How To Become a Pediatric Dietitian: Private Practice
Good nutrition is essential for everyone. It’s so easy to get tunnel vision and only consider helping adults with their poor eating habits or nutritional goals, and as a dietitian you already know the importance of nutrition for kids! In fact, a lot of negative nutrition practices that we see in adults stem from childhood issues. Of course, I don’t need to tell you this as my colleague and a Registered Dietitian, but these facts are becoming widely known to the public as well and parents are being way more mindful of their child’s nutrition. This means in recent years there has been a SIGNIFICANT increase in demand for pediatric dietitians.
If you have a passion for working with children struggling with any kind of nutrition problem, you might consider specializing in pediatric nutrition! It can be incredibly rewarding to not only transform the lives of kids, but their whole families, too. Pediatric nutrition isn’t only essential it is also in-demand, which makes it a niche that can be both impactful and profitable in nature!
Today, I am going to break down how to become a pediatric dietitian. I will note that there is no singular path to get you from RD to pediatric RD, and there are lots of ways to achieve your goals. However, I wanted to give you some groundwork, and, most of all, I want to encourage you to pursue your dreams and if this is an area of interest for you than perhaps inspire you to open your own pediatric nutrition practice!
Here’s what you should do:
How To Become a Pediatric Dietitian: Private Practice
Step 1: Learn more about pediatric nutrition.
When you decide you want to be a pediatric dietitian, the best thing you can do is to research the field more. This is partly for learning, but mostly for dipping your toes into the realm of pediatric nutrition to see if it’s something you’re not only interested in, but genuinely passionate about. So, give yourself time to explore! Read books, research online, take nutrition courses, attend workshops, and find opportunities to work with kids. Pay attention and see if these opportunities with children light you up and get you excited about nutrition.
Step 2: Consider if any additional certification or programs would be right for you.
First of all, understand that your wealth of knowledge and your practical experience in nutrition is more than enough to pursue your dreams of being a pediatric dietitian. I think it’s so easy for us as RDs, after being chronically undervalued and underappreciated in our 9-5s, to limit ourselves and the possibilities of our future. Imposter syndrome is real! And, sometimes we lose sight of our worth and think we need a ton of additional training, education, and experience to pursue our dreams. Then, we continually move the mark, and never take the leap to dive into our dream career, afraid of our “lack.” Hear me, love: YOU LACK NOTHING! YOU CAN DO THIS!
So, you don’t need additional degrees, programs, or certifications, you’re already credentialed as a Registered Dietitian! But, if you think it’s right for you and your goals, go for it! The two most beneficial certifications are the Pediatric Nutrition Specialist (CSP) certification and the Certified Specialist in Pediatric Nutrition (CSP) certification. Research them to see if they’re right for you, but remember there’s no one path to your goals. You have everything you need to be a pediatric dietitian right now.
Step 3: Network and volunteer in the pediatric nutrition field.
Next, it’s time to network! Again, this is not to make you “qualified” to work in pediatric nutrition and dietetics. This is instead to help you find your pediatric nutrition niche, establish connections to grow your practice, and just start making an impact where it matters to you most! I recommend you network and volunteer at local hospitals, clinics, community organization, research institutions, and online platforms. Even just connecting with other pediatric dietitians on social media can be super helpful and motivating!
Step 4: Choose a pediatric dietitian niche.
Hopefully, now that you’ve gotten some exposure to the world of pediatric nutrition, determine your specialty area of focus. Most dietitians specialize to refine their skills and niching down is essential for any successful nutrition business, because it makes it much easier for your dreamy clients to find you and put their trust in your programs and services. If you specialize in improving the nutrition problems their children struggle with, of course those parents are going to believe you can help them!
Here are some pediatric dietitian niches you could look into:
Infant Nutrition
Childhood Obesity Prevention
Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Pediatric Diabetes Management
Food Allergies and Intolerances
Pediatric Sports Nutrition
Nutritional Support for Premature Infants
Feeding Difficulties and Picky Eating
Pediatric Renal Nutrition
Nutritional Management for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (e.g., Autism, ADHD)
Pediatric Cardiac Nutrition
Vegetarian and Vegan Diets for Children
Pediatric Oncology Nutrition
Pediatric Eating Disorders
Nutritional Support for Children with Genetic Disorders
Pediatric Food Sensory Issues
Pediatric Digestive Disorders (e.g., Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis)
Step 5: Build the foundation of your online private pediatric nutrition practice.
Once you’ve chosen your niche, it’s time to build your nutrition business. Yes, I am advocating you open your own online practice! Why? Private practices allow for you to experience ALL the benefits of being a Registered Dietitian, from the freedom to live anywhere to the ability to impact the dreamy clients that matter the most to you. No more being underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated at work!
Start with the basics of a business plan. It doesn’t need to be technical or fully realized, but explore the foundation of what you want to create. Start with things like your business name, your personalized approach, your marketing strategy, and your signature program. Just have fun with it and start thinking about how you’re going to turn your dream into a reality!
Step 6: Reinforce your business with the right licenses and support.
Once you get the basics, it’s time to launch! Again, there’s no need to wait for all the details to perfectly align before launching. You can do this as a dietitian side hustle in the beginning and figure things out as you go. However, you need to ensure your business is legitimate and has the right safeguards and support to succeed. Make sure you license and register your business with the state and insure your business appropriately. Plus, a few people in your corner could make a huge difference:
Legal Support (I recommend Sam Vander Wielen)
CPA/Accounting (I recommend Megan Naaz)
Website Expert (I recommend Jess Creatives)
Step 7: Develop a growth plan.
It’s time to start working with kids and building your client-base! There are lots of ways to get more clients and grow your private practice, so don’t just copy what someone else does or go with supposed trends. Identify YOUR personal strengths and invest your time there. No matter what you do, whether it’s posting videos on social media or encouraging referrals (or both!), keep a heart-centered mindset that is aligned with who you are. Your passion and value will be clear and be more than enough to help you find your dreamy clients!
Step 8: Collect feedback, testimonials, and referrals.
As you begin working with clients, collect feedback and testimonials. No matter what your clients say (or their parents, rather) the feedback is helpful. Good feedback is gold. It builds you up, affirms your calling, and often turns into referrals that draw in more clients. Constructive criticism is even equally valuable as it tells you what you need to refine in your business, fosters resiliency and it allows you to create the most impactful programming in your nutrition niche. It all makes you better!
Step 9: Hire a nutrition business coach.
Most RDs are EXPERTS in their field . . . but not experts in business. And, why would you be? We never learned this in school. There’s no shame in it at all! Most people starting their own business are in this predicament, which is why business coaches can be so VALUABLE! However, the world of dietetics and nutrition isn’t like any other industry out there, and the one-size-fits all standard approaches other coaches offer simply doesn’t work for our unique and beautiful profession.
That’s why you need a dietitian business coach like me. I am intimately familiar with the ins-and-outs of starting your own online nutrition practice, not only as an experienced coach, but as someone who built my own private practice! I can help you with every step of the process, so you can realize your dreams of being a pediatric dietitian. There are lots of reasons to hire a nutrition business coach, so if you’re ready to bring your dreams to life I would love to invite you to apply to work with me and let’s do this together!
Step 10: Commit to your dreams and your business.
As you see your business grow, take the step to go full time. You can talk with your dietitian business coach about when the best time is, but you’ll probably feel when your side hustle is big enough to support you! Here is where you leave your 9-5 and fully commit to your own pediatric private practice!
You can become a pediatric dietitian with your knowledge, your experience, and just a little support!
RDs are naturally compassionate, attentive, and loving, making them particularly well-suited to help children. If you dream of working with kids and changing their lives using nutrition, become a pediatric dietitian.
You have the tools to get started, and with the help of a dietitian business coach like me, we can take this thing from a future dream and make it your present reality. Let’s do this! The world needs your unique approach, passion, and drive!