Life Skill #2 Feeding And Eating Challenges

This seems like it should be so easy.  I love to eat.  What could be so hard about getting my child to eat food?  If anyone has had a child who doesn’t want to eat much, then this is a question that’s been contemplated many times?  It can be such a battle but how is the battle solved?

Sensory issues create a lot of difficulty with eating.  I found that the first bite was the most difficult one.  I also have found that children who are not exposed to various foods will not readily try them.  I worked at this with my son.  As an infant he didn’t want to try any solid food.  I often played games with him to get him to open up his mouth.  I buzzed like a bee until he would open his mouth.  He was often shocked as I put the spoon in his mouth.  He screamed and would not shut his mouth and food would pour out onto the high chair.  I figured out if I put a bottle in his mouth right after I put the spoon of food there, he would start sucking on the bottle and swallow the food.  It wasn’t long until he was eating all kinds of food.

I have helped a family administer a feeding program.  The child would start with 2-3 foods on his plate.  The child was asked to eat all the food before getting up or getting seconds of a favorite food.  This often took up to an hour.  The child learned to eat a variety of foods and understood boundaries.  It was not easy but it did teach the children to try foods and that they were expected to eat enough to make it to the next meal without snacks.

Another issue that comes up is preferred and non-preferred tastes, textures and smells of food.  This will affect the willingness to try food.  Adjustments must be made for some of these sensory issues.  I found my son liked to eat bland high carb, low fiber foods including lots of dairy.  This was not a good diet for him.  It caused lots of gastro intestinal issues including constipation.  It is important to eat a wider variety of foods for the child’s health.  Over time, we found that eating crunchy foods such as raw vegetables and potato chips gave him joint pressure in his jaws which aided in concentration and attention.  I gave him crunchy foods for an after school snack before he did homework once I made this connection.

Feeding issues are not simple.  There are so many factors and often it takes a lot of detective work to figure these out.  It also takes a lot of patience, determination and perseverance to make progress in developing a wider diet for your child that isn’t fond of the eating process.  Stay on course and keep trying even when it seems like little progress is seen.  Over time, it will pay off.