Last week
was my husband’s birthday. For his birthday, my children wanted to make daddy a
cake. They picked out the cake flavor, icing, and candies. When we got home,
they helped me put everything in the bowl, stir, and prepare it in the pan.
While it cooked for 20 minutes, they sat by the oven and watched. Then, they
watched the cake cool. After cooling, they had the best time putting the icing
and candy on the cake. I had to work very hard to keep them from eating it. All
they talked about for hours was this cake and eating it; however, once daddy
came home and we cut the cake, they were not interested. My son said he didn’t
want it because the cake was now broken.
It is so
interesting to me that the slightest change to a food can either keep my
children from eating it or make them want more of it. I see this often with my
picky eaters. A lot of the time, it is not the food itself that they are
rejecting, but the presentation of the food. For example, they were eating the
cake as a whole, but didn’t want it sliced.
Here are
some changes we have made in the presentation of food that have helped:
1.
Separate all food into different
sections on a tray/ plate or into different bowls
Last week my son wanted peaches and pancakes for breakfast. He was so
excited to eat them. His child plates with sections were dirty, so I deicide to put his food on a regular plate. When I was carrying his plate to him, some of the peaches
(on the opposite side as the pancakes) moved down the plate and were now
touching his pancakes. He said that his food was now ruined. He wouldn’t even
try it because the peaches touched the pancakes. I ended up remaking his meal and putting the peaches and pancakes in
two separate bowls. He then ate every bite.
2.
Change the size of the bite
At Subway, I tried to get my daughter to eat some of her turkey sandwich.
I broke the sandwich into small bite size pieces and tried to feed them to her.
She kept spitting them out. My son after five minutes of this told me that I
was doing it all wrong. He told me that the therapist “just takes a pinch”. He
took a pinch of bread, chip, and turkey and put them together. Then he told my
daughter to open her mouth. She did and ate it! Instead of a bite, she wanted a
pinch and a chip to be added in.
3.
Change the consistency
One of our favorite foods to eat as a family is beans. My husband grew up
on beans and rice. Both of my children have refused to even try them until a
month ago when my daughter’s speech therapist recommended changing the
consistency. We gave the kids their beans and a fork to smash them. The kids
had so much fun smashing their beans and for the first time ever, they put them
in their mouth!
4.
Have the child pick out a special
plate or bowl for their food
Sometimes the presentation comes down to a special plate or bowl. Feeding
disorders have a lot to do with control. The child wants to feel in control of
their eating. Letting them pick out the “Mickey” plate or “Cars” bowl can
sometimes make the difference on whether or not they eat the food.
5.
Make sure the spoon isn’t making the
bite too big
Last week during speech, my
daughter was having a hard time with applesauce. The spoon she wanted to use
was giving her a large bite. Once the spoon was switched, she had no problem.
Our Speech Therapist has really helped me look at food
differently. If my child is struggling with eating, I try really hard to find out
what I need to change to make a difference in their eating. To me, it is not a
big deal if I need to make the bites really small or puree the food. I just
want them to take a bite. Once they get use to the taste and texture, they will
feel more confident in what they are eating. After they become more confident, I
can increase the thickness or size of the food.
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