitan supports parents in developing child friendly meals, managing meal time behaviours and developing positive eating pattern while ensuring that nutritional needs are met.
Food Allergies and Intolerances
Once a diagnosis of food allergy, food intolerance or food hypersensitivity is established, strict elimination of the offending dietary culprit is the only treatment available. Cooking and shopping for a child with food allergies or intolerance can feel overwhelming.
Our dietitan ensures that parents are armed with the knowledge and skills they need to manage an elimination diet while still providing a nutritionally adequate intake. Tailored dietary plans including allergen reintroduction may also be completed depending on the extent of diagnosed allergy or intolerances.
Gastrointestinal Concerns/Disorders
Gastrointestinal discomfort can be very distressing for kids, and for their parents, but how can you tell if a child’s bowel movements are “normal”? We recognise that when it comes to bowels it can be complex as there is a lot of variation in what is “normal” in children.
Our dietitan works closely with our paediatricians to ensure a comprehensive approach to issues such as chronic abdominal pain, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and coeliac disease. A thorough bowel, toileting and diet history is used to tailor our nutrition interventions to suit each individual child and their family.
Iron & Nutritional Deficiency
Iron deficiency in children is a common problem. It can occur at many levels, from a mild deficiency all the way to iron deficiency anaemia — a condition in which blood doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells. Untreated iron deficiency can affect a child's growth and development.
Our dietitan works with families to advise and develop an age-appropriate dietary treatment plan to help prevent and correct iron deficiencies including whole food sources and supplementation advice. Additional Nutritional Deficiency, such as B12, Vitamin D, Calcium etc, are also addressed and treated.
Growth Concerns
If you’re concerned that your child isn’t meeting their nutritional requirements, has feeding difficulties, growth concerns or been told their growth has dropped off, our paediatric dietitian can help you.
At Paeds Plus, our Paediatric Dietitian is very experienced with supporting children and their families overcome a variety of nutritional and growth concerns. Our dietitian works closely with GPs and paediatricians to explore the potential reasons for poor weight gain, then provide appropriate dietary & nutritional plans to assist children with achieving catch up growth.
Weight Management
Maintaining a healthy weight for height is important for children’s overall health. If your worried that your child's weight is higher than is healthy, or they are gaining weight too quickly, come and see us.
Our dietitian helps address this very emotional topic with parents, using positive language and practical strategies, providing a supportive plan of action. We use a family-based approach focusing on behaviour and dietary changes to living a healthy lifestyle, rather than achieving a number on the scales. Our dietitian works closely with children and their families to set realistic and achievable goals, implementing realistic dietary changes to help children “grow into” their weight, and achieving healthy lifestyle habits that will continue into the future.
ADHD Nutrition Support
Nutrition plays a vital role in your child's overall well-being, and it becomes even more significant when your child is on ADHD stimulant medication.
Managing nutrition alongside ADHD stimulant medication is a crucial aspect of your child's treatment plan.
Our Dietitian provides a holistic management optimising nutrition to enhance the benefits of medication and promote your child's overall health and well-being. Common concerns are addressed, including reduced appetite and weight loss which can be a side effect from ADHD medication. We can help your child maintain a healthy diet and growth, ensuring they receive the essential nutrients they need to thrive. ADHD nutritional support includes a dietetic assessment, identification of any nutritional imbalances, medication timing and effects on appetite, hunger management scales, and more. Our dietitian will assist you providing a tailored nutritional plan, strategies on meal timing, tips for boosting calories and nutritional requirements. Additional dietary requirements, food intolerances or sensory issues are also addressed.
What to Expect During a Dietetic Consultation
Your first appointment may take up to one hour to gain a thorough understanding of your child’s nutrition and feeding patterns. Depending on your child’s individual needs and concerns, a comprehensive nutritional assessment will be performed.
The paediatric dietitian will assess your child’s growth and development, medical and feeding history, dietary intake, mealtime behaviours and food preferences. If your child has specific medical conditions additional diagnostic tests may be reviewed or requested (blood tests, allergy tests, imaging etc.)
Based on this information, the paediatric dietitian will work with you to develop goals and strategies for supporting your child’s nutrition and eating behaviour. Our paediatric dietitian will work collaboratively with our multidisciplinary team developing a treatment plan for patients with specific medical conditions. Subsequent appointments will monitor your child’s progress with support, guidance and fine-tuning of the nutrition plan that has been developed for your child.
Our dietitian will support your child and family with practical advice, education and nutritional information. This may include developing tailored meal plan that considers your child’s growth and nutritional requirements, food preferences and medical needs. Further support may include feeding regimes, behaviour strategies, meal ideas and recipes, or supplement recommendations to help you support your child’s nutrition and feeding goals.
WHAT TO BRING TO YOUR APPOINTMENT
If possible, please bring the following items to your child's appointment:
🥕 Paeds Plus Dietetic Questionnaire
🥦 Your child's Health Record (Purple Book)
🍌 Recent weights / heights
🫐 Any letters from your GP or Specialists
🍓 Diagnostic or medical tests ( Blood test results)
🥬 A three day food record
🍍 Drink and a snack
Booking in Appointments
If you feel your child may benefit from our Dietetic & Nutrition clinic, we would love to help you.
No GP referrals are required for an appointment with our Allied Health Team.
To request an appointment, refer to our website and click on the referral/appointment link.