That chicken nug life.Let’s talk food and kids.I use to be like a lot of moms and believe that all kids eat good if they are fed good early. I believe that now to be true just 90% of the time. Joz is a wonderful eater and has a great relationship with food. She eats veggies and salads and likes meals that we cook at home. She eats stuff we grill and isn’t big on processed anything. She understands that food is fuel. We fixed her grilled chicken and veggies as early as possibly. She’ll drink protein shakes if she feels she wants a little more to keep her full.Gabriel. We got him at 8 months. He was breast fed. The night the was removed from the dangerous life he once knew he immediately had to try formula from an unfamiliar bottle. Trauma with feeding- he was stripped of what he knew and food is comfort. Bottles. We tried everything that night. As he got older, just like we did with JN, we grilled chicken and veggies as we were able to introduce them. We let him try and pick up spaghetti noodles for his sensory modalities. We did everything the same. Everything.We noticed as time progressed meal time was a trigger. He would clutch food so tightly in his grip. As to hold on to it for later like he was afraid he’d be hungry later on. He would hide when it was close to meal time. If we offered he would push it away and feel completely backed into a corner as if he thought we were making him eat- though we were not forcing.Since we have learned to just take baby steps. As a family if we are sitting we just ask he sits. Food is there, but he understand he isn’t being made. We still offer all of the things I eventually want him to love that are so good for him. He loves fruit so we live off that. He loves cheese, yogurt, and applesauce. Sometimes ham. Sometimes he gets a happy meal. Each day we are trying to find that healthy relationship with food for him. Things I stand by- never make a person clean their plate. Ever. Always offer healthy choices. Never judge. That child not wanting that food prob has a momma that’s praying and taking baby steps at home. Never back a kid in corner with food. They need about a 4th of what we think they need.
