“Gio just try it, one bite please” as we try to persuade him to eat a new side. “No!” he says shaking his head. I grab the spoon and eat some. I say “yummy” and stare at him with a big smile on my face. I hope he sees how good it is and will want to try it himself.
Hey, if he loves mac and cheese and fries why wouldn’t he like cheesy potatoes? It’s the perfect combo! I slide the plate back over in hopes that he will give it a try. He stares down at the plate from all angles as if I set a trap in it. He reaches for the spoon and my body tenses with excitement. I hope he doesn’t notice otherwise he might change his mind; he has done this before. He grabs the spoon and scoops up some of the potatoes. My eyes get big and his dad signals me to calm down. Gio smiles and raises the spoon to his mouth. Right when he opens his mouth his dad says “just try…”
Gio quickly turns, like a ninja, and forces the spoon into his dads’ mouth. His dad unaware of his master plan tries to swallow but chokes on the food. At this point, I am leaned over holding my stomach laughing so hard. Gio was so smooth with it neither one of us saw what was coming. Gio laughs, I’m trying to hold it in, and his dad gives him the look like really Gio? I am pretty sure he got a kick out of tricking us. Once the laughing (mainly by me) stops his dad tells him to try it. Gio puts the spoon down and says, “no thank you.” We let him know that he must learn to try different foods at one point or another.
There are certain foods that you can feed our son, no questions asked, but anything new he doesn’t like to try. You almost have to force it in his mouth or bribe him with a treat. He is a very picky eater and that is one of the many challenges of SPD. When we decide to go out to eat, we look at the menu first. We make sure the restaurant has at least one dish on there that he will eat otherwise we don’t go. Those places get saved for our date nights. Sometimes if he is in a good mood, he might try something new.
Mixing foods together…oh don’t even think about it. The same goes with letting foods touch on the plate those are big no no’s in his book. When we discussed it with his pediatrician, the doctor said it was normal for sensory kids. He said as long as he is getting his nutrients and growing then he would be fine. He encourages us to keep trying to feed him different foods. Don’t force them to eat what you want them too. This will only cause your child to have a meltdown, which in turn will upset you. If you are concerned about your child’s diet, I encourage you to talk to your pediatrician. Our doctor reassured us that we were doing the right thing, and to be patient with him.
The saying goes you are what you eat. Well Gio is 80% fruit and 20% pasta. Do you have a picky eater? How are your child’s eating habits?