Table 2.

Description of four major themes and subthemes in families’ experiences of feeding in CHI.

Theme	Medical management disrupts feeding	Feeding aversion and delayed oral development	Feeding driven by glycaemic control	Psychosocial impact on families
Theme description	This theme reflects how parents view and manage feeding as a critical part of their child’s medical care, requiring careful planning to maintain glucose stability.	This theme captures how CHI-related feeding difficulties interfere with the child’s normal feeding development, often leading to food refusal or aversion.	This theme highlights the emotional and practical strain on parents who must maintain constant vigilance to manage their child’s feeding and prevent hypoglycaemic episodes.	This theme reflects how feeding challenges affect family routines, daily activities, and social interactions, often limiting normal participation for both child and family.
Subtheme 1	Early disruption to feeding establishment	Delayed feeding milestones	Feeding to maintain blood glucose	Emotional burden and parental distress
Subtheme 2	Negative oral experiences from medical interventions	Oral aversion and food refusal	Fear of hypoglycaemia influencing feeding	Restrictions on family and social life
Subtheme 3	Treatment-related effects on feeding	Dependence on enteral feeding	Balancing oral intake with nutritional needs	Constant vigilance and caregiver burden
Subtheme 4	Feeding driven by medical requirements	Inconsistent feeding progression	Feeding becoming a clinical task	Need for specialist support and education