Do we need to seek help? (picky eating content)

[musicianmom]

How do you know when picky eating has a medical or sensory basis?

 

If the # of foods a child will eat starts decreasing, is that indicative of a problem?

[Pamela H in Texas]

It depends on the child. If it is your oldest, I would be considerably more worried than if it were one of your younger two.

 

We have multiple people working with us with our 3yr old. He has had a feeding specialist eval. He gets OT and his eating issues aren't sensory based anyway. But we did check those things out. Our speech therapist told us about the feeding program at Baylor so we use a combination of a few things, including that. But it isn't picky as in will only eat certain foods, but won't eat at all (due to history). We are making progress but it is slow and I most certainly was worried!

 

Anyway, but for the typical 2-3yr old, it is normal to become a bit picky. "Trying" foods, while giving them a variety of what they *will* eat, is enough. MOST children will not starve themselves.

 

Some other considerations on how worried to be:

 

1) what percentile is weight?

2) trauma past?

3) food issues in family?

4) other real sensory issues (everyone has something sensory wise so real would be ongoing, numerous, problematic)?

 

HTHs a little.

[musicianmom]

Thanks! It's my middle child, but it affects everyone. She's at a healthy weight, no traumas, no picky eating in the immediate family (dh and I were both really good eaters as kids). She is also extremely picky about clothes, was late to talk, and was very stubborn about toilet-training. Pediatrician calls it strong-willed. I would just like to be able to cook a dinner that my kids will eat (because if one won't eat it, the others follow).

 

Oh, and she won't try things either, generally. You would think we were trying to poison her with a bite of *gasp* chicken.

Edited July 4, 2011 by musicianmom

[ondreeuh]

It wouldn't hurt to get an OT evaluation since your dd is sensitive to clothing.

 

It can be very normal for 3 year olds to suddenly get picky. It could be a control issue, but it could also be that their taste buds are getting more sensitive and they are not used to the tastes. Our kids are far apart in age, so the dynamic is different, but we have pretty much always made the food that us adults want to eat, and served a small helping to the children (unless it is too spicy for them - then I make an alternate). If they try it and really don't like it, then they wait until after the meal is over for me to make a sandwich or reheat leftovers (or if they are old enough, they make it themselves). All we ask is that they try it and don't complain rudely. If they refuse to try it, the food is put in the fridge until they are ready. The reason I make them try it is twofold: after several tries, they usually start liking it and eat it eagerly, and if they are guests at someone else's home they need to be prepared to try the host's food.

 

My 15 year old eats everything and is not picky at all (she used to be, but gradually accepted more and more foods after trying them repeatedly). My 10 year old is halfway there. My 3 year old is picky and mealtime is not particularly fun with his dramatics, but he is getting much better about trying a few bites. We send him away from the table when he starts whining or complaining. My mantra is, "It doesn't have to be your favorite food, but you still need to eat a little."

[sewingmama]

She is also extremely picky about clothes, was late to talk, and was very stubborn about toilet-training.

 

My DD is like this -she is about to start OT for her eating issues.

 

My DD never suddenly just became picky though - she was like that from the first time we started her on solids. Her diet has never varied much since she started eating. Basically there are maybe 8 things she will eat and that is it. She will willingly try things -but then coughs,gags,chokes,vomits :glare:

 

She also chews and licks everything in sight. Despite her poor diet she has an immune system of steel - I can't tell you how many disgusting public surfaces she has licked and yet has never gotten sick :ack2: Once we were at McDonalds and the person serving me said "I don't think you better do that sweetie it isn't very clean" I looked down and she was licking the counter like a cat drinking milk :001_huh:

 

My DS1 has never gone through picky stages but my DS2 fluctuates. I think the key is persistancy of the pickiness - if it is ongoing get her checked out. Is her diet still varied or is it so restricted that it could cause health problems? My DD has Iron deficiencey because she won't eat meat of any sort or any other food that contains it.

Edited July 4, 2011 by sewingmama

[Dawn in OH]

Up until around age 3, my oldest two children ate almost everything we put in front of them. Then they suddenly started having more things they disliked. My son especially. For years he had issues with meats that made dinner time miserable. He would whine, moan, and over chew (sometimes throw up) while chewing chicken and pork.

 

He's 10 and things are better now. He's got a few chicken dishes that he really loves, and will tolerate the rest. He still takes forever to eat anything involving pork that isn't ground pork, but he eats it.

 

For my children, it was a phase. My third child is now almost 4 and hasn't gone through this phase. That kid likes everything.

[momtotkbb]

If you hadn't included the difficulty w/ tags, late talking, potty-training I would probably have said give it time. But, as the mom of two w/ SPD and food issues I would say you've flown some red-flags and I would follow up on it w/ an OT eval. Our middle ds was so bad for awhile that just the thought of eating a particular food or a smell would cause him to throw up. At one point in my parent-hood I was the mom who said, "you don't have to like it - just eat one bite." Never again in our household. Yes, it's difficult for meal prep - but what I do is make at least one food when we have family meals that I know my food sensitivity kiddos will eat so that everyone can have a peaceful meal. I also don't make a big deal of it - if a dc doesn't like what's on the table - they can always have a bowl of cereal (thankfully that's a food they will all eat). We've also worked w/ kiddos that are old enough to spend the night or go to friends homes to eat to say, "no thank-you" to foods or "thank you, but I'm not hungry right now." Most of our close friends know the two kiddos that have food issues and it's not a big deal to them - if it's a spend the night I generally send something that the dc can always eat if they get hungry.

 

we had a wonderful therapist that worked w/ our middle ds and he has out-grown a lot of his difficulty. I have to say he also turned out to be severely ADHD and once he started meds some of the sensory issues - esp food he was better able to deal w/ all the sensory stimuli hitting him. If that makes sense. It did take years though and I'm sorry that we didn't realize the problem and seek help earlier - he was about 7 before we sought help.

[Rosie_0801]

Thanks! It's my middle child, but it affects everyone. She's at a healthy weight, no traumas, no picky eating in the immediate family (dh and I were both really good eaters as kids). She is also extremely picky about clothes, was late to talk, and was very stubborn about toilet-training. Pediatrician calls it strong-willed. I would just like to be able to cook a dinner that my kids will eat (because if one won't eat it, the others follow).

 

Oh, and she won't try things either, generally. You would think we were trying to poison her with a bite of *gasp* chicken.

 

Sounds like my dd. Strong-willed is about right, but she's getting to be a little more civilised :D I serve the food I serve, and if they don't want to eat it, they can eat fruit. For some reason mine will often eat for breakfast what they refused to eat for dinner the night before, so I wonder if it is something about scheduling instead of about the food.

 

Rosie