"How to tackle picky eaters and challenging meal-time behaviors" or "7 Quick Strategies For Picky Eaters"

    Each day, we continuously integrate each of our Five Senses…well actually eight* senses (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch, vestibular*, proprioceptive*, and interoceptive*) into our daily activities and occupations. However, for some children it may be evident that it is more difficult compared to others when it comes to being able to integrate each sense appropriately. Occasionally, children display deficits when it comes to eating, feeding, and meal time; which is a field that therapists can work within to help overcome these difficulties and develop appropriate strategies. Meal-time can be a particularly challenging time when concerns such as choking, gagging, coughing, limited diet, decreased weight gain, or refusal to attend to meal-time with families arise.

The difficulty with feeding could be related to:

• 
  Modulation- which typically means they may be picky eaters or sensitive to certain foods
• Difficulty Discrimination Sensations - which may affect knowledge of how to drink from a cup or how to recognize where the food is within their mouths once placed
• Motor Planning - a child’s ability to plan and sequence steps, which may affect skills such as holding utensils or even bringing the food accurately to their mouth
• Oral Motor Control - being able to control the movements of the muscles in the mouth, jaw, tongue, lips and cheeks
• Behavioral - learned responses such as parent’s being “short-order cooks” only providing the most preferred food at all times

These can all lead to negative responses when it comes to mealtime and may cause discomfort for children and parents alike! As there are a variety of strategies that have developed over the years, each child may react differently to each intervention, either positively or negatively; so it is critical to trial a variety to recognize which one suits your child. Some of the common, efficient strategies may be to:

1. Get into a consistent mealtime routine in order for the child to know what to expect around meal
2. Postural control - giving supported seated options to allow an upright posture
3. Allowing the child to explore the foods with a variety of their sensations 
4. Limiting distractions - no TV, tablet, toys, IPADs
5. Using descriptive language to allow the child to receive an insight of what to expect
6. Ensuring that you are creating a positive interaction with food rather than forcing them to eat
7. Chunking Meal Time - help a child with touching food -> smelling food -> bring to the mouth -> kiss -> lick -> eat

For children, it is important to create a positive and safe environment in order to promote overall mealtime success as you trial new strategies and allow them to further explore their sensations. We know that meal-time can be stressful, but let’s turn that into a social experience with our children where we can support their growth and support a balanced diet for their whole life.

If you would like additional support with meal-time strategies and picky eating, please reach out for a formal speech or occupational therapy evaluation. Get started today by contacting us via phone at 215.344.2044 or fill out our contact form here: https://www.mychildstherapy.com/contact-us 

We look forward to hearing from you soon!