Mealtime Ideas “Just Outside Your Child’s Comfort Zone”
Mealtime Ideas “Just Outside Your Child’s Comfort Zone”
Judy Benz Duncan, Occupational Therapist
Many children develop the “need” for “sameness” in the foods they will accept, tolerate, or even try. When new foods are presented your child may become anxious, have a sensory meltdown, or refuse to eat anything at all. The tips that follow will help to promote and help your child try new foods, new tastes, new textures, new ways to pick up and eat food that is just “outside their comfort zone.” Does your child only seem to want to eat french fries, chicken nuggets, sugar-coated cereal, and only the same-ole, same-ole all the time?
There are so many different reasons a child may have difficulty with feeding which includes delayed oral motor development, difficulties with visual motor skills and perception, sensory motor processing issues, fine motor control and grasping skills, distractions in the environment, difficulty with focus, and so many other reasons that there are too many to add here. All of these issues and deficits can affect the skills needed to properly use utensils, focus, tolerate texture, chew, and swallow.
Always be aware of foods that can result in a choking hazard – even a food, such as a bagel, which is not normally thought of as a choke hazard, can become one when a child who is unfamiliar and inexperienced with knowing how much to bite off, how to move the thick chewy piece around in their mouth, being able to feel where the food is in their mouth, knowing how much is “too much” to have in their mouth, and how to effectively chew up before swallowing the whole chunk of bagel.
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Mealtime Ideas “Just Outside Your Child’s Comfort Zone”
o Try cutting food into similar shapes and sizes. You may want to start with small bite-size chunks to make food easier to pick up, handle and chew.
o Present the food in limited quantities. Your child may be more likely to eat 1 or 2 bites of food placed on their plate rather than not wanting to try anything when overwhelmed with what looks to them like a heaping plate of food.
o Once your child eats the 1 or 2 chunks of food you can always add more of the same, or a different item to eat
o Cutting foods into small fun shapes and arranging them on the plate may make the meal seem more organized and easier to tolerate.
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o Keeping the foods separate on the plate will help with children who do not like their food to mix or touch anything else
o Test their comfort zone by adding one or two different kinds of food on the plate – if they cannot tolerate that, you could use smaller plates and have the plates next to each other
o Present foods that have different colors, tastes, textures, at the same time. 1-2 bites of each to start.
o Add in 1 bite of a new food (whether it is a different texture, color, spice, flavor, shape) at each meal – whether they eat it, touch it, smell it, or not, just having it there is an opportunity for your child to experience variety and a change in what they normally see on their plate
o With some foods, like a sandwich, deli meats, pancakes, and the like, use a cookie cutter to change how they look and how they are perceived on the plate. You can have your child help you use the cookie cutter to help prepare the food too!
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o Make a visual schedule or poster for the day or meal. Let your child know ahead of time what will be on the menu for lunch or dinner, and let them see the list (with pictures if you can) hanging on the refrigerator or placed on the table by them. “This is what we are eating for lunch today.”
o If your child refuses to eat a certain food, try presenting it in a different way. Sometimes the way you cook/ bake/ toast/ grill the same food is accepted and tolerated one way, but not another. Your child may totally gag at steamed broccoli but actually pick up and eat broccoli that has been sliced into lengths and grilled, drizzled with some olive oil. Experiment! You may enjoy the changes yourself!
o If your child only eats French fries, try cutting up other foods (veggies and fruits and meats) into long thin strips and present a few at a time alongside their fries
o Present a variety of dipping sauces in little dishes next to their plate – try spicy, sweet, sticky, sour, and so on alongside what you know they will eat (like ketchup); it may take many meals of just seeing it there, but they may just try it and start wanting more!
o Try using different utensils. Finger foods are good. Use of a big soup spoon might make the meal more fun. Try kid-safe toothpicks or a product called PickEase to make meal time more fun, less messy, and helps your child avoid touching the food if that is an issue.
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o Change where mealtime is at. Have a picnic outside, on the patio, on the grass, under a tree, under the table if need be! Let your child help plan a picnic meal and pack the basket – don’t forget the blanket!
o Get your child’s body moving before mealtime by some physical activity, and gross motor movement. Jumping, running, pushing and pulling weighted items may help reduce any anxiety, increase attention, and release any pent-up energy before sitting down for a meal or snack
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o Keep introducing new foods. Offer some of the food you are eating. Keep new foods in view. The proximity of the food on their plate, near their plate, or on your plate, as well as the look or smell of it may help your child eventually progress to trying and hopefully eating a greater variety food in the near future
o Coloring the food with kid-safe food grade dye or with natural foods that color, like beets or blueberries, may make the food look more appealing. Some children like to eat foods of certain colors – so if you can safely color eggs, pancakes, mashed potatoes, bananas, and the like, you may find your more interested in taking a taste test.
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o If your child will eat cake and cookies, try substituting slices of banana bread, carrot bread, oatmeal raisin cookies and other more healthful snacks to replace those snacks “sugar-fied.” Use applesauce as a sweetener too! Try offering snacks with some lemon zing to it for a different taste!
o Offer choices but give your child control over what they will pick up and put in their mouth. Less convincing and attempts to “make them eat” and more choices may work out best.
o Use a spoon if using a fork is going to make the whole meal time too frustrating; try different sizes of spoon bowls to see what works best. Forks are for stabbing the food and it’s hard to stab a bowl of rice or slippery mac and cheese.
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o Check out the blog: Mealtime Ideas Introduction
o Check out the blog: Mealtime and Adding New Foods
o Check out the blog: Mealtime and Sensory System
o Check out the blog: Edible Sensory Slime Recipes
o Check out the blog: Learning to Use a Spoon
o Check out the blog: Learning to Use a Cup
o Check out the blog: Sensory Gelatin Play
o Check out the blog: Oral Motor Sensory Box
o Check out BLOG CENTRAL on TheraPlay4Kids.com
If you have serious concerns about your child’s eating habits, always consult with your pediatrician to rule out medical or oral-motor structural problems, consult with a dietitian/ ST/ feeding therapist, and discuss with your child’s service providers.
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