Trust Your Turtle: Patience with Picky Eating Progress

Here’s a story I read recently and shared with a client when she asked, “How can I get my daughter to accept new foods on her plate once she’s feeling good about her safe foods? Can’t I just put them on her plate?”   A woman was with her college geology class on a field trip by a river. She noticed a turtle up the river bank near a road and worried that the turtle would get hit by a car. So, she carried the turtle back down the hill and put it in the water. Afterwards, the professor came to her and said, “That turtle has probably spent weeks crawling up the hill to lay her eggs in the muddy slope and now she will have to start all over again.” The moral was, “Ask the turtle first.” (Gloria Steinem from her book, My Life on the Road) (See below our clarification of “ask”. Most children won’t want to be verbally queried along the way. Our moral is to be responsive to your turtle.)    What does this have to do with feeding? Well, many children with extreme picky eating have anxiety around foods, and often have struggled for years. As parents, and even professionals, we hope for and want improvements NOW, or in say,  six weeks. But progress is generally slow, slow, slow, and it might not look like what we think of as “progress” (eating new foods). Sometimes when we miss early signs of progress (less anxiety, eating more safe foods, curious about foods but not yet tasting or eating them...) it is easy to want to rush the process, to pick up our little turtles and carry...

5 Tips to Support, Not Sabotage, Your Child’s Appetite

Four- year-old Nathan ate fewer than ten foods, “failed” twelve months of behavioral and sensory feeding therapies, and was holding steady at the first percentile for weight. Medical and oral-motor work-up was unremarkable. On the advice of a dietitian, his mom offered his favorite straw cup with Pediasure several times a day, which he would sometimes sip. Mom, Elise tried effusive praise and rewards of stickers for any bites he would take, but this was becoming less and less effective. Mom described Nathan as cautious, not overly anxious, but “incredibly strong-willed.” She shared, “If he even thinks we want him to eat something, he shuts down. The only food he has tried in the past year was entirely on his terms, usually away from home.” Elise describes their routine: 6:30– 7:00 a.m.: sippy cup of milk— Nathan enjoys cuddle time in bed with mother, father, and baby sister, who gets a bottle at the same time 8– 9:15 a.m.: at the table for breakfast (with cartoons) 10– 11:30 a.m.: snack, sips of Pediasure and crackers while wandering around 12– 1:30 p.m.: lunch (with iPad) 3– 4:00 p.m.: snack (crackers while playing) 5– 6:45 p.m.: dinner, with Mom, Dad and sibling, Nathan is last to leave the table Nathan’s story is not uncommon, and illustrates five opportunities to support appetite: 1. Phase out the morning pre-breakfast drink. Many families use supplements or milk to support calories and nutrition, giving a sippy cup or bottle first thing when their children are likely to drink a good amount, often with a cuddle. Alas, this kills appetite for breakfast, but parents may fail to make the connection....

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