Our picky eater solution

Just wanted to share our journey with a finicky eater and the system that has worked for us. Hopefully someone else with a picky eater will find it useful!!

For those of you who know Tyler, you know he's one picky eater. But what toddler isn't, right?!? Well, Tyler is "pickier than your average toddler," at least according to our pediatrician. :) He seemed destined to have a discerning taste from the beginning when he rejected ALL baby food at around 8 or 9 months (We didn't start any solids until 6 months). This is when he entered what I call the "peanut butter cracker phase" And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like - ALL he ate was peanut crackers. He started having texture preferences right around the same time and would only eat coarse, dry food (read Cheerios). No yogurt, applesauce, or anything thick or wet. 

Over the last 3 years we tried a lot of things - none of which really produced major results. I won't bore you with the myriad of things we tried, but believe me, it was extensive. It also may or may not have included actual monetary bribery. Yes, we offered him cold hard cash to eat. We were desperate. Nothing worked.

This summer it had gotten to the point where he really only had a handful of things he would eat on a consistent basis - rice, turkey and french fries. And not all types of these foods, only a very specific brand and flavor of these things. Let's just say I think we've single handedly kept the Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Roasted Chicken rice line in business :)

But, then an amazing thing happened one evening. I was cooking in the kitchen, when Tyler came up and said "I want to help." I was cutting squash so I knew he couldn't help me with the cutting. But, he COULD put the squash in the pot. So, he pulled up a stool and helped me put each piece of squash in the pot.  I cut a piece and he put it in. We watched the squash cook together and he was very excited to see the final product. That night, sitting at the dinner table, he put his first non-pureed vegetable in his mouth. It came right out once it passed his lips, but it was progress!! After that night, I involved him more in cooking, took him shopping and let him pick out new things and he was much more willing to try things than ever before. Still, he wasn't actually eating the food. He seemed interested, and even seemed to like the taste of certain things, but the food just couldn't get past his palette. He put it in the his mouth, gagged and then would get very upset.

I do want to say - I know it could be worse. It can always be worse. I've used several "picky eater" discussion boards in the past and have read about cases of children who can only tolerate liquids. But, knowing that Tyler was trying to eat things but couldn't seem to be able to eat them was frustrating. I couldn't help but feel like something else was going on. 

At his 3-year-old wellness checkup, I went over all of this with our pediatrician. He then said the words that changed our lives, "Sounds like reflux to me. Let's try some Zantac." He also recommended we see a speech pathologist. We filled the Rx right away and got really lucky to get in to see a therapist at Duke at the end of that week. We sat with the therapist (who was awesome!!!) for about an hour and a half. Here are the things that have worked for us, and if you find yourself with a picky eater, a few of these might help you as well. Before I start, a DISCLAIMER: I am not a physician and am not providing medical advice! This is just what worked for us.

Zantac

Our pediatrician wrote us the Rx for Zantac and said "If it's reflux, you should see results very soon." Boy was he right. In the first week, he tried 4 or 5 new things. We also started some of the things listed down below, so everything combined worked well almost immediately. Tyler also just seemed to eat more - seemed to have more of an appetite.

In talking to the therapist, she explained that kids with reflux learn at a very, very young age what foods cause them discomfort and also learn to completely reject everything that looks or feels like those foods. Tyler's rejection of baby food made complete sense to me at that point. What we had to do now was reintroduce foods one at a time and help him re-learn that these foods won't cause him pain.

Use rewards, but not food-related rewards. 

For a little while, we used cookies and candy as a reward for Tyler to try something new. It worked a few times, but it never felt good giving him something relatively unhealthy just to get him to eat one bite of something healthy. The therapist used a tactic during our consult that I think is genius!

BUBBLES!!!! After Tyler takes a bite of something new, he gets bubbles. I literally put this thing on the dinner table like it's salt and pepper ! At first I was hesitant, thinking "I'm going to blow bubbles in the house?!?! They're going to get on the floor, or gasp! even worse, on the food!" But, you know what?!?! I could give a flip once I saw the results. This little thing has helped Tyler try a ton of new food. Kidney beans, grilled cheese, apple sauce!! Once he's tried it several times and then starts to eat it regularly, he doesn't get the bubbles anymore. We save them only for new foods.

Chart the Progress. 

The next thing we do is to chart the progress he's making. According to the therapist, he needs to try the new food at least 10 times before "it sticks." I made this chart to help him (and me) remember all the new things he's tried. As you can see, we eat a lot of pizza :) But, this leads us in to the next item.

Make it fun!

For a long time, dinner time was not a fun time in the Jones household. It usually ended up with someone in tears, more often than not yours truly. The therapist emphasized that even if we have to push Tyler a little bit out of his comfort zone, we should always keep it light and end every meal on a positive note. Let me tell you, this has been good for everyone! To keep with this theme, we started a fun, family tradition. Friday night pizza and movie. Tyler had never eaten pizza before we started this, but now it's one of his favorite meals!


Involve him in the process. 

This works really well for Tyler. He loves to help me cook, pick out new things at the grocery store and put them in his cart :) This part is a lot of fun for me and also helps a lot when I'm cooking. He's engaged in the process and feels in control of what he's eating.
 
Still offer the safety foods

Tyler still occasionally has his picky days where all he wants is his safety foods - primarily rice. This usually only happens when he's not feeling well. The therapist encouraged us not to look at this as a step back, so I try not to :)

We've still got a lot of progress to make, but I now have a PLAN! I'm sure I'll talk about this more on the blog in the future, so stay tuned for more progress!