Picky eater or food neophobia

It has been over a week since I broke down and took all the pasta from our house and put it in a big garbage bag and stored it away.  There were about 20 boxes of pasta in that bag. We told Aiden that the mailman took it.   The reason I did this is because he woke up asking for pasta. For lunch he wants pasta. For dinner he wants pasta. I feel like he's getting worse and worse with his pasta addiction so I figured kicking the pasta habit cold turkey would be the best route.

I get so many comments from strangers, friends and family...

                "Just let him be"

                "He won't starve"

                "force it"

                "my kid is the same way"

Well...

                - We tried

                - Yes he will

                - We tried and it back fired

                - really?

Last night I hit a new low.  I tried forcing him to eat pasta with broccoli.  I put him in his little brothers crib every time he wouldn't eat it and only take him out of the crib if he tells me he will eat it.  So after the 6th or 7th time in the crib and many many tears, he fell asleep, hungry.  He lost weight since we took pasta out which made me realize that the comment "he won't starve" is not necessarily true.  I  feel terrible for trying to force him to eat, especially since it didn't work. It only made him resent me.  I'm scared daily that he doesn't eat enough nutrients.   His little brother is starting to pick up his bad habits and he only wants the same food as his big brother, Aiden.   So now we need to separate them during meal time so Aiden can't influence Dylan.  

I did some research online and came across this video "ExtremelyPicky Eaters Fear Trying New Foods" There is an actual name for this -- Food Neophobia.  I'm curious if Aiden has this or if his fear of food is due to his food allergies.  Aiden gags and hits his face when we try to give him something new to eat.  I can tell that he is curious about certain foods but he can't get himself to try it. Even watermelon was an issue this weekend.

Aiden's will only eat the following 10 foods.  I cannot imagine that this little 3.5 year old boy is getting enough nutrients, even while taking vitamin supplements.

Plain granola (most of the time)

pancakes/waffles (rarely)

toast with jelly (sometimes)

chicken nuggets (sometimes)

Alphabet fries (most of the times)

Bagels (every time)

pasta with safe butter (every time)

muffins (all the time)

Cereals (most of the time)

Corn on the cob (all the time)

But his options are endless.

I'm going to step back and let him go back to eating pasta. 

Dinner time

I cook at home almost every day and it's always safe for Aiden. We made our house safe for him so he never has to hear us say "you can't have this because you're allergic to it" since he will have to hear it enough outside of the house.  His school is great when it comes to his allergies and offers safe snacks for the entire class. It is very rare where he is given a "special" cookie and the rest of the class has something else.  Even the parents have been amazing and have made sure Aiden is a part of the birthday or holiday celebrations and made safe snacks which Aiden can also eat.  I thought I would never let Aiden eat from someone else kitchen because he is so sensitive to even cross contamination, but these parents have assured me and dealt with my 100 questions about how things are made.

Our pantry has all safe foods. Our freezer has coconut ice cream.  I bake safe breads, cookies and cakes weekly so he is never limited to what he can have.  Yet, with all these measures he is scared of food.

Last night I made a milk/soy/egg/nut free broccoli risotto that was out of this world delicious! My 14 month old devoured three bowls of it.  But as soon as I asked Aiden to try a little he broke down. I didn't even put the fork near his mouth because I know if I did, he would have one of his episodes.  We learned the hard way not to trick him into trying something new.  You know, pretend you're putting a chicken nugget in his mouth but really it's guacamole.  We did that a few times and it took us hours to calm him down. At times he would start hitting his mouth. Rub his tongue on his shirt as if he's having an allergic reaction. Walk around with his mouth open crying.  It's really heart breaking.  We know guacamole is safe for him. He use to eat it daily but then he just stopped.  Same thing goes for so many other foods. Even simple foods.  He's even scared of fruit.  I know kids are smarter than we give them credit for, but I'm really worried.  I thought this would get easier with time and yes, there are things that did get easier, but so much of it became harder.

I'm hoping with age, he will learn to trust us and start trying new foods.

I can't be any more in love ...

Update

I'm completely neglecting my blog (the internet for that matter). Every time I have some time to myself, I'm either doing the laundry, cleaning the fridge, cooking, baking or checking off my to-do list of 100 other things.

Today I had the pleasure of both boys sleeping at the same time FOR TWO HOURS!! and instead of taking a nap myself, I decided to make chocolate chip muffins, blueberry muffins and a banana bread. Shouldn't I at least try to loose my baby weight and not gain more? 


I recently purchased a book by Dr. Mcdougall (Quick and easy cookbook).  He's a vegan and his recipes are starch based.  I was surprised to find so many allergy friendly recipes.  A lot of his recipes calls for rice milk and most of his recipes are actually perfect for Aiden.  Last week I made his creamy mushroom soup and today I changed up the recipe a bit and made it a creamy mushroom, broccoli and potato soup. It was really really good. I couldn't believe it that it's even possible to make a soup this creamy without any cream.   I will post the recipe I used next week because I will definitely make it again.

He also has a ton of great breakfast ideas. I'm excited to try his milk/soy/egg free french toast!  it actually sounds delicious.

And since I can't leave a post without a photo. Here are my boys...

Are they even brothers?  One has black hair and dark skin and the other has blond hair and super light skin.  I wonder what a third boy would look like (my sister in law does have red hair!)

It has been a lot better being home with a new baby. Aiden is helping out a lot with his little brother and even checks up on him and confirms he's "A-OK" from time to time.   

I cried daily when Dylan came home because I didn't know how to manage my time between them.. but it only took a few weeks to get settled in and adjust to the new normal.  He no longer cares when I nurse him (he only announces it each time as "Dylan eating boobies!").  I love them! 

It's a boy

December 15th at 8:13 AM I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Dylan.  9lbs 2oz and 19.5 in long.  Not as big as Aiden (9lbs 14oz) but still big.  Born via c-section

It has not been easy. I knew having two kids would be hard, but I never though it would be THIS hard.  I cried for the first seven days because I couldn't figure out how to manage my time between the boys.  Aiden was super jealous and I had Dylan attached to my boob most of the day (cluster feeding sucks).  

Today Dylan is two weeks old and it is getting easier. I'm mastering nursing and making breakfast, lunch and dinner all at the same time.  Yesterday I was home alone with my two boys for a good portion of the day and managed to clean two rooms, do two loads of laundry, make a banana bread and test out a new soy, milk, egg, nut free chocolate cake recipe (still trying to tweak it) and to top it all, I made a pretty yummy dinner (pasta with veggies and meatballs for my husband and "beanballs" for myself with a side of garlic bread)...

Last week I decided to go off dairy because Dylan was showing some skin issues and possible reflux.  His skin would turn bright red on his scalp and face and sometimes had little white pimples on his chin, cheeks and nose after nursing.  His pediatrician doesn't think it's an allergy but I can't help to worry.  He has been a little better so I'm assuming the diet may be working.  I hope and pray he does not have allergies, but if he does, i hope and pray even more that we find out before he has a reaction like his brother.  

Here are my two handsome men.. It's amazing how different they look (one has blond hair and one has black hair).  Love them.  Can't wait until they start to play together and torture each other :)