Strategies for Kids With Sensory Issues
If your child is okay with trying foods but never seems to like any of them even after multiple attempts, he may experience flavors or textures more acutely. These suggestions work especially well for children with sensory problems although all picky eaters may benefit from trying them.
Keep your cool. Some food avoiders relish the attention that it brings them. Don’t necessarily make a huge deal when your child wants to try something — the more casual you are about it (offer him a piece, but don’t watch him eat it for instance), the more likely it is that he’ll actually follow through, says Dr. Girolami.
Go slow and steady. You may think it’s ridiculous to puree foods for your 5-year-old. But that’s exactly what they sometimes do at feeding clinics. “We might try reducing the texture to a smooth consistency, which makes it easier for the child to consume a new flavor,” says Dr. Girolami. “As the sessions go by, we make the puree chunkier and chunkier until a couple of months later, she’s able to eat the actual foods.” The experts work on color preferences in the same way. Some feeding clinics follow a strategy called food chaining, fading, or graduated exposure, using a food that the child prefers to get her to try something similar.
For instance, if your kid is obsessed with chicken nuggets, it’s likely going to be harder to introduce shrimp than another kind of chicken. “We might go from chicken nuggets to the same kind of nuggets with less breading, or a different brand of chicken nugget or chicken strip, to pieces of a grilled chicken breast,” says Entgelmeier. “And then we’ll move on to chicken with noodles or rice.” If you’ve got a pizza fan, you might progress from pizza to pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, to grilled cheese with tomato soup, to a cheese quesadilla with salsa. You can also select foods based on shape or texture (crispy french fries to sweet-potato fries, chicken sticks to fish sticks) or color (plain pancakes or waffles to waffles with jelly or peanut butter to PB&J).
“Don’t rush from one food or texture to the next,” says Dr. Girolami. “Give it at least a week or two until the gains seem maintained. A few months from now, you’ll be rewarded with a healthier eater.”How Picky Is She? Perhaps the typical picky eater isn’t as picky as you thought. Write down all the foods your child eats; closely related ones, like string cheese and American cheese, count separately.
Disordered or extreme picky eaters accept only 20 or fewer foods and are often sensitive to texture, temperature, or color, explains Nicole Lidyard, R.D. If your child really only eats 20 or fewer foods, ask her doctor to refer you to a local dietitian or feeding program.
Source: Picky Eater Rehab: Proven Strategies for Kids Who Won’t Try New Foods
