Guest guest Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 I did break my dd from this when she was about 4. It takes consistency, so if you are not home with your child you will have to share it with caregivers, so your child learns across the board. You'll need a favorite treat on hand at all places your child engages (home, caregivers, grandma's) in eating non-edibles, and every time that hand goes into the dirt and toward the mouth, you will stop it from going to the mouth with a firm no, wipe off the dirt, and hand your child a treat. Words are important too. As you do it, " no, nasty sand...dont eat " and handing the snack to your child " eat food " .....i always worded everything as simply as possible because my dd's comprehension of language was not good. She only got the beginning and end words of a sentence anyway. Set it up, and do it for a long time over several days, being absolutely consistent with your response of what is appropriate. If you dont use the word nasty, use what your child has heard you use for something distasteful. That is the word they will understand. Sesame Street has a book about the grocery store, which is where edible food comes from, and it was called " Dont Eat the Oatmeal " . Use something like this to reinforce edible foods...or you could write a book called " dont eat the dirt " , lol, and reinforce the negatives. One day you will think to yourself... " i havent seen her eat dirt in a long time " , and you will realize you beat it. People call it Pica but in our kids it may not be. If it is unbeatable, I would consider it being true PICA, which would be corrected my mineral supplements. But if i thought that was the case, i'd take my child to the doctor and be sure what minerals she needed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 My concern with this approach is the he might start eating dirt in order to be given the treat, thereby rewarding the inappropriate behavior. Better to give him a treat when you see that he's NOT eating the dirt. You could try giving him appropriate things to chew on, or even snacks if it seems like he's hungry, but not something special. Just my thoughts on that. I think the best thing would be giving him a rice table outside (or even just a big bin) with a lid, then when he goes out he can play with that and maybe not be as intereseted in the sand. Amnesty > > I did break my dd from this when she was about 4. It takes > consistency, so if you are not home with your child you will have > to share it with caregivers, so your child learns across the board. > You'll need a favorite treat on hand at all places your child engages > (home, caregivers, grandma's) in eating non-edibles, and every time > that hand goes into the dirt and toward the mouth, you will stop it > from going to the mouth with a firm no, wipe off the dirt, and hand > your child a treat. Words are important too. As you do it, " no, > nasty sand...dont eat " and handing the snack to your child " eat > food " .....i always worded everything as simply as possible because > my dd's comprehension of language was not good. She only got the > beginning and end words of a sentence anyway. Set it up, and do it > for a long time over several days, being absolutely consistent with > your response of what is appropriate. If you dont use the word > nasty, use what your child has heard you use for something > distasteful. That is the word they will understand. Sesame Street > has a book about the grocery store, which is where edible food comes > from, and it was called " Dont Eat the Oatmeal " . Use something like > this to reinforce edible foods...or you could write a book > called " dont eat the dirt " , lol, and reinforce the negatives. One > day you will think to yourself... " i havent seen her eat dirt in a > long time " , and you will realize you beat it. People call it Pica > but in our kids it may not be. If it is unbeatable, I would > consider it being true PICA, which would be corrected my mineral > supplements. But if i thought that was the case, i'd take my child > to the doctor and be sure what minerals she needed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 My daughter had a problem with Pica. The M.D. advised us to put her on vitamins. Since she hates to take medicine, and would not even eat the chewable vitamins, we gave her Pedisure. It really helped, a lot!!! She was taken off of the Pediasure, because it made her gain some weight, and now she is starting to ingest non-food items. She will not eat the gummy-bear type vitamins, and she won't eat gum balls. Any suggestions? We also tried the drops, but couldn't effectively mask the taste---she could even detect them in a spoon full of cake icing! Rome, Georgia People call it Pica > > but in our kids it may not be. If it is unbeatable, I would > > consider it being true PICA, which would be corrected my mineral > > supplements. But if i thought that was the case, i'd take my > child > > to the doctor and be sure what minerals she needed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2004 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 I don't know how many calories Pedisure has. You could check out Ensure. My daughter calls it yum-yummy. She likes the chocolate flavored Walmart brand of Ensure. Ensure Plus has 350 calories a can, regular Ensure has 250 calories. Debbie Reynolds Re: Eating dirt, sand My daughter had a problem with Pica. The M.D. advised us to put her on vitamins. Since she hates to take medicine, and would not even eat the chewable vitamins, we gave her Pedisure. It really helped, a lot!!! She was taken off of the Pediasure, because it made her gain some weight, and now she is starting to ingest non-food items. She will not eat the gummy-bear type vitamins, and she won't eat gum balls. Any suggestions? We also tried the drops, but couldn't effectively mask the taste---she could even detect them in a spoon full of cake icing!Rome, GeorgiaPeople call it Pica > > but in our kids it may not be. If it is unbeatable, I would > > consider it being true PICA, which would be corrected my mineral > > supplements. But if i thought that was the case, i'd take my > child > > to the doctor and be sure what minerals she needed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 Before my daughter started swallowing pills, we used super Nu-Thera liquid and then powder mixed in her O.J. We had to stop though because after a round of antibiotics for strep throat, she developed an allergy to O.J. Kirkman labs sell samples for most of their items so you can try small amounts and see if she'll take. Darla -----Original Message-----From: [mailto:Dormmom34@...]Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 3:42 PMautism Subject: Re: Eating dirt, sandMy daughter had a problem with Pica. The M.D. advised us to put her on vitamins. Since she hates to take medicine, and would not even eat the chewable vitamins, we gave her Pedisure. It really helped, a lot!!! She was taken off of the Pediasure, because it made her gain some weight, and now she is starting to ingest non-food items. She will not eat the gummy-bear type vitamins, and she won't eat gum balls. Any suggestions? We also tried the drops, but couldn't effectively mask the taste---she could even detect them in a spoon full of cake icing!Rome, GeorgiaPeople call it Pica > > but in our kids it may not be. If it is unbeatable, I would > > consider it being true PICA, which would be corrected my mineral > > supplements. But if i thought that was the case, i'd take my > child > > to the doctor and be sure what minerals she needed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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