Did you know that developing the lower brain and midbrain is related to the movements of early childhood? And, that because of neuroplasticity, these movements can be...
It might seem strange, but it's common for picky eaters to eat only white or beige foods and refuse most other colors of food. But, there's a good...
I’m sharing a roundup of healthy meal ideas that your little picky eaters will love! They will love these simple yet delicious healthy meal ideas and recipes!
Did you know that developing the lower brain and midbrain is related to the movements of early childhood? And, that because of neuroplasticity, these movements can be...
If your child has autism and/or sensory processing disorder, we’ve got 16 simple to set-up oral motor activities for kids to help with a variety of challenges like picky eating and inappropriate chewing, sucking & biting.
The oral motor system is how all the sensory systems work together inside the mouth. The oral motor system enables you to chew, taste, speak, swallow, etc.
How to eat liver without tasting it - 3 fail proof methods that are approved by picky eaters and kids alike!
A take on why generalization should be avoided when dealing with water preferences and/or other preferences of autistic individuals.
This collection of ADHD diet breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert recipes is perfect for the whole family – even for picky eaters!
Look to see what Your Kid's Table has to offer by checking out our article index and all the articles and information we have to offer parents.
Have a picky toddler? Try these food play ideas! Adding fun during meals allows toddlers to relax, be curious, and eventually try new foods.
Refusing to eat, or difficult behaviors during meals, can be frustrating to say the least. These are my 12 ways to help a picky eater on the autism spectrum learn to eat new foods, different types and textures of foods, new flavors and more. Let’s bring the fun back to mealtimes! My Getting Picky Eaters...
If you deal with picky kids (or even spouses) I highly recommend reading the book French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon. Several readers recommended it to me, and I am so glad they
Question My child with Aspergers loves pizza rolls. Problem is that's about all he eats (cheese only - doesn't like pepperoni or sausage). He would eat pizza rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let him. Is there any way to lure him into eating some fruits and/or vegetables? Answer Most Aspergers (high functioning autistic) children prefer just a few food items. And it can become quite a power struggle for parents when they attempt to get their child to try anything new. However, there are some ways that parents can "sneak" some healthy stuff into their child's belly. Here are a few tips that may work: 1. Don't get hung up on the time of day your Aspergers youngster eats – or how much he eats in one sitting. It is perfectly fine if your Aspie doesn't eat three square meals every day as long as over the course of a week or two he eats a few things from each food group. 2. Concoct creative camouflages. There are all kinds of possible variations on the old standby "cheese in the trees" (cheese melted on steamed broccoli florets), or you can all enjoy the pleasure of veggies topped with peanut- butter sauce, a specialty of Asian cuisines. 3. Make veggie art. Create colorful faces with olive-slice eyes, tomato ears, mushroom noses, bell-pepper mustaches, and any other playful features you can think of. Zucchini pancakes, for example, make a terrific face to which you can add pea eyes, a carrot nose, and cheese hair. 4. Plant a garden with your Aspergers child. Let him help care for the plants, harvest the ripe vegetables, and wash and prepare them. He will probably be much more interested in eating what he has helped to grow. 5. Slip grated or diced vegetables into favorite foods. Try adding them to rice, cottage cheese, cream cheese, guacamole, or even macaroni and cheese. 6. Steam your greens. They are much more flavorful and usually sweeter than when raw. 7. Using a small cookie cutter, cut the vegetables into interesting shapes. 8. Give your youngster acknowledgement and praise, even if he takes only one bite of something new. For example: "It's great that you tried the green beans!" 9. Let go of the power struggle. You can't force your youngster to do anything, especially eat, so just stop trying. Simply offer him nutritious, varied foods – and eat them yourself. He can have his, or not, but you're showing him how. When moms and dads demand that their children eat certain foods, they're attaching negative connotations to it. Pretty soon, the struggle is worse. Put the food on his plate, but if it stays there, don't push him – and don't stress over it. 10. Offer alternatives if your youngster won't eat meat. The texture turns off many Aspergers kids, and that's fine. Your youngster can still get all the protein he needs from the following: cheese or even meat-filled ravioli (the pasta exterior goes a long way for meat-haters) hard-boiled eggs or any egg dish his favorite crackers dipped in hummus or spread with peanut (or nut) butter mini-tuna melts nachos with beans and cheese yogurt, cheese, or cottage cheese 11. Offer choices that don't matter. You may face stubborn insistence that toast have a corner unbuttered to avoid messy hands, or that cereal be served only in a square bowl, or that nothing gets touched by the preparer of the food. While this kind of behavior is seemingly ridiculous, it's typical of Aspergers kids. Offering your youngster a limited choice is often enough to end the power struggle. But make your rules clear: "At home, you can choose your plate, but when we're eating out, you have to use whatever plates they have." 12. You may have to stick with one basic food color. Aspergers children may like a lot of colors in their pictures, but not always on their plates. When he only wants white foods, for example, consider: fruit smoothies (blend a banana with vanilla yogurt) half white-/half whole-wheat (make toast and sandwiches in fun shapes using cookie cutters) mac and cheese made with whole-wheat (or whole-wheat blend) macaroni oven-baked fries (half regular and half sweet potato to ease your youngster into the idea of trying other spuds) 13. Be creative with the veggies. Hating vegetables is the most common picky-eater problems with Aspergers kids. To convince your child that eating vegetables is not poisonous, try one or more of the following: carrot slices and baby corn are a good start toward more serious veggie consumption lettuce wraps (use a filling he'll eat, like turkey or cream cheese, and wrap it in a romaine lettuce leaf) put a plate of raw veggies next to a sure thing (e.g., grilled cheese sandwich) to lure your child into eating at least one bite thinly sliced veggies stir-fried with teriyaki sauce with a little chicken and rice try dressing (e.g., honey mustard, ranch, ketchup, melted butter) with veggies for dipping veggie lasagna water chestnuts have little taste and can be a good stepping-stone to serious veggies zucchini muffins 14. Many Aspergers kids like to “nitpick” their way through food (i.e., a nibble here – a nibble there). Use an ice-cube tray, a muffin tin, or a compartmentalized dish, and put bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods in each section. Give these “finger foods” names in order to disguise how disgustingly healthy that may be, such as: egg canoes (hard- boiled egg wedges) cheese building blocks carrot swords (cooked and thinly sliced) broccoli trees (steamed broccoli florets) banana wheels avocado boats (a quarter of an avocado) apple moons (thinly sliced) Place the food on an easy-to-reach table. As your Aspie makes his rounds through the house, he can stop, sit down, nibble a bit, and, when he's done, continue on his way. These foods have a table-life of an hour or two. 15. A veggie pizza is one the most cleaver ways to disguise healthy foods. We tried a spinach-cheese pizza with our 5-year-old several years ago. We knew he probably wouldn’t even touch it – but guess what? It is his favorite food item now! Go figure :) More resources for parents of children and teens with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's: ==> How To Prevent Meltdowns and Tantrums In Children With High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's ==> Parenting System that Significantly Reduces Defiant Behavior in Teens with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism ==> Launching Adult Children with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism: Guide for Parents Who Want to Promote Self-Reliance ==> Teaching Social Skills and Emotion Management to Children and Teens with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism ==> Parenting Children and Teens with High-Functioning Autism: Comprehensive Handbook ==> Unraveling The Mystery Behind Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism: Audio Book ==> Highly Effective Research-Based Parenting Strategies for Children with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism
Some children will eat anything with a new tool or utensil. Here are the best utensils to get toddlers and kids interested in new foods.
ARFID in children, or Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, is commonly known as extreme picky eating. Learn more about it here.
Front Street Deli, a casual food joint in Altoona, Pennsylvania crafted the perfect menu for picky eaters and difficult kids. Parents will get a kick out of this.
Have a picky eater? Why this simple role reversal will change everything!
Learn how to introduce solids in a way that helps to prevent food allergies using the latest guidelines and recommendations.
Did you know that developing the lower brain and midbrain is related to the movements of early childhood? And, that because of neuroplasticity, these movements can be...
With stories about healthful information offered up in engaging style, V for Veg will delight veg-heads & may spur meat eaters to explore vegan options.
This is a simple, visual handout to help families understand the components of a feeding disorder. It helps organize the information clearly so that your entire team can understand the four areas that need to be addressed in a "whole child" approach. You can get more info on the 4 areas of feeding in this blog post .
When the cold and flu season comes around, you might find it helpful to have this elderberry immunity syrup with rose hips and astragalus in supply!
Six tips to help your child take medicine in a low stress manor from a mom and pediatric occupational therapist.
TONS of ways for kids of all ages to explore chemistry, biology, physics, and earth science with food items you have in your kitchen! EPIC LIST!
A registered dietitian is considered the expert in the field of nutrition science...Childhood Nutrition and Wellness Books Written by Registered Dietitians
Slippery foods, mushy foods, bready foods, mixed textures...there are so many ways texture aversions can manifest in kids. Here's how to help picky eaters!
If your child has autism and/or sensory processing disorder, we’ve got 16 simple to set-up oral motor activities for kids to help with a variety of challenges like picky eating and inappropriate chewing, sucking & biting.
Lots of children with autism struggle with picky eating, and yet, these challenges are highly individual. The reason why your child with autism and picky eating might refuse to eat new foods could be very different than another child on the spectrum.
Sharing is Caring! Tweet Pin It P is for Parenting: The Curse of the Picky Eater Anyone who has been around a toddler can tell you that they are notoriously picky eaters. Tiny, stubborn, insanely frustrating eaters. What they will eat one day, they will turn their nose up at the next day. And try Continue reading
Excuse me while I hide my Costco-sized box of mac 'n' cheese.
25 Tips for Dealing with Picky Eaters
What is food chaining? Get the answer and learn what ages it's best for and how to use this effective feeding therapy strategy to help any kid, especially picky eaters, learn to eat new foods.
Learn exactly what pocketing food is, strategies for how to move past it, and why kids, toddlers, and even babies will pocket their food!
Learn dozens of ways to set up and encourage your child to play with their food so that they eat new and different foods! Playing with food is one of my favorite strategies as an occupational therapist...
Anna Bykova is a lazy mom. And she isn’t ashamed to admit that. Moreover, the psychologist and the author of several best-selling books is even proud of this “title” as she believes that it gives her children an opportunity to become more independent. However, by laziness, Anna doesn’t mean lying on the sofa all day long, but a desire to not do everything herself. For example, sometimes it’s better to be “lazy” and let a 7-year-old do the dishes to improve their fine motor skills. And it’s fine that you’ll have to wipe the floor dry after this and wash the dishes again when the child isn’t looking.
Learn to make your own herbal children's multi-vitamin formula to boost your child's nutrition using herbs! It's simple and tastes great!
For those who’ve never had a problem with potatoes viciously touching the meat on your plate like in Michelangelo’s famous fresco “The Creation Of Adam,” eating is like a walk in the park. When the sun it’s out, it’s fun, and when it’s raining, you just try to get it over with.
Both Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and picky eating may involve loss of appetite, weight loss, strong food preferences, and nutritional deficiency. These are also commonly manifested during childhood and may both benefit from the
Juicy Spheres Snack - Easy Kitchen Science: This is an easy, fun way to play with your food! If you have picky kids, you could do some juicing of fruits and veggies and then create these "caviar" jellies out of it. This only involves two ingredients! ...and a cup of oil! If you've never hear…
Authentic Vietnamese Egg Roll (Cha Gio) recipe! Crunchy egg rolls with a flavorful filling made with shrimp, ground pork, bean thread noodles, wood ear mushrooms and veggies. Serve with Nouc Mam sauce!
Don't Decorate - Design! It is back to school time, and teachers all across the US are frantically putting up posters and bulletin boards to decorate their room before the first day of school. But instead
Does your toddler have sensory issues? Or just a normal toddler quirk? Personality or temperament? Should you be getting your toddler some extra help?
Why do children have sensory food aversions? And, how can you help them overcome sensory issues with food? Get the answers and 8 simple...
My Instagram feed is a judgment-free place where you can find easy tips on how to help your child add variety to their diet, implement mindful eating behaviors, mealtime strategies, and relevant information on feeding your infant, toddler or adolescent.
