How do you get a child with Sensory Processing Disorder to eat table food?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, Thank you for all of your support and suggestions. I was thinking of checking out Children's. Now I'm convinced. Also I also check out the vibrating sticks.

It's nice to know that I am not the only who has gone through this. I feel so guilty when I get frustrated. It was really helpful to hear your stories.

Hi OP -- my DS has the same issue (I'm the PP with the 15mo) and we went to Children's. I was told by the woman I saw (not Dr. Chatoor) that Children's feeding clinic was not the right place for toddlers with a sensory disorder. They focused on physical issues (and maybe behavioral, though I'm not clear how that's different from sensory). Instead, she referred me to a specialist at Virginia Medical Center, and told me to keep working with my EI therapist.

Also, my IE therapist told me not to use the vibrating sticks. They are apparently used for certain types of aversions/situations, and my DC is not one of them. So, I recommend you consult with a therapist before using the sticks on your own. (The Children's doctor concurred with everything my IE therapist was doing.)

[Anonymous]

Parents - Can you list the experts &/or OTs you have used on this issue along with contact information if you have it? Also if you can add why a particular expert/OT worked for you that would be helpful.

This one is like peeling an onion for us - there appears to not be one issue but a series of issues. Originally EI said my child had an inability to lateralize his tongue. Once that was resolved, and he figured out how to lateralize his tongue and chew food things got better. We discovered, however, that as a result of some early gagging he had developed some fearful reactions to food - so we made behavioral adjustments through the guidance from Children's that have helped. Subsequently, we had an OT evaluation to see if there were unaddressed sensory issues based on the theory that if daily living was hard due to sensory challenges how could we expect him to be ready and willing to try something new. As a result, we found that our child had a couple of issues (both hypo and hyper sensitive in places, vestibular processing and weak hand strenght). We have been working with OT on these issues for 6 months and he has improved (he can now do a pencil grip and is much more likely to color and practice his letters, he can now hang from the monkey bars a little, he can now do certain complex physical movements that previously baffled him or made him physically uncomfortable). In sum, he is a happier and calmer child who has gained some subtle skills that were lagging (and might have been problematic if not resolved prior to kindergarten). But it seems like acquisition of new foods has ground down - spaghetti over the summer and nothing new since august.

So the why of what others have done would be most helpful. We may go to Kennedy Krieger but I am concerned that the approach there might be too strict and not perhaps a good fit for my child. So, I want to try other things before going to what i see as perhaps our last resort.

[Anonymous]

I ground up potato chips (the thick ridged ones from Utz) into breadcrumbs and put them in a ziplock bag. Then I sliced bananas and put them in the ziplock so they would get coated in the crumbs. My son loved this! We used to call them "crunchy bananas." And they were gluten-free. That's how we introduced our sensory-sensitive son to fruit.

[Anonymous]

I have a son that is almost 4 he has sensory issues ....He rarely eats anything to top it off he has extreme anxiety i cant be more than five feet from him without him asking where i am ! He has a temper also .I was wondering if anyone new of any foods that would get him to eat? He likes the crunchy stuff and not any veggies he eats some chips .. He just doesn't eat that much and i would never want to tube him ! If any one has any suggestions i would appreciate it !

[Anonymous]

I have a son that is almost 4 he has sensory issues ....He rarely eats anything to top it off he has extreme anxiety i cant be more than five feet from him without him asking where i am ! He has a temper also .I was wondering if anyone new of any foods that would get him to eat? He likes the crunchy stuff and not any veggies he eats some chips .. He just doesn't eat that much and i would never want to tube him ! If any one has any suggestions i would appreciate it !