Professional Masterclass: Live Virtual Event

The PRIME
Feeding Method for babies

A full-day clinical masterclass for lactation consultants, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, craniosacral therapists, midwives, and paediatric clinicians. Learn The PRIME Feeding Method™ and leave with a structured approach you can use in your next session.

DateTuesday 22 September 2026
FormatLive Virtual, Full Day
PlacesLimited
Presented byKate & Justin Roche
Register your place, €550 22 September 2026, live virtual, places limited
The PRIME Feeding Method™ for babies
Why this course exists

The current model is fragmented.
The PRIME Feeding Method™ closes the gaps.

A lactation consultant addresses latch. A bodyworker addresses body tension. A speech and language therapist addresses oral motor function. A paediatrician addresses reflux. A physiotherapist achieves alignment. Each working within their own scope, with no single clinician holding the whole picture.

What tends to emerge is three consistent gaps. Feeding function is rarely observed. The infant's state is not optimised before clinical input. And the parent's nervous system is excluded from the treatment model entirely.

The PRIME Feeding Method™ is the clinical framework that closes all three. One coherent approach, applicable to any baby, across any feeding type, with or without a structural diagnosis.

The framework

Five elements. One coherent approach.

Each element is sequentially important and continuously present throughout the treatment episode. They are not independent: they interact, they influence each other, and they need to be held simultaneously even as you address each one in turn.

P
P: Presence
The caregiver's nervous system sets the tone of the feeding environment before a feed begins. It needs to be assessed, understood, and actively managed, not just in clinic, but before every feed at home.
R
R: Readiness
Feeding readiness is not something you wait for. It is something you create. The infant's nervous system state is assessed and optimised before every feed: this is the gateway to everything that follows.
I
I: Isoalign
Postural stability and midline alignment throughout the whole body create the stable base from which fine motor feeding movements become possible. The mouth cannot do its job well if the body it sits in is not well aligned.
M
M: Mapping
Feeding is a motor skill. Many babies who are struggling have adopted compensatory patterns that have become habitual. Mapping is about updating those patterns, but new motor learning only happens when the nervous system is open and receptive.
E
E: Embody
Integration and generalisation: the point at which the patterns established in practice begin to carry over into the functional feed. The baby is bringing what they have learned to the feed itself.

The goal of all five elements working together is for the baby to be PRIMED, D is for Default, a state where good feeding is no longer something they are working towards. It is simply what they do.

What you will leave with

A framework you can use in your next session.

The neurobiological foundation

A working clinical understanding of The Polyvagal Theory (Stephen Porges) and how it applies to every infant feeding session, not as theory but as the basis for every clinical decision you make.

Clinical assessment across all five elements

How to assess each PRIME element in the room with a family. What to look for, what it means, and what to do about it in the right sequence.

The ACE tools in detail

FACE, PACE, and RACE: the Adaptive Coordination Exercises that form the practical core of Mapping. When to use each, how to select between them, and how to transfer them to the family.

Isoalign assessment and technique

How to assess postural alignment across the whole infant body, not just the oral cavity, and the specific techniques for resolving compensatory patterns before beginning oral motor work.

The PRIMED outcome framework

What PRIMED means as a clinical goal, how to recognise it, and how to have the discharge conversation in a way that empowers families rather than creating dependency.

Live Q&A with Kate and Justin

Direct access to two of the leading clinicians in infant feeding rehabilitation. Bring your cases, your questions, and your clinical challenges.

Default is not the absence of difficulty but the presence of capacity

Kate Roche

Your presenters

Two decades of clinical practice.
One framework.

Kate Roche
Clinical Director & Co-Founder, NTTC
Chartered Physiotherapist, IBCLC, and Paediatric Feeding Therapist with over 30 years of clinical experience. Kate developed The PRIME Feeding Method™ from two decades of integrated clinical experience in the infant feeding space, incorporating physiotherapy, lactation, myofunctional therapy, and cranioSacral therapy. She is the originator of the Isoalign and ACE tool frameworks.
BSc PhysiotherapyMISCPMCSPIBCLC
Dr Justin Roche
Medical Director & Co-Founder, NTTC
Consultant Paediatrician and IBCLC with a specialist practice in infant feeding, oral restriction, and Functional Frenuloplasty. Justin brings the medical and surgical dimension to The PRIME Feeding Method™: bringing decades of experience as a Consultant Paediatrician including with the Early Intervention Team.
MB ChBFRCPCHFRCPIIBCLC
Secure your place

Secure your place.

Registration is open now for the live virtual masterclass on 22 September 2026.

Group booking, 3 or more places
10% off
For clinics or teams registering three or more people together.
Contact us to arrange
  • Full day live virtual masterclass, 22 September 2026
  • The complete PRIME Feeding Method™ clinical framework across all five elements
  • Handout and reference materials
  • Live Q&A with Kate and Justin throughout the day
  • Certificate of attendance for your CPD records
  • Access to course recordings for 30 days post-event
Email us to book as a group

View the full running order for the day

When places are sold, a waitlist will open for the next cohort.

Running order

The day, session by session.

Tuesday 22 September 2026, 9am to 5pm Irish time, live on Zoom. As this is our first time bringing the masterclass online, we ask everyone to keep their camera on throughout the teaching sessions and to have a microphone ready for the discussion sections.

9:00–9:1515 min
Welcome and Introduction to The PRIME Feeding Method
Kate Roche, Clinical Director & Co-Founder, NTTC
Housekeeping, and the clinical gap that led to the development of the framework.
9:15–9:3015 min
The Biomechanics of Feeding
Dr Justin Roche, Consultant Paediatrician
A medical foundation for the structural and functional demands of feeding, ahead of the framework session that follows.
9:30–11:0090 min
The PRIME Framework, in Full
Kate Roche
Presence, Readiness, Isoalign, Mapping (the ACE tools: FACE, PACE, and RACE), Embody, and the PRIMED outcome. Taught in full ahead of the live demonstrations that follow.
11:00–11:3030 min
Break
11:30–12:3060 min
Live Clinical Demonstration, One
Kate Roche
Framework assessment and technique demonstrated live with an infant present.
12:30–13:0030 min
Q&A: Demonstration One
Open floor for questions arising directly from the first demonstration.
13:00–14:0060 min
Lunch
14:00–15:0060 min
Live Clinical Demonstration, Two
Kate Roche
A second infant case, extending the framework application shown in the morning.
15:00–15:3030 min
Q&A: Demonstration Two
Open floor for questions arising directly from the second demonstration.
15:30–16:0030 min
Break
16:00–16:1515 min
Colic and Reflux: When Structural Restriction Is the Driver
Dr Justin Roche, Consultant Paediatrician
Recognising when colic and reflux presentations may be driven by air swallowing and disordered swallow mechanics, rather than being standalone diagnoses.
16:15–16:3015 min
Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy, Lactose Intolerance, and Other Differential Diagnoses
Dr Justin Roche, Consultant Paediatrician
Recognising these presentations, and other differentials, in the context of infant feeding difficulty.
16:30–17:0030 min
Closing Q&A and Round-Up
Final questions, including on the afternoon’s medical content, followed by a summary of the day.

Certificate of attendance: each participant receives a certificate confirming the hours attended live, up to 6 hours of teaching, for their own CPD records. This course is not formally CPD accredited. Recordings: all registered participants receive access to the recording for 30 days following the course, for personal use only.

Who this course is for

Any clinician who supports
infant feeding.

The PRIME Feeding Method™ is a feeding framework applicable to any baby, across any feeding type, with or without a structural diagnosis.

Anyone with clinical contact with families where feeding is challenging, with a desire to understand why, and what to do about it. This is for you.

Questions

Frequently asked

What platform will the course be delivered on?
Zoom. Each registered participant receives a personal joining link by email from Zoom. You do not need a paid Zoom account.
What time does the day run?
The day runs 9am to 5pm Irish time, with a lunch break and two shorter breaks. The full running order is shown on this page.
Will the session be recorded?
Yes. All registered participants will have access to the recordings for 30 days following the course. The recordings are for personal use only and may not be shared or redistributed.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. Each participant receives a certificate of attendance confirming the hours attended live, up to 6 hours of teaching, which you can use for your own CPD records. This course is not formally CPD accredited.
What if I cannot attend on the day?
We are unable to offer refunds within four weeks of the course date. If you are unable to attend, your registration may be transferred to a colleague or to a future cohort, subject to availability. Please contact us as early as possible.
Is there a group booking discount?
Yes. Clinics or teams booking three or more places receive 10% off the applicable price. Contact us directly at [email protected] to arrange a group booking.
Will there be further cohorts?
Yes. If this cohort sells out, a waitlist will open immediately for the next run. The online asynchronous version of the professional course will also be available in late 2026 for those who cannot attend a live date.

Coming Soon

Interested in attending in person?

We are planning an in-person cohort of The PRIME Feeding Method™ Masterclass for babies for early November 2026, based in Ireland.

Register your interest below and you will be the first to hear when dates and venue are confirmed.