my sons eating habits and behavior

[AMT14]

My 3 and a half yr old, going to be 4 in feb,  does not eat have any milk or milk products. I am worried about his calcium intake. At the most he may have some butter on his bread if it is completely melted and he cannot see it. He also refuses to try anything new. the only food he enjoys are fruits and if left by himself will eat on apples. i have tried all means, right from talking to bribing to ignoring to punishing, all means. Hes loves helping me in the kitchen and i do allow him to in the hope that he will try some of the food he has helped prepare. He is a very smart child and has a very strong will.  He will not even eat other things like pudding, cakes, ice-cream, pizzas, burgers and other unhealthy foods as well, so it is not just the foods that are good for him.  This is just heis food problem.....

He is also scared of everything. He has to be with either me or my husband at all times except at nursery. He plays alongside other children but does not play with them. He get very overwhelmed if there are a lot of kids together at a park or party and he will choose a spot to play where there are no kids. I have a feeling that he is scared of other children. We constantly reassure him but it doesn't seem to be working. He also lacks confidence to do anything new or different even if we constanly assure him that it is safe. this includes things like sitting on toy trains, bumping cars, wearing costumes, singing or humming songs/ nursery rhymes even if it is in  group.....i have really tried my best to build up his confidence but now i do feel exhausted because the moment he conquers or partly conquers one fear, there is another issue to be worried about...i could go on and on but it wud be a long list...he sleeping habit's a nother issue....Please help, im desperate



This discussion is related to My son will not try any new food..

[AMT14]

Hey thanks so much, will definitely look it up and also check the book u are talking about....

[Weesy68]

He could have food allergies and may connect food with certain reactions he has had in eating.

He could also have Aspberger's syndrome and while some with Aspberger's have learning disabilities, others are geniuses.  There is some question that Apsberger's is connected to autism.  Both of those syndromes can make a child afraid of social situations and they do prefer to be by themselves.  If I remember right, they also have issues like the eating of certain foods and both have a lot of difficulty with change, even very odd things like attachments to the grass in the backyard.  So if you put a patio over the grass, it bothers them.  Both conditions can be helped through behavioral therapists who shows them how to interact with others because for some reason they don't comprehend social signals like most people.  I listened to a book on tape once called, "Look Me In the Eye," about a guy who had Aspberger's.  He was brilliant but it took him until he was an adult and had his own children and a divorce before he finally found out.  It's a great book and it might interest you, but the one thing that stood out the most to me is that he always thought he was just an idiot or a bad person when all along his perceptions and social reactions were a result of having this syndrome, and he could have received treatment that would have helped him.  Could be a lot of other things, I'm sure but that gives you a few.