FOOD - help please

[pip2jays]

LG - your post describes my middle child exactly.. He is 5 now.. and still this way.. I know you dont want to hear that.. BUT I have 8 years olds too ( 4 kids total) and they have grown out of it.. My 8 year old son was the same but nowhere near as bad as your and my sons.. I first noticed it at 10 months he would not go from puree to any kind of lumps at all.. I fed him puree till he was 3.. He would have bread and cruskits etc all the things you mentioned but would not try anything "normal" .. I have been very patient with him and not been overly active..I have had him cook with me shop with me and he chooses all the things mentioned but when it came to the crunch he wouldn’t put it in his mouth… however this past few months I have felt the frustration and I too want a normal child who sits and has a spag bol like all kids love.. I had to laugh though as he will eat schnitzel.. BUT only the one I make so I have to make it every second day .. that was my slow boil breaking point .. crumbing that chicken every second day ..LOL... anyway I do have a point..LOL..

I have worked out that he has a texture aversion.. I know this because his dad does too.. the plate of food has to match his perception of it.. so if food looks dry and then he tastes it and its mushy he gags and cant eat it and vice versa… if there are too many flavours of opposite on the plate he wont touch it.. because he cant tell what flavour he is anticipating.. So for example if its salty and sweet/sour in the same dish. He hates sauces of all and any, even tomato sauce!!! he will eat nuggets now but that took a year of trying.. He mainly eats white foods because they are texturally safe and mostly dry.. I cant even bribe him with "its sweet" no dice.. He is a sepretarian ( our term for it..LOL ) all the flavours must be separated. I had breakthrough this week that he actually had some noodles ( no flavour or topping but again they are white ) while the others had the whole spag bol.. so he prefers completely dry or completely smooth and nothing in between. I am of the firm belief he has a physical problem and its not a power struggle you know..

He will eat an apple but only if its crunchy and peeled ( so its white I gather..LOL) Oh and he will eat watermelon too.. not his favourite but will if I ask.. You don’t know how bad ..( maybe you do) I want him to eat eggs so I can broaden his nutrition base..

I give him vitamins and he will on occasion have v8 juice ( now comes in fruit mixes which I double strain but he does drink it.) and I ant really do much but ask and hope one day he will.. I have also had comments and helpful hints but you know if I had him sit there all day ( as my relatives think I should ) he would be quite happy to go to bed with nothing. I’m not into fighting and placing too much importance on food so I tend to make what he will eat and then try to coax him into eating and pray he will have something new.. Oh Oh another breakthrough the other day he had chicken out of its coating done in a soy sauce on the BBQ and he actually gave me the thumbs up… slowly slowly..

Anyway HTH with at least another person who understands..

I’m happy he eats cheese and yoghurt and apples and then chicken.. he has rice and cous cous at every meal and vegemite toast at every breakfast… what else can I do.. I do ask him now though what does this look like.. does it look like it will be sweet or salty?? I try to make his food Look like it tastes..