Need suggestions for a picky eater | ADHD Information

spamula-how about in a shake? or in a dip???? Not that my son would drink
a shake or eat a dip but maybe yours will?lol peacefulmom, my son would be so suspicious of a shake or dip he wouldn't go near it. same thing. Yesterday he swears,(he lies alot) That he ate his lunch of lunchables ham and crackers, golfish crackers and 2 cookies plus a fruit roll up am I to believe him? who knows.

I would like to know how to sneak tofu into my 11 year old picky eater

. Tofu is a mainstay in our houshold with quinoa. I can't get him to try it and he is aware of texture at this point. I can't think of anyway he would try it. He doesn't eat spagetti with meat sause or that would be great. his diet is so limited I can't think of anything. HELP!!!!!

I grind up the tofu in a food processor and try to make it as smooth as possible and I mix it in with pizza sauce to put on a pizza.  The cheese on top helps to hide it.  I like the Silken the best because it seems to be the easiest to get smooth.

The sauce does look a little pink so there is where the cheese coverage is important.

That is so power stuggle as mine is the same. he is playing a poewr trip and knows it upsets me greatly, I try to have 0 reaction but so far no good, The therapist is now aware of it and will deal with appropratly

mine catches every smell, taste, texture of food and doesn't like anything except, candy .

I just found the food chaining book I am struggling to read....

Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding
Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet

I need to finish it but zzzzzzzzzz.......I would rather read Cosmo when it is
bedtime....I will let you know if I find it helpful!! I have the same thing going on here!!!! My son can not even smell the foods
he won't eat! He has adhd, PDD and SPD. I am working w. a nutritionist soon
to help....she told me it is not just sensory but an actual phobia. I sneak food
in also....What the heck is up w. the Trix yogurt....that is the ONLY one he
will eat.....he does not take a Stim yet but the non-Stim made him lose
weight at first....now he is fuller due to the JUNK food and winter.....we may
try a stim soon and I am scared that he will lose all the weight he gained due
to that and his lack of choices.....noodles, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, french
fries or pizza...ONLY dinner choices....no veggies and only strawberries. I
bought a book on food chaining. But the special needs are the major hurdle
here and that is not really addressed to my liking....ug! mine too! If he even sees you eating a banana across the room, he will GAG!
We were about to start working with a feeding therapist, but putting on hold
for now. We had a nurtionist for many years. we found zinc helped him with
sensory stuff, in terms of certain smells and tastes. It will be interesting to
see if the feeding therapist can get to the bottom of what is sensort, and
what is behavioral. Obviously it's all tied to there issues, but I have to say I
was weird, picky eater as kid too!
Also, the J sein feld book has been great for us too! We do the pink
pancakes, and the peanut butter muffins- but add a choc chips- they are
great! Making your own chik fingers is easy and super healthy too. use
cornflakes instead of bread crumbs...yummy! I can post recipe for anyone
interested :)mommatrying40283.2497453704

I have to agree with the sneaky foods idea.  I also have the book, The Sneaky Chef and it has helped to get a little more variety into my kids' diet.

The funny thing is my one son said that he loved tofu.  He has never eaten tofu straight but mixed in with different things.  He eats it not knowing anything.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I will definitely pick up a cookbook or two and try to sneak some healthy stuff in his foods. It's funny how our kids are so much alike in so many ways. I laughed about the gagging at the banana across the room! Our son will do that as well...and I'd better not even try to put a bowl of salad with Italian dressing on the table if he's within a 20 foot radius because he'll go running upstairs! We have his little play table set up in the kitchen next to the regular table and that's where he eats  because he is either seeing or smelling things at the big table that get him upset. I suppose part of it is a power struggle, but I have gotten so used to picking my battles because there used to be so many. With the meds now things are much calmer, so maybe we will try reintroducing things a little and set up some kind of reward system.

That sounds exactly like Matt!!  Only recently (at age 8) has he been willing to try more foods and I believe that it's a result of seeing his peers eat a variety of foods at lunch.  I used to worry so much about it (and still do) until one day my husband .... a very healthy 44 year old who eats ANYTHING :).....casually mentioned that he was just like that!  I about flipped!  He said that he wouldn't even try pizza until he was 13!  And if you knew my husband, you wouldn't believe it!  hahaha  So, just try to keep introducing new foods and maybe invite a friend over to eat lunch to show him what other kids eat.  (Not sure if he's in all day K). 

One last tip that we have had a little success with.........I bought the book The Sneaky Chef and started to add veggies to certain recipes from the book and he ATE them and never knew the difference!  And it made me feel good.  But like the author states, be sure to include real veggies and fruit alongside of the "sneaky food" so that they are still encouraged to eat it. Some of the recipes are better than others, but it's worth a try.  Also, I never told Matt (or his brother who eats anything) that there were hidden veggies inside!! 

Take care,

Andrea

Kathleen: this sounds like my guy too with the food...EXACTLY!! Thanks for
responding to my other thread...they are sooo similiar. I'm going to send you
a PM so look out for it :)just had to chime in on this one lol.  My son is the same way, although not a structured in having to eat the same things, but will NOT eat fruit or veggies.  One thing I have found to really help is a cookbook.  It is called Deceptively Delicious, and is written by jessice seinfeld, jerry seinfeld's wife.  You basically "hide" the good stuff in stuff that they like, usually by pureeing the veggies/fruit of choice and adding it to something else.  for example, sweet potato/carrot/butternut squash/etc, in spaghetti sauce.  there are lots of recipes using fruit as well.  it really works and they can't taste the veggies once they are mixed into something else. 
burgers with a mushroom and zucchini puree
pizza with spinach puree
grilled cheese with sweet potato or butternut squash puree
there are also alot of desserts, like muffins and such with fruit puree, and some even with veggies.  i have tried some of these myself, and you CANNOT taste the "added" ingredients in these recipes.  I may start a thread and start posting some of these recipes if anyone would be interested? good luck!

Now that medication has greatly improved our son's behavior, we are ready to tackle the next hurdle, which is his ridiculously limited choice of foods. Like many kids with ADHD (and he's also on the autistic spectrum) he thrives on structure and sameness and gets very upset when there is any change in his routine. This includes his diet, which is limited to pancakes for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch, grilled cheese, pizza, or cheeseburger for dinner...period!!! He'll occasionally have a yogurt (Trix brand only), potato chips (Lay's rippled only), and milkshakes with Carnation Instant Breakfast each night before bed. He'll drink orange juice, milk, apple juice, and Fruitables drink boxes. He's definitely got sensory issues especially with smells, which I'm sure also includes tastes.

So, that's the background...now, for my question. How do we change this and get him to eat more of a variety? Do I take the hard stance and let him get hungry enough so that he would eat anything? (He's so headstrong that it would be a huge battle and he's doing SOOO well behaviorwise I don't know if I have the heart for that). Or, do we just let it go, making sure he has his vitamin each day, and knowing that he is basically healthy with a good height/weight ratio. I feel so guilty that he doesn't eat a single fruit or vegetable (although he is constantly offered them and encouraged with rewards to just try a little bite).

I know, with kids like ours, we need to pick our battles, and as much as I am unhappy with his diet, I'm not sure this is a battle worth fighting. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

It sounds to me like even though his choices are limited, he's getting what he needs.  Pizza provides carbs, grilled cheese (dairy and calcium)), peanut butter (protein), fruit juices (fruit).  Maybe he's not getting enough veggies but you can supplement the vitamins with chewables.  I wouldn't fret too much about it unless he gets so restrictive and only wants oatmeal.  Often these types of issues have more to do with a power struggle than the food.  And I'm sure with the ADHD and autistic tendencies, it is only exaggerated.  As long as he's growing and gaining weight and not becoming ill, I would relax a bit and allow him his choices.  Eventually, when he's older, he'll decide to try other things to eat.  I'm still a pretty picky eater but it's gotten better as i've gotten older.  forcing a child (of any age) to eat "what's on their plate" only furthers the problems and could lead to eating disorders.  If you're really concerned, talk to your doctor.

OMG this sounds just like my son but even better. my son eats pizza, mcdonalds chicken fried patty, noodles with butter and waffles for breakfast. this is about it. He has lost so much weight and this started before the stims. He definaly has an eating disorder and I am livid on what to do with it. I have 3 calls in to his psychiatrist who writes his meds not returned marked urgent. his therapist is now aware of the situation and is going to work on this with his asap. I have no idea what to do as I have been dealing with this for years with no success he won't try anything new at all. NO PROTIEN  rarely. no substanance. I can empathize with your situation

 I wish you luck and would like anything you find out.