5 Pounds!
A lot of people have been asking me for updates on Keegan's food issues. If that's you, then here's our update!
We are BLESSED to be working with THE best food therapist/specialist possible. She is a speech therapist by degree but pretty much works all day, every day with kids who have feeding issues. Her own daughter is the female version of Keegan so she not only is educated on our issues but she has also been in my shoes. We are so thankful to be working with this woman. She's literally in the ditch with us and is willing to see us through.
So, how's the 'therapy' going? Well, there's been a 5 pound weight gain!!! Oh, wait... it was ME who gained the 5 lbs, not Keegan. You know, I'm just trying to set a good example for him!! (*sigh*)
We have been in "Phase 1" now since January. We feed Keegan meals every 2 hours, so that's 7 times a day. It's very time-consuming. Each meal is the same in size (in other words, snacks are 'big' like meals now & can involve cooking or preparation). For each of the 7 meals, I have to offer him: a protein, a starch, a fruit/veggie, a sweet, and milk. The choices should rotate a lot and not repeat within a couple of days. That's harder than it sounds when your child has a very limited list of what he will eat. And, this makes leaving the house very difficult. Or, having people over is hard too (because he won't eat when others are here and he's distracted). I document what foods he's offered, what he actually eats, and even conversations had or reactions that took place, etc. We're talking major Excel spreadsheets here.
So, why the 5 lbs? Well, imagine this. For any given day, I have to offer him 7 different sweets. I don't want to repeat any of them within 2 days, let's say, so that means I need 14 different sweet options for a 2-day window. Are you following me? That means at any given time, I have AT LEAST 14 different open containers of sweets in my pantry. We're talking a pantry full of cookies, Hostess cakes, candy, you name it! The same for the other categories as well. I also eat when I'm stressed and mealtime stresses me out. So, I'm the one eating well 7 times a day! :) At least I know the therapy works.... it's just working on the wrong person!
The therapy we do now is basically to rewire his thinking. We're not trying to challenge his pickiness yet much. In fact, we're sort of taking a step backwards with that. We just want him to learn to come to the table without fear, without pressure, and to make him comfortable at mealtime. We see progress already. He rarely seems afraid of mealtime (just a few instances). It's been awhile since he flipped out over certain foods sitting on his plate. He isn't complaining about what's on his plate at all anymore. He's caring less about his sweet (and even leaves it on his plate sometimes). And, mealtime is not wartime which is my favorite part.
A few things we're really working on too are:
1) All foods are equal. That's why we offer a sweet with each meal. When we offer dessert after a meal or later as a reward for eating a good meal, then we teach that "you have to eat the bad stuff to get the good". A sweet with a meal helps teach him that it's all the same.
2) Mealtime = No pressure! When he says he's done, I have to back off even if he ate nothing. I can encourage a little, but no more forcing him to sit there until he eats something or threatening him within an inch of his life.
3) No food rewards (no more M&Ms for good behavior, etc). All rewards in our house are non-food like stickers or temporary tattoos, etc.
4) Nothing can be tied to food. No more "If you eat this or that, we'll let you do XYZ".
We see definite progress already. He has been tasting many new foods throughout this process, all on his own (in comparison to going months without tasting a new food before our therapy started). His attitude towards food is changing and mealtime is less stressful for all of us.
Once we're ready, the next phases will include stretching his food list and getting him to eat more food variety. It's a very, very slow process because moving too fast will make him put his guard up again. We are thankful for our therapist who is walking us through these steps each week.
I'm not sure if he's gained any weight. Quite frankly, I rarely weigh him because that's not how we measure progress. I'm just pleased about the changes we see in his mindset. Praise God!
If you actually survived reading this long post, you deserve a treat! But, not a food-treat.... so help yourself to a sticker or tattoo!. :)
Thanks for everyone who has asked or cared!
We are BLESSED to be working with THE best food therapist/specialist possible. She is a speech therapist by degree but pretty much works all day, every day with kids who have feeding issues. Her own daughter is the female version of Keegan so she not only is educated on our issues but she has also been in my shoes. We are so thankful to be working with this woman. She's literally in the ditch with us and is willing to see us through.
So, how's the 'therapy' going? Well, there's been a 5 pound weight gain!!! Oh, wait... it was ME who gained the 5 lbs, not Keegan. You know, I'm just trying to set a good example for him!! (*sigh*)We have been in "Phase 1" now since January. We feed Keegan meals every 2 hours, so that's 7 times a day. It's very time-consuming. Each meal is the same in size (in other words, snacks are 'big' like meals now & can involve cooking or preparation). For each of the 7 meals, I have to offer him: a protein, a starch, a fruit/veggie, a sweet, and milk. The choices should rotate a lot and not repeat within a couple of days. That's harder than it sounds when your child has a very limited list of what he will eat. And, this makes leaving the house very difficult. Or, having people over is hard too (because he won't eat when others are here and he's distracted). I document what foods he's offered, what he actually eats, and even conversations had or reactions that took place, etc. We're talking major Excel spreadsheets here.
So, why the 5 lbs? Well, imagine this. For any given day, I have to offer him 7 different sweets. I don't want to repeat any of them within 2 days, let's say, so that means I need 14 different sweet options for a 2-day window. Are you following me? That means at any given time, I have AT LEAST 14 different open containers of sweets in my pantry. We're talking a pantry full of cookies, Hostess cakes, candy, you name it! The same for the other categories as well. I also eat when I'm stressed and mealtime stresses me out. So, I'm the one eating well 7 times a day! :) At least I know the therapy works.... it's just working on the wrong person!
The therapy we do now is basically to rewire his thinking. We're not trying to challenge his pickiness yet much. In fact, we're sort of taking a step backwards with that. We just want him to learn to come to the table without fear, without pressure, and to make him comfortable at mealtime. We see progress already. He rarely seems afraid of mealtime (just a few instances). It's been awhile since he flipped out over certain foods sitting on his plate. He isn't complaining about what's on his plate at all anymore. He's caring less about his sweet (and even leaves it on his plate sometimes). And, mealtime is not wartime which is my favorite part.
A few things we're really working on too are:
1) All foods are equal. That's why we offer a sweet with each meal. When we offer dessert after a meal or later as a reward for eating a good meal, then we teach that "you have to eat the bad stuff to get the good". A sweet with a meal helps teach him that it's all the same.
2) Mealtime = No pressure! When he says he's done, I have to back off even if he ate nothing. I can encourage a little, but no more forcing him to sit there until he eats something or threatening him within an inch of his life.
3) No food rewards (no more M&Ms for good behavior, etc). All rewards in our house are non-food like stickers or temporary tattoos, etc.
4) Nothing can be tied to food. No more "If you eat this or that, we'll let you do XYZ".
We see definite progress already. He has been tasting many new foods throughout this process, all on his own (in comparison to going months without tasting a new food before our therapy started). His attitude towards food is changing and mealtime is less stressful for all of us.
Once we're ready, the next phases will include stretching his food list and getting him to eat more food variety. It's a very, very slow process because moving too fast will make him put his guard up again. We are thankful for our therapist who is walking us through these steps each week.
I'm not sure if he's gained any weight. Quite frankly, I rarely weigh him because that's not how we measure progress. I'm just pleased about the changes we see in his mindset. Praise God!
If you actually survived reading this long post, you deserve a treat! But, not a food-treat.... so help yourself to a sticker or tattoo!. :)
Thanks for everyone who has asked or cared!
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