Every parent knows that kids are notoriously picky eaters. When faced with a choice between chicken nuggets and broccoli, the chickens nuggets win every time. However, most kids will also eventually eat their broccoli, albeit begrudgingly.
But what if your child screams, cries, gags, or otherwise melts down at just the sight of broccoli on his plate? Is that picky eating or is it something else entirely?
 |
At my house, we are all too familiar with food-related meltdowns. My son’s first encounter with a textured food sent him into a tailspin. From there, it just got worse. Any unexpected texture, temperature, or taste sometimes led to hours-long episodes where he would refuse to close his mouth or spit the food out. Family mealtimes prompted screaming and crying fits. Going out to eat or to a friend's house required extra planning to make sure my son had his own special meal so he wouldn't go hungry. I never thought I'd be that mom always making an extra meal alongside our regular family dinners.
As a new mom, I felt defeated. I blamed myself for some unknown mistake on my part. It was frustrating. It was sad. It was worrisome. Why was my otherwise healthy son such a picky eater? It wasn't until we started seeing a new pediatrician that we realized what was going on.
We were referred to a feeding therapy clinic where my son was diagnosed with a feeding-related sensory processing disorder. It wasn't just picky eating. Those meltdowns over textures, temperatures and tastes were actually genuine fear and anxiety.
You may be reading this and wondering about your own child. Is it just picky eating, or is he or she actually a problem feeder? As with any mental health challenge, major interference in daily activities such as family meal times, going out to eat, and not getting enough nutrition could indicate a sign of something wrong.
Arise Therapies, who have been helping my son overcome some of his feeding struggles, provided me with some helpful hints that might help you determine whether you need ask your child's pediatrician about feeding therapy.
Picky Eaters | Problem Feeders |
|
|
Whether you have just a picky eater or a problem feeder, there are a few things you can begin trying at home today to help your child adjust to new foods.
Tips for Parents
- Never force your child to eat
- Limit meal times to 30 minutes or less
- Encourage food exploration. Allow your child to get messy
- Decrease pressure to try new foods if your child isn't ready
- Allow your child to assist in meal preparation to gain additional exposure to the food
- Describe the properties of food (i.e. it's soft, sticky, wet, crunchy)
- Model eating the food
- Seek a feeding evaluation if mealtimes are a constant source of stress
And my own tip is don't blame yourself! Sensory processing disorders are not the fault of the caregivers, but there are things you can do to help.
Who to Call
Your child's pediatrician can provide you with a referral for a feeding evaluation. From there, Arise Therapies in Spring Hill, TN has skilled therapists on staff ready to evaluate your picky eater and offer a plan to get them back on the right track with their feeding. A feeding therapist will use all of the strategies above and more to gradually acclimate your child to to new textures, tastes, and even different brands of food so that your child’s diet increases in variety.
Arise has helped my son so much over the past few months and, while I know we still have some work to do, it's been amazing to have experts helping us along on his journey to loving new foods instead of fearing them.
Disclaimer: For the purposes of writing this article, this writer has received free feed therapy services; however, all of her opinions are her own.
When visiting events and local businesses, be sure to tell them Macaroni KID sent you... and don't forget to tell all your friends!
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
