Picky Eaters

Okay today I am going to talk about picky eaters and sensory issues with food. So in our family of 4 we have two great eaters my oldest son and my youngest son they both will eat anything you put in front of them. Then we have two picky eaters myself and my middle son Adian. Now for me I have gotten a lot better since I've gotten older, as a child I was extremely picky and my parents not knowing that I had autism or sensory processing disorder did the whole either eat what we give you or you don't eat. After a few times of me choosing to not eat it got to the point where my mom finally started adjusting meals for me. I would eat the same main thing that the rest of the family ate but it would be adjusted a little bit. lasagna for instance I had a big problem with the lasagna noodles the texture of them I just could not handle so instead of giving me it like everybody else she would take everything that you put in the lasagna and put some of it separate and give that to me without the noodles so it was basically lasagna with no noodles and it worked. that's the kind of things we ended up doing of course  she also had to adjust for my food allergies because I do have a lot of food allergies. Now we're working on getting Adian to eat more things and he does not have food allergies like I do at least none that we found so far so that makes it a little easier but he very much has the sensory issues.  Right now he eats a lot of meats and chips and he really won't eat any fruits or vegetables. He needs those in his diet and I have been trying for a long time to get those in his diet. I was at a loss.  So we finally went to a dietitian and the dietitian shared some tips and tricks with me that we have started using.  I'm going to share those with you today. 

The first tip I'm going to share with you is before you have them try a new food brush their teeth brush their cheeks and their tongue with just water. By doing this it helps desensitize it a little bit.  

The next thing is the reward. Basically you have them try a new food and every time they do they get some kind of reward. now I know there's a plate that they make somewhere out there now that’s like a game board and they have to take so many bites to get to the finish line which is like a box you can lift up and there is a  surprise under it. Now I don't have one of these plates because they're expensive, but what we have done is because they have to try a food several times take several bites in order to really know if they like it. In order to get him to take more than just one really really small bite and not even taste it. What I've done is for every bite he takes up to 4 bites he gets 25 cents so he has the potential to earn $1 for every new food he tries. In doing this we've already discovered a couple of new foods that he will eat. Some that he will tolerate and he'll eat sometimes but doesn't really like so it's not an all the time and then we discovered some that he won't eat at all but he did give them all a fair chance and tried at least four bites of every one. Since he wants that money he's trying to earn enough to get himself a video game so that was a very good motivator for him. 

Another tip that our dietician shared with us was too allow them to touch their food get their hands on it because sometimes by exploring a new food with the tactile senses makes it a little easier for them to be able to handle it with the oral.  

The final tip the dietician shared with us was to use freezer pops before they try new food have them eat a half of freezer proper even a whole one because the cold will numb their mouth so it makes it easier to tolerate. We’ve had some success with this one as well.  

Another thing that has helped us is since I have issues with food as well I started a competition with my son that whoever tries the most new foods, and really tries them, each month will get a prize. This has motivated him to try even more since people naturally have a competitive nature and a desire to win. Also sine he sees me struggling to try new things just like him it has helped him to know that I truly understand how hard it is for him. so that's just a few tips on how to get yours sensory child and picky eaters to eat a little better now. I did find a website that has all these tips and more that you can find here.