As I said in my previous post, he was growing increasingly limited as to what he would eat. It seemed almost every day there was a new item that he had chowed down on just the day before that was suddenly disgusting to him the very next day. We made him take a “no thank you bite” of whatever we were serving for dinner and, if he didn’t like it, we would make him something else like chicken nuggets or a peanut butter sandwich. The most irritating problem was that he would cry and scream his little head off just because he had to take one little bite. He would even at times try to push his plate completely off the table or at least push it as far away from him as he could get it. He would then continue the crying and screaming until we put something in front of him that he recognized and approved of, which at that time was pretty much only baby food, a banana, yogurt, chicken nuggets or a peanut butter sandwich.
We were at our wits end and dinner time at our house was becoming miserable for all parties involved.
Bring in our Lay-Down-The-Law-Daddy. (Have I mentioned how grateful I am for this man???...because this mama can be such a softy!)
Kraig had had enough.
It was one thing for Rylan to decide he was going to be
picky, but it was quite another for him to have a complete and utter meltdown
over tasting, chewing and swallowing one bite of food. So, we began reprimanding him for his defiant
behavior. Taking a “no thank you bite”
was non-negotiable and if he did not stop throwing fits about having to take
one, there were non-negotiable repercussions.
Mainly, we removed him from the table and sat him in time out until he
composed himself. (Some of you may be
thinking, Time out for a one year old…seriously? Yes, seriously. We’ve been putting him in time out since
right around his 1st birthday and it does wonders for him. He gets so wrapped up in his anger and his
fits that he just needs that time to collect himself. Kraig, of course, was the first person to
ever put the child in time out and I was completely skeptical the first time he
did it, but, boy, was I amazed at how it worked!) Once he composed himself, he was allowed to
rejoin us at the table. If he started to
scream and cry again, he would go right back in time out away from the rest of
us. Also, during this time, we began refusing to immediately put a different plate of food in front of him after his “no thank you bite.” While the three of us ate and (tried) to enjoy our dinner, he would sit and watch all of us with his untouched food in front of him. Once we were finished, if he hadn’t eaten, I would then make him something else and he ate at the table alone while Kraig and Taylor played in the living room and I cleaned up the kitchen.
And then something changed.
He began (I suppose, anyway) tiring of the constant time
outs and isolation and actually started taking more than just a “no thank you
bite!” Often at his own will! And, low and behold, he found that he
actually could tolerate and even enjoy some of the tastes and textures he was
experiencing.
It was a dinner miracle!!!
This has been going on for at least two months now and
steadily getting better. I can’t even
remember the last time I made him a separate meal. He does still complain and cry a little from
time to time about having to try new things or eat several bites of something
he’s not crazy about, but things are nowhere near the way they were and, whew,
I am so thankful!
Here he is showing off what a good little variety eater he
is becoming (this pic was taken one night at dinner when we realized we’d had
several dinners in a row with no crying!)
And here is big sis showing us what an awesomely great
little variety eater she has always been :D
(She was too funny with this whole “let’s teach Rylan to have better
food variety” thing. She would make
Rylan look at her then slowly and deliberately put a big bite of food in her
mouth and chew it ever so carefully while saying “Watch Sissy. Mmmmmm, this is good. Sissy likes it!” It was just the cutest thing ever.)
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