I am so happy to write this post. SO dang happy. We had a three day weekend with Gavin (which turned into four because I was home sick today). Anyway, we (doug and I) decided we need to eat better, less processed, fresh foods and wanted to do it as a family. As most of you know Gavin has always been very picky - well, ever since 18 months. His diet (sadly) was mostly toast, bread, cheese, chicken nuggets and um, I think that's about it. He loves chips, donuts, cookies, and candy. All crap obviously so we didn't give it to him but he does like that.
I have been trying to get my parents on board with better eating with the boys because Owen has an almost cavity. For whatever reason they just feed them junk. Mini donuts, ice cream cups, cookies, chips, etc. It's maddening and we have had several "discussions" about it. My sister was here visiting and helped a lot as far as replacing those snacks with other things - sugar free pudding, fish crackers, etc.
Back to the point - I had a talk with Gavin about putting good foods into your body and being healthy. I told him I knew it was going to be really hard but mommy and daddy are going to change too and we are going to eat together as a family. I told him no more chicken nuggets and explained what foods he was going to work on trying. So, this weekend he has done great! He has eaten baked chicken three times (all with different seasonings, flavors), baked red potatoes, raw carrots, apples, pb&j sandwich (he had never eaten a sandwich before!), turkey and cheese sandwich (x2), spaghetti (he has always loved this actually), and pudding. I am SO excited. NO chicken nuggets, no grilled cheese! The first night was the hardest but he is really soaking in how proud we are of him and loving it. I am having him help me make things and even though it might seem silly to some of you those are all different textures and things he never ate before.
He is doing it without complaint, choking, throwing up and I am just thrilled. He said to me, "I want to bring a sandwich in my lunch so I can show my kids I can eat sandwiches now." (he calls his friends at school his "kids.") We talked and this week we are going to work on pizza and yogurt. I know pizza is not great for you but he always misses out at birthday parties and school parties so I wanted to do this so he would be able to eat at those kinds of things. He said okay and even told Daddy about it.
I'm super happy, super proud and really hopeful for the first time about him eating better. YAY!
Forgot to add that tonight, after dinner he thanked me for making dinner and said it was really good. It was so genuine, and it just melted my heart. He is growing up right before my eyes! I am LOVING this age.
I posted this on FB but it's too funny not to repeat...
The first night we did this we had baked chicken and I made a smiley face out of the veggies - cucumber eyes, grape tomato nose and carrot smile. Gavin was so pissed at what was on his plate and sat down and turned it into a frowny face. It was really hilarious. But his whole attitude about it has changed and that has always been the hardest part before.
Melissa - dinner have been really nice this past weekend and that is a huge change. It's lovely. And I actually really enjoyed cooking with the boys and Gavin kept saying "I love making pasghetti with you mommy and I love making pudding with you. I just love eating food we make together." Seriously, love it! So, I told him we will do it at least once a week, if not more.
that is WONDERFUL juni! i'm psyched for you. it's so hard with the picky eaters. i find you just have to eliminate the options altogether. it's hard not to have them as backups though. my parents do the same thing with the kids. seriously WTF?!?!? they'll come to visit at let's say 5pm, we'll be about to order dinner, and they give them mini-donuts, lollipops, etc - RIGHT BEFORE DINNER!! i get SO mad. i've had many convos with them too. my mom makes it like i'm super strict, but has modified her ways a lot (after she saw a definite decline in R's behavior and mood one day from too much sugar) - but my dad - it's like talking to a wall. i hate having to tell them over and over, but they are just NOT getting it, and nutrition is something that's so important to me. i make a HUGE effort, and my kids LIKE the healthy stuff - it's so frustrating when my parents just load them with junk. thank god they dont babysit them regularly (they only see them like once every 2-3 months). now i almost feel like it's just to "get my goat" and that REALLY ticks me off.
anyway. :)
i think my favorite part of this whole thing is that gavin calls the kids at school "my kids" - that is SO funny - LMAO. keep up the good work jen - this is great news!!
-- Edited by daisy on Wednesday 20th of January 2010 06:53:56 AM
mikey is just as picky as you are describing gavin was. he eats junk like donuts, brownies, cookies, etc.... and he eats mac & cheese, pb&j and grilled cheese, pancakes (or waffles) and sugary cereal like reeses puffs.
he got into these habits after not eating at all during treatments (he literally survived on formula for 2 years) and then being told after his transplant that he had to eat something and give him anything he would eat.
so we've been going to a feeding therapist to work on it but i'll be honest .... i'm not crazy about the techniques she's using. chewing with her mouth open, spitting out the food, screaming about "it's salty!!!!" - i get that the idea is to get him to eat more foods but this kind of stuff goes against everything i want to teach my kids. and i feel like it reinforces the idea that new foods are a huge deal - i don't want food to be so central kwim?
so .... here's my question - you mentioned he ate the new foods without choking, throwing up, ... did he used to do those things? and did you just totally remove any and all of his comfortable foods?
mikey has these HUGE reactions to food - "blech!!!" "that's gross!!!", coughing, etc.. DRAMA.
i'm wondering if i'm just making it worse by babying him through this stuff, kwim?
i know you aren't an expert and everyone is different i was just hoping for ANYONE's thoughts on this one.
mikey is just as picky as you are describing gavin was. he eats junk like donuts, brownies, cookies, etc.... and he eats mac & cheese, pb&j and grilled cheese, pancakes (or waffles) and sugary cereal like reeses puffs.
he got into these habits after not eating at all during treatments (he literally survived on formula for 2 years) and then being told after his transplant that he had to eat something and give him anything he would eat.
so we've been going to a feeding therapist to work on it but i'll be honest .... i'm not crazy about the techniques she's using. chewing with her mouth open, spitting out the food, screaming about "it's salty!!!!" - i get that the idea is to get him to eat more foods but this kind of stuff goes against everything i want to teach my kids. and i feel like it reinforces the idea that new foods are a huge deal - i don't want food to be so central kwim?
so .... here's my question - you mentioned he ate the new foods without choking, throwing up, ... did he used to do those things? and did you just totally remove any and all of his comfortable foods?
mikey has these HUGE reactions to food - "blech!!!" "that's gross!!!", coughing, etc.. DRAMA.
i'm wondering if i'm just making it worse by babying him through this stuff, kwim?
i know you aren't an expert and everyone is different i was just hoping for ANYONE's thoughts on this one.
I am no specialist and I know it is easier said then done, but I have always felt that if you do not give them the junk it is not an issue. I started both girls with always eating veggies, fruits and whatever we had for dinner. I never made a second meal. Well, there have been some meals with fish that I did not have them eat, but the most part I always made them try it and would not make another meal. I never push them eating it all or enforce that you have to clean your plate, but you have to try it and there is no other choice. If the girls hate tomato then I try to not force it on them, but because they eat well it is not an issue.
All of my girlfriends who have had eating issue wit their children were always amazed I did not feed them the "kid" food when young. They told me they wished they never started to the two meal thing because it gets harder to break the older they get.
Some kids will eventually develop their taste for certain foods as they age, so it is not a big deal if they do not like everything. I do not like everything, but I think if you keep offering the sugar cereal then that is what he will want. I would start with one food you want to eliminate and replace it with something healthier. I do not do sugar cereal in the house. The most is honey nut cheerios.
Again, I know some kids have allergies to certain foods and other texture issues, but for the most part I think we are the ones that started that behavior and we kind of have to be the ones to guide them back and teach them healthy eating.
mikey is just as picky as you are describing gavin was. he eats junk like donuts, brownies, cookies, etc.... and he eats mac & cheese, pb&j and grilled cheese, pancakes (or waffles) and sugary cereal like reeses puffs.
he got into these habits after not eating at all during treatments (he literally survived on formula for 2 years) and then being told after his transplant that he had to eat something and give him anything he would eat.
so we've been going to a feeding therapist to work on it but i'll be honest .... i'm not crazy about the techniques she's using. chewing with her mouth open, spitting out the food, screaming about "it's salty!!!!" - i get that the idea is to get him to eat more foods but this kind of stuff goes against everything i want to teach my kids. and i feel like it reinforces the idea that new foods are a huge deal - i don't want food to be so central kwim?
so .... here's my question - you mentioned he ate the new foods without choking, throwing up, ... did he used to do those things? and did you just totally remove any and all of his comfortable foods?
mikey has these HUGE reactions to food - "blech!!!" "that's gross!!!", coughing, etc.. DRAMA.
i'm wondering if i'm just making it worse by babying him through this stuff, kwim?
i know you aren't an expert and everyone is different i was just hoping for ANYONE's thoughts on this one.
This is a super recent change and up until this try he wasn't having it. I told him that the chicken nuggets were gone and I wasn't buying anymore (that was our safety net). He has been sick so much and recently it has been two weeks of constant coughing, sickness, etc. I explained to him that our bodies need good, healthy food to get better and not get sick. I've been prepping him previously about how bad food is bad for our teeth and bodies so we've been slowly eliminating those things as well.
Anyway, he got it but of course seeing that first meal was not fun for him. A lot of the problem with Gavin was that he wouldn't try foods - not that he would try them and not like them. Before he would cough, and cry and almost (or actually) throw up and it would be this huge deal. Maybe the planning before hand helped, I really don't know why it clicked this time.
RE: feeding therapist - I'm no professional but it does sound weird. I had talked to a parent at my school last year about their child going to a feeding group and it sounded really cool. I looked into it for us but it was too expensive. What she told me was that they cut up all sorts of different things in different ways - for examples, cucumbers sliced into circles, cut into spears, chopped, etc. Just so they looked different. First they would have them smell the food. Then, they would have then kiss it, then lick it, then put it in their mouth. Then hopefully chew it and eat it. She said it was amazing for them. Just a thought for you guys.
One thing I had to do this time was not let myself back down and really try to get my parents on board. They watch the kids everyday and well, its hard when they get that junk there and like Kelly said - it's maddening. I don't know why they feel the need to give them junk when they will eat better stuff. I think my mom is thinking twice though because Gavin is telling her no (because I told him they aren't supposed to eat it) and telling on them when he sees me, LOL. In order for me to stick with it, I'm not having chicken nuggets in the fridge, just in case. I am also making sure to make meals I know he likes at least 2-3 times a week, that are real meals. Another thing I am doing is picking something big and something little each week and specifically working on it. Last week was grilled/baked chicken and pudding - sugar free. (I know the pudding sounds weird but he would never try it before and I need more lunch ideas and desserts that aren't necessarily desserts, kwim?) This week I asked him if he wanted to work on pizza or hamburgers and he picked pizza. The small thing will be yogurt. Again, I know the pizza is weird but he is left out at birthday parties and class parties so I want him to overcome that hurdle. We are going to make it at home and he is going to help so it will end up being okay healthy wise.
Another thing I explained to them is that we can have chicken nuggets once in a while - when we go to mcdonalds - but no more at home or mimi's house and only occasionally at mcdonalds. I really have no plans to go there but it seemed to help them that the option was there, kwim?
Don't know if this helped at all but I hope so. I know how hard it is and in your situation, I can't imagine! I would have been the same way giving him whatever to eat. You just want them to eat sometimes and you don't care what it is as long as it's SOMEthing. Anyway, good luck, I'd love to hear about your progress.
i think i would not survive without chicken nuggets. i make it better on myself by buying the tyson chicken breast nuggets.
we have been doing better here as well. i love the kraft magazine cook books.
See, we tried to go that route and they would only eat the cheap-o banquet kind. Honestly, I'm glad because if they were the "healthy" chicken nuggets I probably would have talked myself out of it. I also think in moderation is fine but for us, for now, I had to not have them on hand because it would be too easy to fall into old habits.
how about if you guys make your own nuggets? i make my own out of organic chicken breast, organic breadcrumbs, etc- they take two seconds. you can also do tofu nuggets or whatever else. you can also do pizzas in the toaster out of english muffins and some shredded mozz and sauce, etc. would they go for homemade? i have some VERY simple chicken nugget recipes if you want. i also do whole wheat grilled cheese in the toaster to eliminate the butter.
how about if you guys make your own nuggets? i make my own out of organic chicken breast, organic breadcrumbs, etc- they take two seconds. you can also do tofu nuggets or whatever else. you can also do pizzas in the toaster out of english muffins and some shredded mozz and sauce, etc. would they go for homemade? i have some VERY simple chicken nugget recipes if you want. i also do whole wheat grilled cheese in the toaster to eliminate the butter.
We typically do home made pizza too - either a full size with home made dough or personal size on some little flatbread. I want Gavin to help me make it so that he might have an easier time eating it. It will just be cheese but that is a start for him.
