Mealtime Hell
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| Mon, 12-05-2005 - 12:21am |
Hi all,
I was just wondering if any of you had any suggestions for me about my dd(17 months) who is still eating gerber jar food. Her OT is working on this every week and we have started an intensive food plan to get her to try new foods.She is tactile defensive but I'm not sure if it is a taste or feel problem or if she has oral motor problems and her OT can't figure it out either. The only thing she will eat are gerber foods, bananas,pizza,french fries and dry cereal.I think the problem is texture because she seems to prefer soft foods. Jake went through this stage for a long time but didn't start to refuse to try new foods until much later, around age 2. He is undersensitive in his mouth and stuffs it to the brim but recently has begun to gag and throw up when he stuffs it too much. His OT said that this is a good sign because she thinks he is becoming more aware of what he has in his mouth. He also is starting to try more new foods which is great.If you had similar problems with your little ones what worked for you?
Another question I had about Ella is her near constant crying and sreaming. I know toddlers get frustrated and have tantrums but she is constantly upset and easily frustrated by the smallest things e.g if she's stacking blocks and one falls down she almost loses it. Recently she has started to lash out at Jake if he takes something from her or just if he gets to close to her. I know some of this is sensory related and just typical toddler stuff but she's just so easily annoyed. She really responds well to music and it seems to calm her so I play lots of tapes for her to dance and sing to.(LOL)What were your kids temperments like around this age. She was a really calm baby and hardly cryed until around her first birthday but since then I just don't know what's causing her so much distress.Any ideas?
Teresa

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Can toddlers have PMS? lol...
i don't have any suggestions that may be useful to you. but i wanted to share that i have a 31 months old (pdd) who still eats gerber fruit. he eats a fair variety of most things, but fruits and vegetable he just won't do. i can mash a banana until it's mush, he won't touch it. but a gerber jar of it, he will inhale. he does have low tone in his mouth which we are addressing. that along with a sensory aversion is probably his issue. we are working on it, but in the meantime--stage 3 is pretty expensive!!
gl, valerie
We don't have the food issue -- typical pickiness, but nothing severe -- but boy can I relate to the dramatics! Unlike your DD, Sylvia was *always* a dramatic baby from the get-go -- colicky, sensitive -- but things really intensified in her second year. We had some horrible playgroup experiences where she would absolutely fall apart because someone would be playing with a toy she wanted and she'd either all apart or push them away or scream at them. Like Ella, Sylvia has a really low tolerance for frustration, still does at nearly age 4. At Ella's age, she would fall apart into a screaming fit if she was trying to build a block tower and it fell over, or if she couldn't fit a shape into her shape sorter, or whatever. It was really, really difficult, and we felt like we were walking on eggshells contantly. Things got much worse around age 2, and we pretty much had to stop going places where she'd be around lots of other children, because she just couldn't handle the stimulation, the frustration, etc. But things got better as she got closer to age 3, and at age 3.5 we saw a real leap forward. She still has her moments when she's tired or hungry or otherwise cranky when she bursts into tears the moment things aren't working out for her, but she's *so* much better at handling frustration, sharing, taking turns, etc. I think that honestly time was a big factor for her -- we just waited it out. We also tried not to put her in situations that we knew would be extraordinarily difficult for her, and made sure that all her toys were appropriate to her stage of development. (Some friends gave her a challenging puzzle at age 2, and we literally hid the thing until we thought she'd be better able to do it.) But we also have always encouraged her, with LOTS of hand-holding and support, to at least try to do things herself. DH and I used to sing a little jingle: "Try, try, try again!" and we'd actually hear Sylvia repeating that jingle, through her tears, as she tried to build a block tower!
This age was *really* tough for us with Sylvia, but it should get better as Ella gets older...
Jennifer
UGH, I feel your pain.
My DD was on babyfood until she was 22 months old and then I finally said, the babyfood is going bye-bye and she will eat what we give her if she is hungry.
Now she is almost four and still will only eat maybe 10-15 items and that's it.
I'm sorry I don't have any advice. I've been battling this forever. I hope the OT can help you. I didn't have an OT helping us with food issues.
(((hugs)))
~Visit my Blog~
Under the Pink
Hi,
First, on the food issue, looking at your list I don't think it is a texture issue per se. I used to work with lots of kids with food issues and one trick was trying to figure out if there was some pattern to thier food preferences. The foods you list, baby food, bananas, pizza, french fries and dry cereal, actually have quite a variety of texture, chewy (pizza) crunchy (dry cereal and fries depending) and soft (baby food).
What kind of baby food is it? Is she picky about that or will she eat any baby food. From the other things on the list I see 2 similarities. 1- Most (though not all) are salt in taste. and 2- color- most are variations of white or yellow. Pizza is the only one that might not be but it is if it is just cheese and that is what you see. So is the crust.
The other possibility is shape if you cut everything for her. does she require everything in small pieces and do you cut it up? I did this with Cait. She would only eat certain size and shape stuff, so she ate veggies but they were peas, corn and cut up green beans. I think because I had read to cut finger food into pea size in one of those books that I created a monster, lol.
I would be interested in seeing what baby foods are preferred to see if they go into either of those categories mainly.
To deal with eating problems the easiest thing to do is "shaping" which is basically taking small baby steps to shape her from her current behavior to what you want. So figure out which is the reason she likes those foods then choose foods very similar and slowly make changes without her noticing. Offer the new foods in the same place and such as other meals but make it a time when she is most likely to be successful at something new. Like perhaps long enough after her next meal that she might be getting snacky, but not when she is starving. KWIM? THen choose her favorite thing from that list of preferred foods and offer something very similar in a similar manner.
Last, considering family history and your concerns about her (I know you have mentioned being concerned fairly frequently), it may be prudent to get a referral from insurance to evaluate for autism spectrum stuff just to be sure.
((HUGS)))
Renee
You have a knack for this. I would have never seen the color connection! We are still on the 3rd foods but guess what? She will only eat the 3rd foods that are yellow in color. Bingo!
As far as the behavior goes, I'm am having her evaluated by the therapist with E.I that has worked with Jake the longest.She runs a pre-school for children with Autism and I really value her opinion. She seems to be able to pick up on the little signs that sometimes get overlooked by docs who just look at the big picture.
Teresa
Teresa,
I've done lots of things on Paula's list...and most have worked with Nathan. Growing our own vegetables, sparked an interest in carrots...he liked being Bugs Bunny! (although he won't eat carrots from the store. LOL) And helping in the kitchen has helped with a couple of foods too. He can "see" what I'm doing and can "smell" it too!! I don't pressure Nathan to eat things. I do introduce new food to him occasionally, and let him spit it out if he doesn't like it. Of course, this was when he got old enough to understand that he did have the "option" to spit it out. When he was younger and we were still working on his speech, it was such a fight!!! I let him eat what he wanted because I was exhausted from cleaning up vomit!!! I think that's when I learned to pick my battles with him!! LOL
michelle
hehehe, not so much knack as training by some really great people. In my past life I was an early intervention ABA therapist. (pre-kids). In fact I worked residential prior to that and prior to Cait's birth and switched to EI when Cait was not quite 3. When I saw the similarities between her and kids I was working with is when I made the connection, lol.
Val, same tips as I gave Theresa but Austin is older right? (Pushing 3) How would he do with putting some contingency or reinforcer on trying new foods?
First, I will say they have to put something in those baby food jars because I have made homemade baby food and they don't taste the same. I think homemade tastes better but to kids who don't "do" change they won't, lol. I might just make the switch to homemade by skipping the puree part all together. He will eat other finger foods right? What kind?
I would likely try a more behavioral approach with Austin since he is older and has been in therapy and kind of knows how that goes, lol. So set it up the same way where eating would be cool but he isn't starving. Then set up an "if" "then" kind of thing if he can do that. Often I will use pecs pictures for that. "If green bean, then ....". Pick a fruit or veggie you think he will most likely be successful with. (for instance, if he was into bland colors and sweet things, I would go for a peeled slice of apple) What ever his favorite reinforcer is. Pair it with lots of verbal praise so eventually you can wean out the other reinforcer and replace with just praise. Only put out one piece and reinforce after one piece. Slowly add more pieces as he has success.
What are austin's preferred foods adn I will try to make a list of others to try.
Theresa, if she is into the yellows then i would start there finding other yellow or white foods. Like I mentioned to val, perhaps a piece of peeled apple. At her age she may not yet understand an "If" "then" kind of thing so you may just want to let her play with it and model mommy eating it. (Have some yourself for real). make a big deal if she eats it and same thing if you can get your older son to eat some make a huge deal out of his doing it. Then slowly move onto different colors. The first thing is to get kids OK with trying new things. New things are not evil, LOL!
Val, if Austin doesn't understand "if" "thens" stuff or if you think it will cause a meltdown or a problem at all try what I told Theresa.
My kids are still picky eaters. For the most part they have a varied healthy diet though now. There are some quirks to it, but I don't mind that. I want them to have a healthy diet I really don't care if Cait hates condiments and Mike is freaked out by meat that came from something with feathers. But we still do the positive reinforcement for trying new things. If I make something new it is offered but they don't have to try it. If they do they earn marbles (our home reinforcement program). If they like it they can have as much as they want. If they don't they don't have to finish it.
Currently, Cait will eat shrimp, salmon, edamame, all kinds of stuff I NEVER thought she would eat and she LOVES those. There are also plenty of things she won't eat, lol. But we keep trying. Heck, pretty soon I think we could actually go out to eat somewhere that doesn't serve hamburgers or pizza.
Renee
Really interesting thread! My 10 yr ds is ADHD and food allergies, regular 6yr dd, and undiagnosed 34mos ds - Jonah (speech delay awaiting autism assessment)
I had actually come across the idea that sometimes kids (esp on the spectrum kids) get 'stuck' on food of a certain colour.... if that's the case with Jonah it's beige... but he has a few exceptions.. will eat raw carrots and raw fresh peas... can't remember how the carrots started but he started eating peas fresh from the garden.. we now make a special trip to the fresh veggies market for his peas and cut up apple... he eats dry cereal, crackers, bread (toast/bagels with marg and honey), yoghurt (strong preference for particular brand), just started sunflower seeds/peanuts/pistachios, raisins and will only drink juice... oh, but candy in any colour or flavour is great! His only 'meals' are grilled cheese sandwich - no crusts, french fries, or nachos with grated cheddar. So maybe beige with a touch of orange allowed??
It's driving me crazy!!!! Every mealtime is hell. 10 yr Adhd son won't sit if he's not drugged and won't eat if he is. Often sit there for 30+ min with kids telling them to eat... begging... threatening.... ordering... waiting.... bribing... re-heating... :( And then, 30 min later, they're in the pantry stealing what they do want to eat. :(
On the plus side, I took a banana/choc chip muffin recipe and added some healthier ingredients and reduced the sugar... lo! a healthy cookie!! Eat as many as you want!
Well, my guess (and just a guess) is that these guys have some definite preferences. Many kids with ASD's will be more sensitive to MANY sensory stimulation including taste. Now this is only a guess, but I am thinking that some of these foods are also bland or have a certain taste that was ok. Then foods that "looked" like the non offending foods.
Kids with ASD have over stimulating stuff hitting them every day. They can't communicate this effectively adn feel the need to in some way control thier environment and overwhelming stimulus. Eating is often one way they can do that.
I think many of these things start as a food or texture sensitivity. Some sort of sensory sensitivity and then it morphs into more an autism problem where it is more than just the taste or texture. It is also resistence to change and the need to control thier out of control environment.
So to get them eating is a matter of somehow making new things and some change ok. Often once they are ok with at least trying new things then they will expand thier repetoire pretty quick.
My kids are still food sensitive and picky, but not nearly what they were. I will tell you when they are stressed this is one of the first areas affected. Mike turns into a vegetarian and Cait wants to eat only those bland yellow foods. Our plain Jane, lol. Which is why she digs fish so much. She never would try it before, but once we got to a place where she would try new foods again (recently) she fell in love.
It is a long road but healthy eating is really important. Especially for ASD kids. There is lots of evidence that ASD kids don't process foods properly in one way or another. There are lots of kids on special diets which is nearly impossible if you child is a really picky eater. My kids are on an organic very low sugar diet. It has helped us all tremendously because it is easier to process the foods. We don't have the sugar crashes we used to have. We had Mike tested numerous times for diabetes because he acted like a diabetic. He doesn't anymore on this diet.
I would not suggest teh "they will eat if they are hungry" approach. Doesn't work with an ASD kid. They will just as likely starve themselves as they will take the new offending food.
Renee
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