Impossibilty of good nutrition

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-13-2006
Impossibilty of good nutrition
6
Mon, 01-29-2007 - 3:43pm

I was reading the article that mamahh posted, about the importance of good

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-16-2006
Mon, 01-29-2007 - 4:46pm
Have you tried a flavor-less liquid vitamin supplement in juice?
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-29-2004
Mon, 01-29-2007 - 4:47pm

Evelyn, I can so understand you. My son, at 5 yrs, did not eat anything put swirly cooked pasta, nothing on it, bread with butter (forget the peanut and jam, still won't take it), Yo-Yo baby yogurt (if I get tough on him), plain rice (but some vegies like green beans, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage, but clearly not for lunch). Packing lunch was a nightmare. I would take rice and yogurt to school and pull him out separately and ask him to eat. Otherwise he will not touch, because other kids are looking. Then the scholl physcologist suggested ensure (he started drinking vanilla flavor, ofcourse even the bottle shouldn't change by the manufacturer).

Then I talked to OT as it was getting extremely stressful and the million $ question, what to feed Sravan today? SHe helped me a bit. Trained him to eat banana, strawberry, mango, watermelon, grapes, veggie burger sandwich, cheese sandwich and eggs. Boy that is a big expansion to our existing menu. He also started eating pancakes and waffles, cereal with no milk ofcourse.
With $120.00/visit we made some progress and ofcourse, he turned 9 and got older.

take care and hugs,
Anandhi

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Tue, 01-30-2007 - 10:42am

I think I'd try to teach him to swallow pills. That way you could give him an "adult" multi-vitamin which he probably needs. (Kyle takes Alive Whole Food Energizer by Nature's Way) You could also then give him digestive enzymes. I've heard a lot of kids will expand their diet after starting digestive enzymes. This is from the autism-enzyme list on teaching pill swallowing: There is a big benefit in just teaching you child to swallow
capsules. If he is
over 3, I would encourage you to do this just to make life easier for
everyone.
Kids as old as 18 months can swallow capsules, but I don't want to
get into a
potential choking issue. I taught my younger son by putting the
capsule or pill
on the back of his tongue, then had him take a drink of something,
then look
at the ceiling as he swallowed the drink. Gravity really takes over.
Now he
does 4 at a time. I have heard another parent say they tell the child
to put
their chin to their chest and this invokes a swallowing motion.

I've also heard people have good success with using tic tacs or some other small candy for teaching pill swallowing.

there are tons of ideas here: http://home.earthlink.net/~moriam/HOW_TO_buy_DMSA.html#swallow

Otherwise you could just decide you are going to get him to eat better no matter what and be prepared for a week of hell and don't give in.

Samantha

Samantha
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Tue, 01-30-2007 - 10:48am

I'm another whose kids were (still sort of are) terribly picky eaters. For years, the only variety in my oldest dd diet consisted of what shape her pasta was. She didn't even like typical kid fare (chicken nuggets, pizza, ice cream, etc). She couldn't stand any kind of flavors, everything had to be bland. It was a loooooong, slow process, but she almost eats normally now at 12yo. There are still a number of things she's not fond of, but she's now willing to try a much wider variety of foods. My 8yo isn't as advanced, but he's improving, too.

One thing that helped us with veggies, beside the kids getting older, was letting the kids help us garden. Even when we only had a couple of pots full of dirt with a few things growing in it, the kids were much more willing to try a veggie they had grown. They are particularly fond of underdeveloped peas (much more tender and sweet), and corn fresh off the stalk (not cooked; sweet & yummy). They ate a little baby spinach and a couple of other things, too. Dd went through a phase where she liked to eat grass, so I started growing alfalfa sprouts (keep the seeds moist in a jar in the kitchen, rinsing them a couple of times a day -- you don't even need soil), and she'd eat those. She had fun helping them grow, too. Freshly sprouted veggies often have a higher concentration of nutrients than the full grown variety anyway!

I'd also take the kids to a pick-it-yourself farm once a year. They loved to help harvest the food, and they'd even try a new food item here and there if they'd picked it. Even if they only tasted it that once, it was something I could build on. Since they'd at least tasted it once before, I could get them to taste it again a few weeks later. Even tho' they never actually ate a full serving's worth of any veggie for years, we were at least preparing them for the idea of it.

And, of course, watching what other kids ate at school was helpful, too, for occasionally inspiring my kids to try a new food item, even if it wasn't a veggie.

Mostly I think it's just a thing the kids have to grow out of, and we can encourage them along the way. It's terribly frustrating, but there IS potentially a light at the end of the tunnel!

Good luck!

Avatar for littleroses
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 01-30-2007 - 1:17pm

Is your son sensitive to smell? It may be hard to tell, he may not know himself. I am very sensitive to smell. My youngest dd mentions smells a lot so I think she is going to be like me in that regard. I recall when I was younger, being a picky eater. If something was in a food that out-balanced other foods, all I could taste was the one food. Especially if it was something strong, like bell peppers. And, when you're younger, maybe even carrots have a strong flavor. I especially detested mixed foods like casseroles and stuff. I was always very thin!

Hwife has a great idea though about participation. As I got older, my mom started to let me cook. I was responsible for making meals sometimes. To make meals for others was different than making a meal for myself. We lived in the Monterey area in CA around that time and there were very cheap vegetables. She'd take me in to these veg. shops and pick out whatever I wanted to cook with. These choices really began to expand my food choices. It was still slow, but even if I had to cook them for other people, I was exposed to cleaning the food, smelling the food, cooking the food. I would become accustomed to the food, even if I wasn't eating it myself at the time.

As an adult, having to cook every single !$&%$ meal really opened up a whole new world for me. I eat things now I wouldn't have touched with a 10 foot pole as a child.

So, the short term outlook may be bleak, but if he is so determined to not eat the food, there is no harm in him touching the food, washing the food,gardening the food etc. He may just feel safer knowing he doesn't have to eat it, even if he is expected to help prepare it. I know it's a PITA or he may not have the skills to do many kitchen things yet, but there could be token tasks you could give him. If he can't handle the pressure of eating, then prep work will be very un-intimidating. It may take a very long time, but he may eventually try a slice of whatever he's eating once or twice. He will lose his fear of it or become accustomed to its smell or texture.

Also, on the pills. My dd is still on syrup medication because she can't swallow pills. I have been practicing with her because i want her to eventually switch to a pill form of her epilepsy meds. I bought a pill splitter and at this stage I'm splitting M&M sized pills into 4ths. She has been successfully swallowing those. I will eventually try and have her swallow halfs. She's still working on the 4ths.

It's better to focus on what you can than to beat yourself up over what you cannot do.
Don't give up and don't feel badly about yourself. Try to think about all the wonderful things you are doing for them.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Tue, 01-30-2007 - 4:12pm

(((((((EVELYN))))))

Feel better, I know a few children who are older who had that limited a diet as your Nathan, and I am sure their parents were as unhappy about it as you are. They are still with us and growing and thriving, although Lord knows how, right?

Sara