On a mission!



I am on a mission to get my boy healthy. Nick's diet is absolutely horrendous and it has given me many a grey hair over the years. His issues are a combination of sensory sensitivities, his lack of confidence at trying new things and the regular food patterns that he has created and refuses to deviate from.

For sure, he is reasonably healthy, although I don't like the look of the dark circles under his eyes and the dullness of his skin. I won't bore you with the other problems that crop up!

In order to move forward, I realise that I need to guide Nick very slowly, one tiny step at a time. I cannot introduce a new food and expect him to eat it without any hassle. I have tried ~ it didn't work. I have given up on the idea of *hiding* the good stuff in his regular food. I tried ~ it didn't work. As for bribery ~ don't even go there!

For the last few months I have been offering Nick a *smell* of different foods. At first he was resistant, however, over time he has become a lot more comfortable with putting his nose close to food. I will continue to do this and also start inviting him to place various pieces of food on his lip.

Not so long ago, the ladies at school mentioned to me that one of the other children didn't want their juice, so it was offered to Nick, without any pressure for him to try it. Everyone was blown away when he actually drank the juice! He has also rediscovered a taste for milkshakes!

This became my starting point. If Nick was becoming flexible with trying different drinks, then I could do something about it at home AND keep it healthy. I also felt that Nick needed to be involved in the whole process and I wanted him to be aware of exactly what was happening, what he was doing and what was going in his mouth.

Oranges, carrot and blueberries

The easiest way for me to approach the whole juice *thing* was to look at it from an RDI angle. I have the words 'edge plus one' imprinted in my brain and I continuously remind myself to look at Nick's edge of competence (regardless of what we are doing) and ask myself, what is his 'plus one'. This is how we continue to progress.

Over the last few weeks I have planned many activities revolving around the making of juice. As always, I decide on our roles and then start each activity with something that Nick feels comfortable with before adding in the challenge (plus one). We have a really solid guiding relationship in place; therefore Nick trusts me and is happy to be guided. I in turn continue to be mindful about giving him opportunities to *think* for himself. I don't want to do everything for him. I want him to make his own discoveries (with scaffolding if necessary!).

Our planned activities included;

Shopping for the oranges
Unpacking the oranges into the fridge
Introduction to an orange squeezer
Collecting items needed to make freshly squeezed orange juice
Using the orange squeezer
Pouring the juice
Drinking the juice (initially we each had our own glass)
Cleaning up after juicing (items in the sink, rubbish in the bin, wiping the bench)
Introduction of a carrot and a big ol' mean juicer machine
Placing small pieces of carrot into the juicer
(Nick hates the noise so he heads off to the sofa and tells me when to "Go")
Introduction of blueberries and taking turns to place them into the big 'ol mean juicer
Introduction of pear ~ yuk, Nick didn't like this one!
Nick being brave and turning on the mean ol' juicer ~ we will give that one a miss for a while! :)
Introduction of apple, taking turns to cut and place in the juicer


An RDI planned engagement



Cheers!






12 comments:

  1. You definitely are on a mission and you've got off on an amazing start! Well done.
    We had such eating difficulties when my boy was younger so I now tye journey you have ahead and you are definitely taking the right approach :-)

    Good luck!

    xx Jazzy

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    1. Hi Jazzy, interesting to read that your son also had eating difficulties. How did he overcome them? I am always keen to pick up tidbits from other people... and I am really pleased to hear that you think I am taking the right approach. xx

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  2. Fantastic news....and from such a developmental, decision making angle for Nick....his edge plus one....Oooohhhhhh and this is just so incredible for Nick to be a part of the process of not only trying the juice but being part of the decision process all the way through! That competence we all feel when we bake or cook something and then taste it! All around he is making meaning of the process...and the world, one step at a time! :)

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    1. Hi Kathy, thanks for stopping by! It is really wonderful to see how far Nick has come on from those early days. Good old *edge plus one* :)

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  3. wow I LOVE It
    I am on the other side where he does not eat anything good at all :-(
    love the pics as well

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    1. Floortime Lite Mama, this is all brand new to us. Believe you me, the Nick has an appalling diet!! However, there is hope for us all... one step at a time!! x

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  4. Way to go, Nick! Flexible thinking and going at Nick's pace is a powerful way to encourage new ways of approaching food. I will pass this post on to my friends with picky eaters. I doubt I will ever encourage my typical son to eat broccoli.

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    1. Hi walking, so far it seems to be working. Thank you for passing on my post. I hope that your friends with picky eaters find it helpful. Also, if they have some tips to share with me, I would love to hear about them. My first born will only eat broccoli with cheese sauce!! :)

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  5. I love the analytical approach to this issue - and that you're not forcing it so that Nick probably doesn't even realise that you are changing his diet!

    I have to do something too - but my son had a great diet when he was small, but it has got more and more restrictive in the past few years. He will try things, but almost always finds a reason not to each stuff twice :)

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    1. I feel that it isn't worth forcing the issue as it would make food an even bigger problem. Great to hear that your son will at least try different things. Let's hope with his increasing flexibility he will expand his range of food. Thank you for your comment. xx

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  6. What a lovely blog, I also believe in feeding my children healthy food, believe in juicing, and have recently bought a high speed blender, which is going to make it possible for me to make things to better their diets too.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Natural.Vegan.Eco.Mom. We are now like crazed addicts hanging out for our juice every day! I need to upgrade my blender, it is just a matter of getting my head around the cost of the really good ones! Happy juicing. :)

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