I don't know if it's just my imagination but I feel as if Brian's self-limiting himself more and more when it comes to food lately. This has always been an issue, as it is with most individuals on the spectrum, but it's actually been a few days now that he hasn't eaten anything at dinner.
Sure he's eating breakfast- though the only things he eats at that meal is a banana, waffles, scrambled eggs (in a perfect circle only), or Erewhon's rice cereal.
He eats lunch and snacks everyday- again has to be a PB&J sandwich, mac n cheese, a banana, raisins, carrots, and/or a fruit leather.
So there isn't much variation in either meal.
Dinner time I try to only make one meal. You always hear to do that as a parent- I'm not a short-order cook and I don't really want to be treated like one. It's a good exposure to your child to eat/try different foods. I'm not sure though if I'm correct in following this rule with Brian, a child with autism.
Though I only make one meal I do sometimes make two variations of it. For instance last night we grilled up kielbasa, carrots, and potatoes. Josh & I eat it all mixed up together- but I separate it for the boys. Brian would only eat his kielbasa, even though he loves carrots! After I took some raw carrots out, he ate those, just wouldn't eat the ones that had been grilled a little.
Tonight we had pasta. I'm not a huge fan of GF pasta so I made two pastas, but the same topping- broccoli, cheese, chicken brothe, and a little lemon juice. I had a feeling Brian wouldn't touch the broccoli but he likes pasta, sometimes. He wouldnt' touch a thing.
I tried the old trick of "You eat one noodle you get one cracker" which has worked on occasion. Not tonight.
I tried making the pasta be a train, rarely works, but not tonight.
We took the noodles out and counted them and said their colors (they were tri-color noodles). I did this for close to half an hour. Then we started licking pieces. "Just put it on your tongue, like this". He did that. "Now let's bite it like a bear". Not at first, but after a few attempts, he ate one noodle!
We took the broccoli out and, as weird as this sounds, I got him to eat one little nibble by holding the stalk of the broccoli in between my teeth and he bit the other end. The things you will do for your children.
So for dinner my five-year-old son ate one noodle and one bite of broccoli. I don't know how he maintains his high energy level sometimes. Yet at the same time I am extremely proud and ecstatic over those two little morsels.
4 comments:
I hear ya on the food issues....mine don't have autism obviously but eating is still stressful. My husband is VERY picky and it is hard to make accommodations for him and yet tell the kids they have to eat whatever I give them.
Wow, this sounds eerily familiar. LoL Sorry, wasn't laughing at you by any means. It's nice to know that we aren't alone sometimes. Gabe was EXACTLY like this up until just over a year ago. He would eat Burger King chicken sandwiches, Taco Bell tacos, and doritos. That was it pretty much. It was HORRIBLE and so stressful. I couldn't understand why he would eat breaded chicken from BK but not the frozen Tyson ones that looked EXACTLY the same. We went to a feeding therapist who warned us that he would end up on a feeding tube if we forced him to try new things. Scary thought. We ended up deciding that he was eating so poorly that he would probably eventually end up on one if we didn't do something to fix it now. So we started offering him only new foods to eat and sat with him for hours telling him to take a bite, take a bite and then usually shoving the bite in his mouth until he chewed it up. He was really really mad at first, but he eventually figured out that he was no longer in charge and he was going to have to eat it whether he fought it or not. It may not have been the "nicest" way of doing it, but he will honestly eat any and everything we ask him to now. It's amazing. I am so thankful that we did it even though it broke my heart to do at the time.
I definitely know your pain though. Hang in there and be strong. :)
Wow, this sounds eerily familiar. LoL Sorry, wasn't laughing at you by any means. It's nice to know that we aren't alone sometimes. Gabe was EXACTLY like this up until just over a year ago. He would eat Burger King chicken sandwiches, Taco Bell tacos, and doritos. That was it pretty much. It was HORRIBLE and so stressful. I couldn't understand why he would eat breaded chicken from BK but not the frozen Tyson ones that looked EXACTLY the same. We went to a feeding therapist who warned us that he would end up on a feeding tube if we forced him to try new things. Scary thought. We ended up deciding that he was eating so poorly that he would probably eventually end up on one if we didn't do something to fix it now. So we started offering him only new foods to eat and sat with him for hours telling him to take a bite, take a bite and then usually shoving the bite in his mouth until he chewed it up. He was really really mad at first, but he eventually figured out that he was no longer in charge and he was going to have to eat it whether he fought it or not. It may not have been the "nicest" way of doing it, but he will honestly eat any and everything we ask him to now. It's amazing. I am so thankful that we did it even though it broke my heart to do at the time.
I definitely know your pain though. Hang in there and be strong. :)
I hear ya on the food issues....mine don't have autism obviously but eating is still stressful. My husband is VERY picky and it is hard to make accommodations for him and yet tell the kids they have to eat whatever I give them.
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