Getting William To Eat- Visit with the OT

Yesterday the OT (along with my Parents as Teachers Educator) came to evaluate William, and guide me on the steps to best get him to eat. Most every meal time was a battle, and I had a very limited amount of foods William would eat. He was always pushing food out of the way (or throwing it!), not eating anything at all, screaming, pointing to other things etc. Seriously, the kid could survive on fruit snacks and milk.

The first thing the OT did was to rule out any issues: tongue, gagging/ choking, texture etc. She used this tool Dr Mom Gentle Gum Massager and Toothbrush .

None of this seemed to apply to William. He LOVED the vibrating toothbrush, which made all the testing somewhat easy!

Next we moved to the table (we made it at a time we knew William would be hungry). We started with a food I knew he would eat, mango with yogurt. He ate a few bites on his own. Next the OT took it away and presented him with a food he wouldn't previously eat. And of course, he wouldn't eat it. So she ground it up with this . She offered it again, he refused. So she pulled out a flashing, annoying toy with lots of buttons etc. She let W play. Then she took the toy away and told him to "kiss" the food (it had to touch his mouth). It was a lot of praise and reward (getting to play with the toy). Then she moved to using this Ark's Grabber instead of a spoon. Now he has to get the food in his mouth (praise, reward, get out another toy).

After he tried the new food he would get to eat some bites of something he liked.

Next, she moved to getting him to eat off a spoon or fork (lots of praise and reward). She mashed the food with a fork (instead of grinding it), and then eventually moved to solid food.

She was very firm. If he wouldn't take a bite she would say something like, "That's sad William, that you are choosing not to take a bite. Now you can't play with this guitar." OR "When you take a bit of this, you can have your blueberry muffin." For W, this worked every time.

This was the basic idea. It was a lot of training for me. William was definitely in control before. So for me, it was about taking back some control. It was very time consuming. This one meal took an hour. In the end, we got him to eat lots of new foods. Actually, I couldn't even find anything else to try with him since I basically have food around that I know he will eat!

For dinner, William ate jambalaya (new food) and pears (he likes these). I did not have to grind it, or even give him any toys! I did let him start with the grabber. I also fed him (with a fork) for most of the meal. W has been eating on his own since he was 12 months, and wouldn't let me feed him before!

I fed him eggs for breakfast this morning. He let me feed him quite a few bites. He did not finish his breakfast, but there was no battle at the beginning, so I knew when he was done and didn't make him eat anymore. I didn't introduce any new food for breakfast, but William RARELY eats any breakfast at all.

For lunch I went with something he could feed himself and that he has been eating lately (cold turkey and string cheese, all broken up and crackers). Again, I didn't introduce any new foods for lunch either.

Tonight I am going to try chicken enchiladas, which is a food he has not eaten in the past. My fingers are crossed!