Re: Re: eating habits (long) /

[Guest guest]

Oh, I didn't take offense at all to what you said. I'm very frustrated with the

situation (and try very hard to keep that to

myself). !!! Sorry if I came across as mad.

Sent from my iPhone

> Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that our kids behaviors necessarily improve

when we back off. Often they don't. I just meant that my eventual acceptance of

quirky or limited choices made it easier for me to live with it. And some things

we have to push in order to keep them alive and reasonably healthy. I hope the

scope went well. We've done many procedures under general and the relief when

they are over is immense. I'm thinking of you and today and hoping all goes

well.

>

> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

>

> RE: Need to replace ketchup (long)

> >>

> >> It has been my experience that sometimes I just have to give in and let my

12 year old son, ph, eat what he wants to eat to keep him from having a

serious health problem (and to preserve my sanity and peace in our home). ph

will starve himself to death if he doesn't get the food he wants. We want him to

eat a healthy diet and have tried many times to get him to change to a healthy

diet, but we're not willing to reach the point of a feeding tube to do so. We

came extremely close to a feeding tube when he was 4.

> >> When ph was 4, we stopped giving him baby food at the insistence of his

physician. The doctor told us to stop the baby food cold turkey and force him to

eat regular food. Fortunately, ph was eating graham crackers and applesauce

in addition to the baby food when we stopped the baby food. He ate only small

amounts of applesauce and graham crackers for about a year after we stopped the

baby food. We tried everything we could think of to get him to eat the healthy

foods the rest of us were eating. Toast was one of the first things, other than

graham crackers and applesauce, that ph decided to eat. Chicken nuggets and

corn dogs followed when we let him point out what appealed to him during a trip

to the grocery store. We were desperate to get food into him! He was down to

skin and bones and looked like a concentration camp victim. He very slowly

gained weight after we gave in and let him eat what he wanted to eat, not what

we wanted him to eat.

> >>

> >> As ph has gotten older, my husband and I have tried numerous times to

get him to change his diet by withholding his favorite foods until he tries

something new. We tell him he has to eat only one bite before he can have his

favorite foods. Every single time he will not try the new food and would rather

starve. He throws the offensive food on the floor (and is disciplined for doing

so). Are we supposed to forcefully place the food we want him to eat in his

mouth and force him to chew and swallow it? (This tactic was suggested by a

therapist.) We're not willing to do so. It's too traumatic for all involved.

Therefore, we allow him to eat his chosen diet of toast with butter, applesauce,

and sausage links with ketchup every day for breakfast; corn dogs with ketchup

and tortilla chips every day for lunch; and chicken nuggets with ketchup and

tortilla chips every day for dinner. He won't vary from it. He doesn't even like

to have someone next to him

> >> eating something that offends his sense of smell or sight. He has tried to

throw their food onto the floor and been disciplined for it. Casseroles are the

worst offense to him.

> >> ph's 6 siblings (ages 2, 6, 7, 9, 14, & 17) have all tried to get him

to try the healthy foods that the rest of us eat. They even help to make it.

They tell ph how good it is and offer it to him. He says " yuck " and refuses

it.

> >> None of us in our family understand why ph won't at least try something

new. We feel that we've done all we can to get him to change and he just won't.

> >> Dena

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>