A friend recently shared an ABC Nightline episode with me. (Click here to view the video.) Nightline follows a young girl who is an extremely picky eater. As I watched the video, I thought, “This is my son.” It broke my heart to think about how his feeding issues will impact his life as he grows older…he may miss out on things like attending birthday parties, going to summer camp, and eating at a restaurant with his girlfriend because he’s afraid he won’t be able to eat any of the food that’s being served.
Watching this video made me more determined than ever to help him overcome his feeding issues. I know that he will likely struggle with food his entire life, but I want to do everything I can to help him minimize the impact his feeding issues will have on his life in the future.
Everything's a Grasshopper is designed to educate and provide support to parents of selective eaters.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Our Struggle with Pediatric Feeding Issues
Since our son was born we tried to do all of the “right” things, including nursing him and making homemade organic baby food for him to eat. However, as his feeding therapists explained, even if you try to do all of the “right” things, it’s no guarantee that your child won’t have struggles.
Big Brother has always been very sensitive to the sight and texture of his food. He never transitioned from stage 2 baby food (smooth in texture) to stage 3 baby food (chunky in texture), let alone table food, and had extremely strong reactions when he tried to eat chunkier foods. When my husband and I would try to get him to eat chunky foods (pressuring him to eat foods doesn’t work by the way), he would gag and vomit - everywhere - so much so that we'd have to end the family meal...one of us would give him a bath, while the other cleaned the kitchen. Over the course of time, he significantly narrowed the number of foods he would eat.
At each of Big Brother's checkups, I’d voice my concerns to his doctor, but he'd just chalk it up to our son being a "picky eater" and that he “just doesn’t like” the foods that we would try to feed him, which was pretty much everything! By the time Big Brother was 19 months old he had limited himself to only eating wheat-free banana muffins, Beefsteak light rye toast with butter, Mott’s applesauce, and Yoplait strawberry yogurt. I knew there was a problem, I just didn’t know what.
I did some research online, read a few books (see below), and found a feeding therapy team in the area, but we needed a referral from his doctor to go. Armed with the research, I finally convinced his doctor that our son wasn’t “just picky.” Our doctor provided a referral for Big Brother to be evaluated by a feeding therapy team. A couple of notes:
We attended food therapy every other week for four months. The therapists were pleased with his progress and made recommendations for continuing his therapy at home. We periodically keep them apprised of Big Brother’s progress via email and they provide us with additional recommendations to continue his therapy. While Big Brother has increased the number of foods he’ll accept, his food repertoire is still very limited compared with other children. It is difficult to travel and go to a restaurant with him because he is very particular about what food he will eat.
The therapists advised that Big Brother’s feeding issues will be an ongoing struggle for us and will likely continue for years to come as there is no “quick fix.” I pray that since we recognized the issue so early in his life we can help him to view food in a positive way.
Some Books to Get Started:
Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet, by Cheri Fraker, Dr. Mark Fishbein, Sibyl Cox, Laura Walbert does a great job of comparing and contrasting picky eaters vs. problem eaters so you can determine if there is in fact an issue with your child. It also explains what to expect during food therapy sessions and introduces the concept of "Food Chaining."
The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, by Carol Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller explains sensory processing disorder and provides activities you can do with your child to help him learn about his environment.
Big Brother has always been very sensitive to the sight and texture of his food. He never transitioned from stage 2 baby food (smooth in texture) to stage 3 baby food (chunky in texture), let alone table food, and had extremely strong reactions when he tried to eat chunkier foods. When my husband and I would try to get him to eat chunky foods (pressuring him to eat foods doesn’t work by the way), he would gag and vomit - everywhere - so much so that we'd have to end the family meal...one of us would give him a bath, while the other cleaned the kitchen. Over the course of time, he significantly narrowed the number of foods he would eat.
At each of Big Brother's checkups, I’d voice my concerns to his doctor, but he'd just chalk it up to our son being a "picky eater" and that he “just doesn’t like” the foods that we would try to feed him, which was pretty much everything! By the time Big Brother was 19 months old he had limited himself to only eating wheat-free banana muffins, Beefsteak light rye toast with butter, Mott’s applesauce, and Yoplait strawberry yogurt. I knew there was a problem, I just didn’t know what.
I did some research online, read a few books (see below), and found a feeding therapy team in the area, but we needed a referral from his doctor to go. Armed with the research, I finally convinced his doctor that our son wasn’t “just picky.” Our doctor provided a referral for Big Brother to be evaluated by a feeding therapy team. A couple of notes:
- I encourage you to press your doctor if you feel he/she is downplaying an issue that concerns you; after all, you know your child better than the doctor – you are with your child every day and the doctor periodically sees your child for only a few minutes.
- Our doctor is a good physician and a very likeable person, which is why we still see him. However, Big Brother’s feeding therapists explained that our doctor’s response was a typical one since physicians often aren’t familiar with pediatric feeding disorders.
We attended food therapy every other week for four months. The therapists were pleased with his progress and made recommendations for continuing his therapy at home. We periodically keep them apprised of Big Brother’s progress via email and they provide us with additional recommendations to continue his therapy. While Big Brother has increased the number of foods he’ll accept, his food repertoire is still very limited compared with other children. It is difficult to travel and go to a restaurant with him because he is very particular about what food he will eat.
The therapists advised that Big Brother’s feeding issues will be an ongoing struggle for us and will likely continue for years to come as there is no “quick fix.” I pray that since we recognized the issue so early in his life we can help him to view food in a positive way.
Some Books to Get Started:
Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet, by Cheri Fraker, Dr. Mark Fishbein, Sibyl Cox, Laura Walbert does a great job of comparing and contrasting picky eaters vs. problem eaters so you can determine if there is in fact an issue with your child. It also explains what to expect during food therapy sessions and introduces the concept of "Food Chaining."
The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, by Carol Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller explains sensory processing disorder and provides activities you can do with your child to help him learn about his environment.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Why Everything's a Grasshopper?
Welcome to Everything's a Grasshopper! I'm the mom of two toddlers. - My daughter is 1 1/2 years old and loves food. She's adventurous and will eat anything you put in front of her. My 2 1/2 year old son on the other hand is an extremely picky eater. He has limited himself to eating only a few foods and is very reluctant to have new food on his plate, let alone to touch or eat it. After an unsuccessful search for an online support system for parents of extremely picky eaters and learning of other moms whose children are also struggling with food, I decided to create a blog of my own.
You may be wondering why this blog is called, "Everything's a Grasshopper." The name was inspired by an article I read on Marsha Dunn Klein's website entitled, "Everything is a Grasshopper." This article opened my eyes to what must be going through my son's mind as a new food is presented to him. In this article she recounts a trip to Mexico where her host family served grasshoppers for dinner. As you might imagine, she didn't immediately pop one in her mouth and start chewing! Rather, she explored this new "food" by looking at it, observing her host family eat it, smelling it, poking at it with her finger, and finally taking a small bite. Our kids also need the freedom to explore new foods without pressure to, "Just take a bite!". Click here to read her article.
I plan to periodically update the blog with information on books or articles that I've found to be helpful, links to recipes for picky eaters, updates on techniques that have or haven't worked for us, and ideas submitted by other parents of picky eaters. Note that I'm not a health care professional, just a mom who loves her two kids and wants to help them live happy and healthy lives. I'm eager to help others by sharing what I've learned and also learn from your experiences as well!
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
I just read this article by Cheri Fraker and thought I'd share. :)
http://www.wellsphere.com/children-s-health-article/how-to-do-food-chaining-therapy-everything-is-a-grasshopper-marsha-dunn-klein/957505
You may be wondering why this blog is called, "Everything's a Grasshopper." The name was inspired by an article I read on Marsha Dunn Klein's website entitled, "Everything is a Grasshopper." This article opened my eyes to what must be going through my son's mind as a new food is presented to him. In this article she recounts a trip to Mexico where her host family served grasshoppers for dinner. As you might imagine, she didn't immediately pop one in her mouth and start chewing! Rather, she explored this new "food" by looking at it, observing her host family eat it, smelling it, poking at it with her finger, and finally taking a small bite. Our kids also need the freedom to explore new foods without pressure to, "Just take a bite!". Click here to read her article.
I plan to periodically update the blog with information on books or articles that I've found to be helpful, links to recipes for picky eaters, updates on techniques that have or haven't worked for us, and ideas submitted by other parents of picky eaters. Note that I'm not a health care professional, just a mom who loves her two kids and wants to help them live happy and healthy lives. I'm eager to help others by sharing what I've learned and also learn from your experiences as well!
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
I just read this article by Cheri Fraker and thought I'd share. :)
http://www.wellsphere.com/children-s-health-article/how-to-do-food-chaining-therapy-everything-is-a-grasshopper-marsha-dunn-klein/957505
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