Picky Eater question- *need some advice*

[Guest guest]

Hi-

My son is 6 and has mild Asperger's. (and was also dx with SPD & ADHD)-

he has always been sort of picky in what he eats. He seemed to eat a lot more

of a variety of things when he was younger. Now- he has some very specific

things that he eats and that is it. I have often wondered if he is truly a

picky eater or he just knows what he likes and sticks with it. (by comparison-

my 3 yr old is very adventurous and will eat just about anything and likes

variety everyday)

My 6 yr old seems to stick with mostly protein foods and dairy products. He

eats a very limited amount of fruits & veg's (only bananas, cantaloupe, carrots,

corn and string beans. He will occasionally eat sliced/peeled apples) But I

manage to get him to eat at least one fruit & one veg a day (and yes it makes me

cringe!)

Anyway- I get so tired of making him the same thing every night for dinner and

then making a separate dinner for me, my hubby and 3 yr old! But I know that he

will not usually eat what I make. I have heard way too many people tell me the

old " just make whatever it is you are going to make and serve it to him and he

will eat when he is hungry enough! " HA! Our 1st pediatrician gave us this

advice when he was 6 months old. He was still nursing at the time and he didn't

eat a single bit of the food we tried to give him. He just nursed more & more

for a week. When he was 22 months and had just recently weaned at 19 months- he

again was on a food jag and we tried this approach. He went almost 4 straight

days of not eating anything and was so cranky & lethargic. It was awful and we

felt like the worst parents in the world. Why would someone tell us to do this?

Anyway- they clearly did not understand how determined our son is and we didn't

know about any of the other issues behind it as well.

My questions are:

1. if you also have a " picky eater " do you let them stick with what they will

actually eat?

2. Any suggestions on some new high protein things we can try for him?

(he mostly eats Dino nuggets with extra Omega's in them, bacon, taylor ham

and sausages and cheese of any kind. Rarely he will eat organic lunch meat

rolled up)

We have noticed that the protein foods calm him down considerably.

Lately he has been willing to at least try a few new things- which is thrilling

for me! I tell him that he doesn't have to like it or even eat it- but at least

just try it. (this rule applies to everyone in our family! even me!) And he has

tried a few new things in the last month. I thought that maybe since he is

willing- I might stumble upon something else to add to his repetoire! lol

p.s. he is also interested in cooking with me and I let him with supervision. I

find that when he cooks something with me he is more likely to at least try it.

He's so cute- he understands the concept of residual heat on our glass top

stove! lol