helenmorbey Report post Posted February 21, 2006 Ok ive picked your brains over the last few days, perhaps you can help me with another? How do you get your kids to eat??? Mt little one just seems to live on yogurts (ive tried putting fruit in) and only the little smooth fromage frais ones at that! Occasionally will eat weetabix, tiny bits of carrot or broccoli and cheese spread (on its own not on bread) thats it! Another question how do you get them in their own beds??? Weve done it once or twice and shes settled but when something happens that upsets her (mostly at nursery) shes back to bad dreams then in our bed. Im sure ill have loads of questions for you, hopefully soon i will be able to offer advice back, thanks Helen x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baileyj Report post Posted February 21, 2006 Hi Helen, My son Max is 5, with the eating, weve found we can't do anything about it, he won't deviate, so we just go with it and at least its something. About the bed, with Max, we put in a TV & Video and let him fall to sleep with it on, it distracts him. I'm sure people would say its the wrong thing to do, but hey, it works for us. Jo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paula Report post Posted February 21, 2006 My As son is now 12. He used to live on ready brek thats all hed eat.Then it was sandwiches for every meal.We also just went with the flow at least he was eating something.He now eats a variety of foods full sunday dinners and stuff and likes veg and fruite will drink milk and smoothies so dont worry too much. And if sticking the tv on helps them fall asleep then why not.You do anything to get sleep.Our son wont go to bed unless we go to bed.So he stays up watching tv with us till turned 10 at night.If we force him upstaires he just wanders round and causes bother so its not worth the hassle.When we all go up he settles down. Though he has a tendency to want to sleep fully clothed.Againe i let him get on with it because if i insist on removeing clothes he only redresses himself in the dark when ive gone. Theres some sort of logic i guess to what he does who am i to question. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet Report post Posted February 21, 2006 I wanted Ds1 to eat his beef curry for dinner today and he wouldn't touch it. So I resorted to drastic measures and poured custard over it! Result - half the plate cleared pretty quickly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justamom Report post Posted February 21, 2006 I agree with Paula and Baileyj, you really have to go with the flow, my son as a youngster only at carrots and butternut, he started to turn orange ( should not laught but thats what happened). He is still a fussy eater but things change from month to month and he is so much better just go with the phases.. As for sleeping we have had major problems from birth not settling, night tremors , not sleeping waking up at the crack of dawn you name it and eventually I put him in with me and that was a big mistake we have finally got him to sleep in his own bed, witht he telly on but its what works for you... good luck justamom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paula Report post Posted February 21, 2006 Bullet Weird food combinations thats a topic. My son likes to dip chips into cold milk. Yuck. And he eats his desert befor his maine meal at times or combines realy sweet things with savoury stuff.Hes a right messy eater too and once placed a bowel of baked beans on his head.We all just kinda carried on eating.I mean what can you do. But his worst most disgusting habit is he wont wipe his nose (fear of toilet paper ect) so hell have horrid green snot coming out of his nose and hell wipe it of with his finger and then eat it with a mouthfull of bread. That is gross.Weve tried saying dont do that ect but he wont listen.We all shudder. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loulou Report post Posted February 21, 2006 Hi, I have a very fussy eater too. I give him multivitamins as his diet is restricted. I have found that by leaving little "snacks" around the house, he will nibble on them (eventually). I have read that you need to introduce a new food something like 17 times before it may be accepted. I use to put a few slices of banana, apple, cheese etc in a bowl and put it near my son. I'd leave the room so i didn't put any pressure on him and it worked eventually. Also, playing with food sometimes works, like making funny faces out of stuff, even if they don't eat it, it's a start. As for the sleeping issue, my son has story tapes to listen to at bed-time, which help him relax. He also has a soft night-light which he still has on now (he's 7). He used to think that monsters were coming to get him, so we bought a big soft tiger, which sits in the door way and is a "guard". Still works now! Loulou x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kirstie Report post Posted February 21, 2006 Yep, Lewis is a fussy eater too! I don't know how he is such a strapping big boy when he lives on milk, fries to go and crisps. he will eat sausages and cooked dry pasta though. I wonder how he has so much energy! I don't make an issue of anything to do with food , if he tries something new i try and play it down and praise him at the same time don't worry too much, it's not uncommon for a lot of kids and particularly ours. They tend to let us know if they're hungry. as for sleep, again it would seem a lot of our kids on the spectrum just can't or don't sleep. My son used to climb into our bed during the night but i would try and make him uncomfortable, like stick an elbow in his back (sounds mean i know, but needs must....... ) he doesn't come through nearly a soften as he used to... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KarenT Report post Posted February 22, 2006 J's always been a very fussy eater too. After four years of chicken nuggets, chips and beans for tea every night, our breakthrough came during the Sydney Olympics when J got obsessed with the Olympic rings and the fact that they represented the continents. Out of nowhere he decided he'd like to try carrots sliced into Olympic rings, but he still couldnt' eat a whole one and we had to sit with him, hand-feeding half slices of carrot and quickly following it down with the beans. Gradually he lost his fear of trying new foods and went on to other veg. Same happened with the nuggets - we advanced him to Chicken Bites because they looked a bit like the real thing, using the same technique of following it down with something familiar. Eventually he'd eat real chicken and from there it was fairly easy to encourage him to try turkey, sausages, fresh tuna and homemade burgers. The trick was not to make too big a deal about it, be patient and not make him eat anything that was causing him distress. The whole process was led by him. We also have a chart on the wall of foods he likes, plus others showing foods he wants to try and the important one which shows what he wants to try this week. Any new foods get added to the I Like list and he gets tokens for them, adding to the incentive. He's grid-referenced the charts and we play food-definition games at the table, which serves a double purpose of keeping him there in the first place as well as talking about food and making it more accessible. He's now less afraid of food and will at least look at new things and tolerate them on his plate, even if he won't eat them. We've found that although his range of foods will vary the number of items on it at any one time remains the same. It's pointless adding too many foods into it because we can't rotate them freqequently enough to keep him interested and if he doesn't have certain foods regularly then they drop off the list of what's acceptable to him. Nowadays he has a very healthy diet, consisting mostly of fresh (unprocessed) meat and vegetables, wholemeal bread, pasta and milk/yoghurt. We're quite happy with that - at least it's keeping him well - but it's still a pain trying to feed him out of the home as we can rarely find anything he'll tolerate. As for bedtime, we've not had to much trouble with that because J slept in his own room from about four months. If yours likes to come to your own bed you might try allowing her some time in there before she goes to her own room. That way she gets her comfort and cuddles but still knows that she belongs in her own room. I guess consistency of rules is key here. J likes to read in my bed every night and has a brief cuddle with me before he goes to bed - he knows the rule and it works for him. Good luck with both! Karen x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sylv Report post Posted February 23, 2006 Nick always was fussy. He smells food also before he eats it. Since a very young age he eats meatballs....he likes crossaints and those drink yogurts, none with bits in it. He used to drink fizz and eat chocolate rolls or chocolate spread sandwiches, but he soils still and we just changed his diet last year. So he gets chocolate as a treat at the weekends and very rarly (i.e visit by McDonald, KFC etc) fizz. He wont touch any kind of vegetables neither raw nor cooked. We try to encourage him though. He doesnt like meat that much. What he could eat is Pasta/Bolognese and Pasta with white sauce and salmon in it...I know that sounds strange but that are his favourite. He just is very sensitive to the consistence of the food. SylvXXX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lindy-lou Report post Posted February 23, 2006 Ok ive picked your brains over the last few days, perhaps you can help me with another? How do you get your kids to eat??? Mt little one just seems to live on yogurts (ive tried putting fruit in) and only the little smooth fromage frais ones at that! Occasionally will eat weetabix, tiny bits of carrot or broccoli and cheese spread (on its own not on bread) thats it! Another question how do you get them in their own beds??? Weve done it once or twice and shes settled but when something happens that upsets her (mostly at nursery) shes back to bad dreams then in our bed. Im sure ill have loads of questions for you, hopefully soon i will be able to offer advice back, thanks Helen x India lives on butter sandwiches,she has a passion for butter and will eat it straight from the tub if we let her she will eat a mouthful of something else but that is all,she will not sit still long enough to eat a meal,consequnces are that she is anaemic and on iron supplements,im hoping that she will just start to enjoy food and will maybe tell me she is hungry one day(she is never ever hungry) I wanted Ds1 to eat his beef curry for dinner today and he wouldn't touch it. So I resorted to drastic measures and poured custard over it! Result - half the plate cleared pretty quickly oooh to early to read that India was eating beef crisps and soaking them in strawberry custard the other day Mmm nice Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleRae Report post Posted February 23, 2006 I've given up worrying about DS & his food - it's a limited diet but it's workable. It's his NT 3 yr old sister I worry more about - bread & butter sandwiches & petits filous, sometimes chicken nuggets. DS however has to blow or sniff his food and loves to pour milk or coke on everything!! A Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
