Picky Eater when they're older
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Hi Everyone
I know I saw a picky eater thread somewhere but couldn't find it so hope you'll share you're experience here.
I have a small 4th grader. He eats only out of necessity to live - a fact that I find amazing given that he is biologically related to me. I would eat constantly if I didn't have a structured food plan.
He likes food but he has a lot of allergies and he eats what he considers a portion and he's done. No amount of incentive negative or positive has changed that.
Unfortunately he will run out of food energy before lunch. There are no snacks in 4th grade. He likes drinks so I give him all kinds of drinkables but it doesn't change the fact that it is a long time between 6 AM and 11:30AM and between 12 and 4. I give him snacks for afterschool or bring food when I pick him up but I'm concerned. Especially in weeks like this when the tests they are taking require absolute concentration for hours. (Homeschooling looks better and better (not an option for today though))
The adventure continues,
Linda
Linda - have you discussed this issue with his teacher ? Probably will have to get some sort of Dr's note that your child NEEDS nourishment in the middle of the morning, but I'd go for it myself .... I think that they all (elementary age) need a snack.
My son is VERY picky (he's now 11 and I did discover that he'd "try" new things with grandma, but not me, I chalk it up to the fact that I represent comfort and familiarity, etc ... and I'm ok with that) and last year he started getting headaches in the morning because it had been so long since breakfast. They go to school later around her (school doesn't start til 9:15am) but still, his lunch was around 1pm. I got her to agree to him having a snack individually by 11am and it made a big difference !
My son wishes I would homeschool him, but that opportunity has left the building .... it would have worked out great in 1st grade, bu Dh lost his job then and I had to go back to work outside of the home, 15mths later things got back to normal, but by then he was doing a bit better. NOW, he (ofcourse) still wants me to homeschool him, but he's so incredibly INCREDIBLY shy and introverted that if I start at this point, I'm afraid he'll never leave the house (I'm not talking to get married, I'm talking to go to the grocery store as a 35yr old !)
How quiet is he ? Let's put it this way .... I brought in ice cream cups for his class at lunch on Monday. As I was going down the lunch table, asking the other 5th graders if they'd like vanilla or chocolate icecream in honor of Ds' birthday, one little girl asked "it's his birthday ? Really ? I never would have known, he never speaks." I hear that all of the time. He speaks here, but not much in public.
We should compare notes .... do sock bother your son ? The seams have to be in a particular place on his foot, his shoes can't be too tight (I tell him they're supposed to be tied so they stay on !) etc etc etc .... he has a number of allergies, and was highly allergic to milk (to the point that even though he was breast fed for a year, I couldn't have milk products because he couldn't handle it even filtered through me !)
He's a great guy, I love him dearly, and I want him to be comfortable in his surroundings ... if he's miserable, he won't be able to accomplish what he needs to at school, namely LEARN ! So, I do what I have to, annoy who I have to annoy to be his greatest advocate !
Talk to your munchkins's teacher, see what she suggests !!!
Hi Harlena,
Thanks for the snack encouragement. I'm thinking of going to his doctor soon to get just such a note. He likes many unusual foods but because of his allergies and his complete lack of interest in food even if its available he might not eat it at school unless he's starving.
We have a lot in common as do our sons. On the homeschool question I often consider it because I know more than one mom who pulled their sons - especially the ones who are miserable in school and have successfully homeschooled them. They have thrived. The transformation in the boys was amazing - they were learning with joy.
One woman architect in NY I know who pulled her 5th grader - said she found it so sad watching her son be listless or unhappy in school. She couldn't imagine letting it continue for the rest of his school career. She took a different kind of work, homeschooled him with creativity and fun. The boy has grown into a thriving highschooler who is an enthusiastic learner.
For today we've chosen school so I appreciate your support in making it palatable (forgive the pun). I also found some fun recipes in the food section on the Board. I actually tried one for sushi snacks today - he loved it.
Thinking of you in Florida-its 4 degrees here.
Linda
I was thinking of you yesterday as I was making sandwiches, remembering the days when my son would hardly eat anything ..... AND I remember another trick, well, not a trick, but something else I did ...
I made a list of everything my son was willing to eat (small list, it was in my head !) then I spent some time at the grocery store comparing the ingredients of those items. For example, my son was willing to eat peanut butter sandwiches (plain, no jelly, no crusts !) ... so I looked at ALL of the peanut butters and found the one with the highest protein/vitamin/mineral content. At the time it was Peter Pan Plus Eight (I think) it's hard to find, but it had a slightly higher protein count and an extra 8 additional nutrients. Then I looked at the bread, I found the same thing, at the time, the (hold on, let me go look at the name because we still use this brand) best was Nature Made White Wheat bread (extra protein, fiber, etc) I don't know if these are STILL the best, it was probably 9 years ago that I did this research.
My thinking was there was only SO much food I was going to get into my child, whatever that food was that he was willing to eat, I wanted to make sure it had the MOST nutrition I could find (have to be careful because some of those "healthy" foods taste nasty, for instance, natural peanutbutter, ewww! Just my opinion, you may like that kind.)
Also, my son usually drinks gatorade at lunch (that electrolyte thing helps out), as opposed to capri sun or other sugarry drinks (if they're on sale, I'll buy something else NOWADAYS but I used to not, and at this point THIS particular child prefers the red gatorade over anything else anyway.)
SO, it'll take some extra effort on your part, but you can probably increase the amount of nutrition in what he eats, and if he's only eating a small amount, any increase you can make will be helpful !
Hi Harlena,
Thanks for the suggestions.
I like the super nutrition bread and peanut butter ideas - maybe I can find the peanut butter on line. We do the super enriched milks, cereals, juices. If I know he's tired or isn't going to eat much we get the beef or other heavier protein in first so at least real food had a fighting chance.
Like your son he hates the "health" food taste. We never found a vitamin that lasted. He hates the smell, taste, texture.
What is it about Gatorade - I have a gatorade kid - my middle son. He used to love gatorade.
With this little one - the eating challenged one -it makes him so hyper that we eliminated all power/sports drinks. I think because he's so lean and doesn't eat a lot those electrolytes go straight to the brain.
The other thing I've been doing recently is the equivalent of 2 dinners. A real meal after school and then early evening a second more than a snack meal. Between the two I actually see dinner consumed.
The things that moms do to get our kids to eat healthy that weren't on the resume always amaze me.
I know it, we just do whatever WHATEVER it take to take care of our family .... WE ROCK !!!
One other thing, since you mentioned vitamins, I didn't have much luck with vitamins either .... til I found GUMMY WORM VITAMINS. My kids (all of them) love the gummy vitamins. You cannot NOT get the generic ones, they taste nasty, but there is somebody (I'll look at the store next time I go to check the brand) who makes gummy vitamin worms (kinda like those sour worms kids like these days !) and my kids take them, eat them, and ask for more !
There are also vitamin gumballs, not sure how that works, but we've tried those too, I've tried those and I don't like them but my picky kids do. However, they like the gummy worm vitamins better!
Another thing, when my kids are healthy, they get one vitamin, when they are sick, they get two .... a trick that my grandma used on me when I was younger to help get rid of a nasty cough. I think when you're sick, you just need more "help" ya know ?
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