Attention Mom's of Picky Eaters.... Answers for you?

I wanted to let you know that for the first few years of my daughters life, she was not happy eating.  Even baby food jars - we had to distract her to get her to eat.

Now at age 6 she is still picky and I'm tired of Dr.s telling me "she will grow out of it".  

I was sick of her not eating healthy and just knew it was something other than "growing out of it" that would help.

I did research and found out that my daughter has a Sensory Disorder.  She was also afraid of getting messy, wouldn't touch messy things or foods, only likes "crunchy" textured foods, and I could go on.  She gagged on any new food - even sweet strawberries, fresh pineapple.

No medication required.

When I first read about Sensory Disorders, I took her to an Occupational Therapist.  She said I was exactly correct and that my daughter is specifically "Tactile Defensive".  We've been going to the OT twice a week and my daughter has made huge strides.  We could not start with foods right away, the OT needed to develop a relationship and trust. They started with finger paint, etc. Now my daughter has started foods, and she discovered that she actually "likes" jello.  Then they did pineapple, but she is not thrilled with it.  This week we start macaroni and cheese.  She loves to eat cheese, so I figured it would be a good step.

Now I look back on her as a baby and realize she has had these sensory issues from birth.  She doesn't like to feel tags in her clothes, socks that she thinks are too tight, shoes that seem to tight, she wore sunglasses as a baby (until Kindergarten) cause she hated the sun in her eyes.  I could go on and on.

Anyway, you can read about Sensory Disorder here: http://www.spdfoundation.net/

A great book is called "The Out of Sync Child".

My advice, if you think your child has this - find a good OT who KNOWS about Sensory Disorders.  A lot of times they work with other special needs kids, make sure they know yours might have a Sensory Disorder.