Re: eating messes

[Guest guest]

We struggle with this problem with who is 5. He has gotten

better, but he still wants to roam... This is what we did and have had

some great success.

1. Teach him what " sit down means " Discrete Trial Therapy helped with

this. I am usually in the kitchen when he's eating in the dining room so

I give him the command to " sit down. "

2. At preschool we have taught him to follow an eating schedule. He

eats, puts his tray away and then goes to wash his hands. When the meal

is over, IT'S OVER. We have even taught him that he needs to say " all

done " before he can put his tray away. The sad part is that you do (for

the most part) need to stay with him(or close by) til he learns the

proper procedure for eating.

3. We have a goal for him to eat meals the same way that the rest of us

do. I would set some limits and let him know the following " here is

your meal... if you eat all of this, then you can have more when you are

willing to sign or say more... he often needs prompting but will almost

always respond. When it appears like he's ready to bolt away from the

table we ask " are you all done " ? He will usually repy " all done. " We

then immediately lead him to empy his plate into the garbage and put in

in the dishwasher or sink. After this we lead him to the bathroom to

wash up and the MEAL IS THEN OVER. He can't eat until the next snack

time ( which I will sometimes move up if I feel he didn't get enough to

eat).

4. This plan isn't perfect and sometimes I get tired and just let him

go, but we are striving for consistency. I know it's exhausting... I

have 4 other children ages 16, 14, 6 and 3! Sometimes you just want to

throw your hands up and let them go wild! But, we have found that

will respond to boundaries ( in a limited way) and he gets better with

each passing day and some days are better than others.

Hope this is helpful in some way. I know that no two of these sweet

little " critters " are the same and they will all react differently to

the same situation.

I just had another thought....You could start by using a strong

reinforcer for the times when he does sit still and finish the meal.. The

reiforcer should be a highly desired food or toy... sometimes this is all

it takes.

Leigh

On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 14:14:18 -0500 " Jim & "

writes:

> Help! My 3.5 yr. old will not/ can not sit still for more than 2

> seconds. He is up and down through every meal and snack. The

> second he's finished, he's up and running (often leaving a trail

> behind). He's quite large and won't fit into a high chair or a

> booster chair. Short of sitting with him every time he eats or

> drinks anything (a constant process that would consume my entire

> day), what can I do? I've considered sewing a large patch of velcro

> to the bottom of all of his pants... :-) Any ideas would be MUCH

> appreciated. Thanks!

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

&

We used the opportunity to do the " sitting while eating " in ABA therapy

We also make sure to eat as a family together as much as possible so Jeff is

modeling after us.

After 2 mos (Jeff is 4 yrs 2 mos and we did this at 3 1/2 years) Jeff sits

and eats.

If he wants up (Jeff is also apraxic) he points. I will tell him " no not

yet. You have to eat your dinner.

In a little while you can get up. " He is OK with it.

I hope this helps you!

A jeffs mom

Re: eating messes

Same problem here. I decided to let my son run around when he wanted as long

as the food stayed on the table. He could get up as much as he wanted but

the food stays on a placemat. This took weeks of training and yes sitting

with him everytime he ate anything, but I can tell you, it has saved me much

more time in sanity. I also have a dog that I let in after meals to clean up

after him. This saves a lot of sweeping and then I mop at the end of each

day. At least all the mess is in one place at the table in the kitchen. I

also insist he sit in the same chair every time.

TX

eating messes

> Help! My 3.5 yr. old will not/ can not sit still for more than 2 seconds.

He is up and down through every meal and snack. The second he's finished,

he's up and running (often leaving a trail behind). He's quite large and

won't fit into a high chair or a booster chair. Short of sitting with him

every time he eats or drinks anything (a constant process that would consume

my entire day), what can I do? I've considered sewing a large patch of

Karvelcro to the bottom of all of his pants... :-) Any ideas would be MUCH

appreciated. Thanks!

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Same problem here. I decided to let my son run around when he wanted as long

as the food stayed on the table. He could get up as much as he wanted but

the food stays on a placemat. This took weeks of training and yes sitting

with him everytime he ate anything, but I can tell you, it has saved me much

more time in sanity. I also have a dog that I let in after meals to clean up

after him. This saves a lot of sweeping and then I mop at the end of each

day. At least all the mess is in one place at the table in the kitchen. I

also insist he sit in the same chair every time.

TX

eating messes

> Help! My 3.5 yr. old will not/ can not sit still for more than 2 seconds.

He is up and down through every meal and snack. The second he's finished,

he's up and running (often leaving a trail behind). He's quite large and

won't fit into a high chair or a booster chair. Short of sitting with him

every time he eats or drinks anything (a constant process that would consume

my entire day), what can I do? I've considered sewing a large patch of

velcro to the bottom of all of his pants... :-) Any ideas would be MUCH

appreciated. Thanks!

>

>

>

>