Feeding Method
A clinical framework for infant feeding rehabilitation.
Developed by Kate Roche.
Five connected elements. Two decades of clinical practice. One structured approach you can apply from your next patient contact, across all disciplines and all feeding types.
Tie Talk Elite members receive 20% off contact us for code.
Who this is for
Built for clinicians who work with feeding
PRIME applies across disciplines. If you support infants and families in the first months of life, whatever your professional background, this framework gives you a structured clinical lens you can apply from your next patient contact.
The framework
What PRIME actually covers
PRIME is not a checklist. It is an integrated clinical framework addressing the full picture of what a successful feed requires, and why feeding continues to break down even after structural issues have been addressed.
The physiological state of the caregiver directly influences the infant's nervous system via co-regulation. Assessing and supporting caregiver regulation is not peripheral to feeding support: it is foundational. You will learn to incorporate this into your clinical reasoning without extending consultation time.
Readiness in the PRIME framework extends beyond recognising feeding cues. You will learn how to prepare the infant physiologically and behaviourally to be in an optimal state before a feed begins, applying specific techniques that bring the baby to a calm, organised readiness so that correct feeding technique can be established from the start of each feed, not after a period of disorganised or distressed feeding.
Whole-body alignment during feeding, specifically maintaining neutral spinal and cervical posture, is a clinically significant variable that is frequently overlooked. Isoalign gives you a precise, reproducible framework for assessing and correcting positioning across breast and bottle feeding, with clear rationale for why alignment affects the suck-swallow-breathe sequence.
The suck-swallow-breathe cycle is not fully mature at birth and is vulnerable to disruption from multiple variables. You will learn to observe and clinically interpret oral motor patterning during a live feed, identifying disorganisation, compensation strategies, and the specific factors most likely to be driving them.
The goal of the PRIME framework is not to give families a checklist but to develop their capacity to feed responsively and intuitively over time. This element addresses how clinicians can teach and support embodied learning: the practical strategies that move knowledge into consistent, confident practice for the families you work with.
Learning outcomes
What you will leave with
Applicable at your next consultation, across all feeding types and infant presentations.
A reliable method for observing a live feed and identifying which PRIME elements are contributing to the presenting concern.
Clear, accessible communication strategies that support parental confidence and clinical adherence.
A precise approach to whole-body positioning you can apply and teach across breastfeeding and bottle feeding contexts.
Practical tools for addressing caregiver state within your consultation, without significantly extending session time.
Three months access to all online preparatory materials and the session recording. Tie Talk Elite members retain access throughout their membership.
About the originator
Developed from two decades of practice
National Tongue Tie Centre
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Paediatric Feeding Therapist
Kate Roche is a Chartered Physiotherapist, IBCLC, and Paediatric Feeding Therapist, and the originator of the PRIME Feeding Method. She co-founded Ireland's National Tongue Tie Centre in 2007, and she developed the PRIME framework from the foundation of over 20 years experience in infant feeding and tongue tie rehabilitation.
Kate trained at the University of Liverpool and subsequently worked in acute paediatrics in Leeds and neonatal physiotherapy in Southampton before relocating to Ireland. Her clinical approach integrates physiotherapy-led rehabilitation with functional frenectomy and CO2 laser frenuloplasty, underpinned by the NTTC methodology: Release Restrictions, Retrain Function, Relieve Tension.
tongue tie practice
travel from
Investment
One enrolment. Three months access.
- Online recorded preparatory sessions
- In-person masterclass with live demonstration covering assessment, preparation and how PRIME is applied to the care of tongue tied infants
- Clinical case demonstration of the PRIME Feeding Method across assessment, preparation, surgery and rehabilitation
- Three months access to all online materials and recording
- Certificate of completion
Spaces are limited. Secure your place now to avoid disappointment.
Ready to bring PRIME into your practice?
Join Kate on 28 May for the first PRIME Feeding Method Clinical Masterclass.
Enrol now: โฌ495