4 ms·

We have a kid with "restrictive food intake disorder". We at one point got sent, after having gone to a therapist for a while, to the local hospitals specialise

by sandos 4y ago

We have a kid with "restrictive food intake disorder". We at one point got sent, after having gone to a therapist for a while, to the local hospitals specialised unit for eating disorders. I was so glad, finally we would be getting some help! Even better methods to help her learn to eat more food! What happened? They checked what she ate, calculated the nutrition in it and concluded she would not die from eating only meatballs. (This was what she mostly ate at the time). This team with 4 experts eventually said: You don't need to do anything. She will always be like this, and there is no real benefit to "forcing" her to feel ill by trying new food. (She wanted herself to try new food, but lets just say she also did not enojy it). Now she eats what she wants, more or less. We at one point struggled to get her to widen her pallet, and as I alluded to, it resulted in many tears and almost being sick at times. This does not help make a positive thing of food, so we stopped with that. Anyway, don't expect even "expert" help will get you anything.

nagonago 4y ago
I could be misinterpreting your comment, but it sounds like you were ultimately unhappy with the results from the experts? I personally would be relieved to learn that my kid is getting enough nutrition, and that I don't need to worry so much about their diet. I'm also not surprised at the response you got. The predominating view these days seems to be that worrying about a kid's diet tends to be counterproductive. Most sources seem to agree that as a parent, your only job is to provide healthy options, and it's ultimately the kid's job to decide what they eat. The more pressure you put on, the less likely they are to want to branch out. Of course there are some techniques out there to encourage kids to try new foods, such as involving them in food preparation. But ultimately I think the most important thing is to just relax and remove the pressure. (Anecdotal evidence: after my wife and I decided to stop trying to get our 2-year-old to eat vegetables, he eventually started eating them on his own.)

by sandos 4y ago

nagonago 4y ago

I could be misinterpreting your comment, but it sounds like you were ultimately unhappy with the results from the experts? I personally would be relieved to learn that my kid is getting enough nutrition, and that I don't need to worry so much about their diet. I'm also not surprised at the response you got. The predominating view these days seems to be that worrying about a kid's diet tends to be counterproductive. Most sources seem to agree that as a parent, your only job is to provide healthy options, and it's ultimately the kid's job to decide what they eat. The more pressure you put on, the less likely they are to want to branch out. Of course there are some techniques out there to encourage kids to try new foods, such as involving them in food preparation. But ultimately I think the most important thing is to just relax and remove the pressure. (Anecdotal evidence: after my wife and I decided to stop trying to get our 2-year-old to eat vegetables, he eventually started eating them on his own.)