Picky Eater...looking for a New Strategy

Google Kay Toomey's picky eater protocol SOS (Sensory, Oral, Sequential). I think there are therapists at the Abilities Center trained in that protocol. Horizons DRC (www.horizonsdrc.com) near Grand Rapids is trained in it and they are WORTH THE DRIVE. Read about RDI, too.

His issues MAY INDEED be sensory.

His issues MAY be due to needing to have CONTROL. Kids with autism are known for their rigidity, not their flexibility.

Read "The Fabric of Autism," by Judith Bluestone

He may be self limiting to stay "high". Individuals on the autism spectrum may be missing an enzyme to digest gluten and casein. Gluten and casein not properly broken down resembles an opiate -- and kids will self limit, eating mostly gluten and casein, to maintain that "high". It's similar to morphine.

Just a quick thought... would he be interested in smoothies? we have a ton of luck of getting fruits and an occasional veggie in by way of smoothies--need a good blender for sure. My daughter has a special smoothie glass and straw and my otherwise picky eater, loves smoothies or frozen banana 'ice cream'. She thinks it is the best treat and i smile knowing she is eating a variety of fruits every day. Frozen fruit makes the best smoothies--and is great for avoiding fresh fruit waste (peel the banana/kiwi and freeze). I have gotten so good at smoothies that i mix it up, trying something different all the time, and use everything from bananas/oranges/strawberries/bluberries/raspberries/cherries/pinneapple/apple; peaches--with some yogurt and a tad bit of cranberry juice if it needs thinning. If your son likes ice cream than i suspect this might work for you. Everyone now and again i sneak in a few spinach leaves! I bought a 'Vita Mix' blender a few years ago and although it was a major investment/$$$, we use it every day and it comes with a great recipe book with a whole chapter on drinks, juices and smoothies.
I also have to recommend the 'Deceptively Delicious' or 'Sneaky Chef' books--those have been wonderful for those of us who want to get our kids (or husbands!) to eat some veggies without the fights or bribery. There is a wonderful chocolate chip pancake recipe that has spinach puree and wheat germ in it--and we all love it! We even stick sweet potato and carrot puree in our regular pancake mix. So while i still serve up fresh veggies, i also sneak in a bunch so I feel good even when they pass on the veggies.

anyways, i think we all struggle to try and feed our family foods that are nutritious. It is important--we just cannot give up and let them eat chips and cake--not with the short and long term effects. The hardest thing is that we can't force our kids to like the things that are good for them--for some reason they seem to have natural aversions to healthy things... We can only hope that over time, they will continue to try as their tastes may change. In the meantime, hide them and sneak them in at every opportunity! Remember every mouthful of veggies is a victory to be celebrated.

And it does take time to adopt to such tactics. For us it has been a process over a couple of years, slowly becoming more educated and eventually eliminating the nutritiously void foods all together. We have gone organic as much as possibly and i have fully embraced the challenge and responsibility of providing my family with nutritious and healthful meals and snacks.

wow, my quick thought really turned into a whole lotta rambling... good luck!

My daughter loves Natures Path Spinach Munchies... they are close to $4 for a box of 12 but they are soooo good for her. She thinks they are a treat and I think its a way to get more veggies into her.

I have grated carrots into mashed potatoes (the white carrots).... but honestly the less of a big deal I make of it the quicker she goes back to eating her old favorites.

I am typically a pretty relaxed mom; however, when you say that the list of what he eats is getting smaller and smaller that would be of concern since it demonstrates that he is not even moving sideways by maintaining his list, but actually losing some of the foods that he used to eat; I do believe that sensory issues and behaviors often go hand in hand; and yes there is the component of not being able to "make" your child eat; however, this is tricky because as the mom you feel that you cannot just let him not eat, which is true. You may want to start researching to find anoccupational or speech therapist who has extensive experience with feeding issues to evaluate your son and make recommendations - but sometimes it is hard to find.

There is a good book out there "Just Take A Bite" that you may want to have a look at-the author is Lori Ernsperger.

There is also a specialty feeding clinic in Dublin, Ohio that a friend was telling me about and you could look that up on line.

Kay Toomey is a psychologist who travels with a team of herself, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist and they do a seminar called "Picky Eater or Problem Feeder?" and they have some very good guidelines to follow. I might google her name and see what comes up. The good thing about this team is that they have the behavioral component represented as well as the sensory experts.

Good luck. I understand your concern.

My son who is also 5 is really picky. He thinks everything smells good but never wants to try it. He eats the same stuff over and over, right now it is Mac N Cheese. Everyday its the same routine, the only thing that stops me from worrying about his nutrition that he is getting is he drinks pediasure every morning. He is getting alot better at 5 but he is still picky. I think he has a texture issue. If it is to hard or to soft he thinks its gross. Even if what he is eating is actually really goood, like a cookie. He doesn't concentrate on the flavor just on how it feels in his mouth. I think he is growing out of this now but it has taken quite a while. I usually tell him if he tries something that he has never had before he can play his wii. This usually works, but this morning when I tried to get him to try a waffle he refused even after I told him he could play wii. So I told him no cartoons until he tried it and that worked. I didn't make him eat it after he tried it, because of course the piece I gave him was a little crunchy, my fault, so he didn't want anymore. But at least he tried it. Tommorrow I will have him eat two bites, this time softer bites. Enough tries and he will eventually like it. I did this with broccoli and WOW he loves that stuff now. Shocked me and his daddy. Just keep at it and think of other ways to get him to at least try things. Sometimes I will even tell him if he eats the whole thing, when I am sure he likes it, I will tell him we can get a prize from the toy store. That works everytime. The last time I did that I got away with a really cheap venus fly trap from the flower store we stopped at before the toy store. So really you don't have to spend alot just tell him he can have a prize and for all he knows it could be a book or something. Just make it fun for him to explore new things. I tried the waiting and not putting any pressure on him thing, but hes 5 now and he needs a push to get started. Since I started this he started eating alot more of a variety.

you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink.. you can offer a child a carrot but you cant make him eat it..

preschoolers are often very picky eaters. kids with developmental delays can be even more picky.

I really wouldnt worry about it..

you certainly cant win the battle and witha child with develpemtnal delays there are other bigger battles.

there is a good chance that as he matures he will try new foods..

My daughter has texture issues and will not eat food that doesnt feel good in her mouth.. I totally ignore it..

Boy, you have your hands full. There are different things you can try. First, try them raw (carrots, I mean)...if that does not work. Offer them with a dip of some kind. Next try them cooked, if not plain then try to candy them. (sorry to offer you something with sugar, but it is the carrot you are trying to get him to eat). Or try to serve them with peas or something, mixed.
You might be right about this being a sensory issue, thou.
If he has been dianosed with PDD-NOS, it might be his medications that are not making him eat....some of them turn off you brain and forgets to tell the body to eat. So trying foods with your not hungry (even though you have not eaten all day), just is not going to happen, no matter how you try to dress it up or change it.
If you don't mind me asking, were did you take your son to be diagnosed?
Looking for a New Doctor for my son. He was diagnose with Asperger's high functioning Autism, which is part of the PDD-NOS family. But food is not a problem with him. He will eat everything and with always try a "No thank you" bit (that is when you just put one bit full on their plate and they have to try it, if they like it great and if not, oh well, at least you tired...lol...that has been a rule in my home from the very firt thing, even company has to do it, that includes Adults too!)
My kids eat a bit of mashed potatoes every night for almost 5 years, before they would say they liked them. And now they eat it all the time.
Don't know if this helps you out any. But I wish you all the luck and the world (and a lot of patience to go with it.....it sounds like you have an up hill battle going on).
Good luck,
Lisa Jo
PS. I hope you can email me your Doctor's name or at least post it in your response to everyone.

my son is the same way! it is so hard sometimes! last night I cut up some turkey really really small and put it in his mac and cheese (which is all he eats well not all) and he saw it and picked it all out! he does the gaging thing and has vomited when I have mad him try stuff! I don't know what to do either! if u find some good answers can u let me know! please
thanks J.

K.,

My son is 7 and when he was in public school he had many classmates that would not eat any foods that looked different, they just refused to even try. I have seen a number of boys in his cub scout den throw a temper tantrum when offered new foods. I believe their behavior was more about parenting and where the child could gain a bit of control for himself.

My husband and I decided when our son was 4 that he had to try a little bit of every food on his plate and if he didn't like it he couldn't say it tastes icky, yucky, etc. We taught him to say "I don't care for this" in a polite tone of voice. A few times in the early stages of the process our son displayed temper tantrums and refusing to even try a new food - our tactic was to send him to bed without dinner - the next morning I made him an extra big breakfast and didn't say anything about the night before. When dinner came that evening and again he started to refuse a new food we reminded him of the consequences of his behavior. Within a couple of weeks he learned to try new things without making nasty faces or using impolite words. He even learned that he liked the new foods and started requesting specific recipes for dinner. His favorites are still pizza, hot dogs, and taco salad; but he also enjoys pork piccatta, chili, chicken parmigiana, etc.

Now, our son's grandparents love taking him to restaurants and out with their friends because he has wonderful manners, tries new things, and uses polite words when asked if he liked the foods.

I would definitely recommend reading the books the other mom suggested, because if your son is refusing to eat due to sensory issues then the trick we used with our son will most likely not work with yours. There may be other suggestions in the books that will work better with your son's temperament.

I just know our son, who is very stubborn, and we used this technique successfully. The catch though is we gave him other opportunities throughout the day to make decisions and take control. Picking out clothes to wear, choices within his chores (he picks the color of napkins each person receives when setting the table for dinner), which subject he wants to do first for homeschooling, etc.

Good luck with your son and let us know how it goes!

-C..

I also have children with a dx of PDD-NOS. I agree that there probably isn't too much that you can do, you can't force your child to eat. I have 1 son who gets really upset when certain foods are even on his plate, and he is allowed to move them off of his plate onto another plate. But I do think it is important to present them with the foods. I also have found that my boys eat very differently when around other kids-for example, they both have eaten foods that they would NEVER touch for me when they are at daycare and all the children sit and eat the same lunch together. Peer pressure is great! I definitely think it is a control issue. I do occasionally try to sneak foods in to their diet, but overall I don't stress too much about it. Good luck!

Hi K.
My first guess is your little man has a zodiac sign w/ horns, like my Aries. She's the same way with foods, but it is a texture thing. Her Grandma has a sensitive gag reflex, so she comes by the gagging on veggies legitimately. Other than the few meals I rely on I use smoothies to get nutrition in her.
We made a deal she could eat them or drink them.

Green Smoothie turned purple
Blend 1/2 organic spinach washed till smooth
drop in 5 frozen organic strawberries, blend smooth.
Drop in 1/2 c frozen blue berries
1/2 -1 banana

sometimes brown rice protein powder, or a dollop of yogurt
Water to blend to your kids preferred thickness

I have a vita mix blender now and this is my new recipe
1 organic apple cored and chunked
1/2 spinach same as before
8 org baby carrots
10 frozen straw berries
water & a little rice milk to blend
same sometimes brown rice protein powder, or a dollop of yogurt.

I also make organic pop corn w/ earth balance as the butter
and sprinkled w/ nutritional yeast for the vit's, and a little parm cheese & salt.

Good luck. And my big advice is don't get to stressed out that it effects his feelings around food. A. H

That is so hard to deal with because it's so worriesome when they aren't eating a good variety.

What has worked for us is to always be consistent about trying everything everytime. Sometimes this has been hard, but I never give in otherwise I know they won't take me seriously!

I found a really helpful article at www.nourishMD.com. I think it's called Loving Vegetables? in the Articles Section. They also have a great blog that has really good ideas too.

Good luck - I don't think you are making too much of it. It's really important.

Your son is on the Autistic Spectrum. This is par for the course...it IS a sensory issue. I'm apalled that his teachers and therapists don't believe that it is. MANY MANY kids on the spectrum "can't" eat fruits or veggies. My boys (one with Aspergers, one with Autism) have difficulty. My 4yr old Autistic son (high functioning) can't stand anything green on his plate or visibly mixed into food, he won't even look at a carrot. His fruit choices are applesauce and bananna. The majority of his diet is beige in color...Mac and Cheese (unless it is too orange or too white) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwhiches, crackers, chicken nuggets, and Pizza...that is all he has eaten since he was diagnosed. Recently he has added scrambled eggs to his diet. If I put veggies on his plate he won't eat anything else on it.

Kids on the spectrum can be just as turned off by color as they can by texture.