Feeding therapy.

[urchin_grey]

Anyone here have experience with it?

I watch 3 siblings (5, 3, and 2) who are all on the spectrum. All of them are very picky eaters but the 3yo's eating habits are kinda scary. While he's considered high functioning, he has some serious texture/sensory issues. He eats dry sugary cereals (cookie crisp, cinnamon toast crunch, etc.), pretzels, microwave popcorn, mac n cheese, and a ton of cow's milk. That is literally it.

Maybe I'm expecting too much but I feel like it's important for him to learn to eat more than a few processed grains and milk. I've had him today since before he woke up at 7ish am. It's now 5:30pm and he's had a 1.5oz microwave cup of mac n cheese, and a cup of milk the entire day. He won't even drink water.

Anyway, I was hoping someone could give me some feeding therapy type tips. So far (starting tonight) I am having him sit at the table while his brothers eat with a small plate with a spoonful of a couple foods. I coaxed him into touching the pears but he didn't want to touch the peas or the smiley fry so I didn't make him. My mom forced me to eat as a child and it backfired horribly so I'm not going to do that to him. But giving him cereal all day isn't going to create any progress either.

So that's all I really know to do so far. This is completely new territory for me because Bram eats any fruit or veggie I put in front of him. But I know their mom would like to see them all eating more but I guess she just doesn't have the energy to try.

[RowBabyRow]

We didn't have the best experience with it, didn't really click with our therapist. She would mostly incorporate food into play, trying to get c to put stuff in his mouth and spit it out.

[BeccaCCKK]

I don't think there is anything you can do unless the Mom is also do the same thing at home. I had a friend who made her son a picky eater. He stayed with me and ate all kinds of foods (keeping allergies in check). I got a 15 minute lecture before she left about how he will only eat xyz. He saw what my kids were eating and not only wanted to try it, but devoured it.

Be firm with saying tha you will not give him cereal until he eats a certain amount of a new food. 2 bites of each thing on a plate. And start with 2 oz. of water. Have him drink that. In a couple of days move up to 3 oz...... And again lead by example.

I am probably blowing smoke out my butt though. My kids were raised like Bram. They will eat veggies and drink water until they are stuffed. So I don't have any real basis here.

It does take 3-5 tries to get someone to eat a new food. So just gently introducing the foods and even trying them yourself while they observe is really helpful. I agree with not forcing, as that is horrible. And don't fake it like saying how good that smiley fry is while you are holding back tears and your face is frowning while you struggle to get it down.
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That is not the order I typed that in . So that is all over the place. How odd

[Rosegin]

Check out Ellyn Satter re:feeding kids.

[urchin_grey]

Yeah Bram and I are vegan so we primarily eat fruits, veggies, pasta, beans, stuff like that so they're all definitely being exposed to new things. In fact, we were at my house earlier and the 3yo did eat ONE vegetarian chick'n nugget. I had forgotten about that.

Anyway, I actually just got him to eat 3-4 slices of canned peaches! Not my first choice personally but it's a start. Its what the 5yo wanted and the 3yo was saying he was hungry so I gave it shot and put a plate with tiny pieces in front of him. He played with them and licked them for like 5 minutes before he actually ate any but he ate most of what I gave him! Of course, now he's filling up on frosted flakes. Better than cookie crisp though I imagine.

I just know "sensory picky" is different than "typical picky" and I don't want to make things worse! But so far so good I guess. Their mom gets home in about 15-20 min but we'll definitely try more on Monday.
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Originally Posted by Rosegin

Check out Ellyn Satter re:feeding kids.

Okay, def will do that!

[Jae]

I'd make sure the mom is okay with your plans. I imagine any rational mom would be, but just make sure.

Otherwise, just keep doing what you're doing. Offer new things often, but don't get discouraged if progress is really slow. If it were *my* kid, I'd limit the milk down a little and do like water in every other cup (or a required cup of water before he gets milk each time) but you can't really do that unless the mom approves it, because there might be a few tough days of battling that one out with him.
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[urchin_grey]

Yeah, I talked to her when she got home and she was shocked and delighted he'd eaten the peaches! She said he's literally never eaten fruit before other than a single grape. Which makes me sad because fruit is delicious! lol

We had a general discussion about the sensory issues (turns our we both had similar issues with food as kids). She's down with the gentle approach, I guess she just figured it was a lost cause at this point.

The milk thing, she had already said to limit milk so they don't get tummy aches but I've also watched her let them guzzle it. lol So I dunno. The little one finally gave in and started drinking water like a fish but the 3yo held out until she got home and then finished what was left in the jug.

[Jae]

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[BeautifulChaos]

Feeding therapy here centered around games, funny utensils, and self serving as well as rewards for "getting closer" to the food. (Ie a bite of cereal if you touch/smell/kiss/lick the food)

[BeccaCCKK]

That sounds great! So they are willing.

[HugnKiss]

Look up food chaining. We also use (d) steps. He had to touch it, put it on a fork/spoon, touch it to his lips, snake kiss (touch it with his tounge a few times), kiss it, put bite marks in it, bird size bite then up to a whole kid size bite. Sometimes we made it through all of those steps. Some times we only made it through a few before he started gagging. Sometimes he would skip to the snake step. He also had a chalice for a little while. Lol its purpose was a spit cup. To ease his fear of putting food in his mouth. So he had the cup right there in case something was too much he never had to swallow it.