Find your next step

You do not need to know the diagnosis before choosing a safe next step. Select the concern that is closest to what you are seeing.

Something may be urgent

Go to red flags and urgent help.

Food range or intake is shrinking

Start with nutrition, hydration, growth, and deficiency monitoring, then use who can help and prepare for care.

Mealtimes are distressed or fear-driven

Read anxiety, distress, and overlapping conditions and helping a child explore new foods. Stop home strategies if distress or intake worsens.

Eating may be painful

Read when eating hurts and consider primary-care assessment before working on food variety.

Chewing, swallowing, coughing, or choking is a concern

Read who can help and seek feeding/swallowing assessment. Do not experiment with unfamiliar textures or sizes when safety is uncertain.

ADHD treatment may affect appetite or sleep

Use medication, appetite, growth, and sleep to prepare questions for the prescriber. Do not change treatment independently.

School, lunch, or transitions are the main problem

Read school and daily life and use the printable worksheets.

I need help finding a clinician or study

Use who can help, official resources, additional resources, and clinical-trial navigation.

I am waiting for care

If it is manageable, a caregiver can keep the existing care plan, accepted foods, and usual fluids in place; do not introduce treatment changes from a webpage. Write down only what changed, the first person to contact, questions to ask, who will follow up, and when. A child or young person may choose to add: “What would you like the care team to understand?” The purpose is to organize a future conversation—not monitor or score the child. This optional, low-burden checklist is for caregivers waiting for a pediatric or school conversation and needs no special preparation. Stop if it increases conflict or distress, becomes burdensome, or delays care. Contact the care team promptly if intake, hydration, growth, swallowing, or distress worsens; use red flags and urgent help if the situation may be urgent.

For a printable, see the care-coordination sheet.