Distraction

We are still struggling with getting Troy to eat. It’s not that he won’t eat at all, he just had to do it on his own terms. He’s also very random about the food. Sometimes he’ll gobble it down, and other times he picks sparingly. Unfortunately, he judges food by the look rather than the taste. He’ll tell us that something is “yucky!” before he’s even tried it. And there’s no reasoning with him once he’s made his mind up about it.

And there is no rhyme or reason to it. He won’t eat sweet potatoes in any form, for example. But he loves carrots. So it can’t be the color. Eggs and chicken are hit or miss, depending on his mood. Beef is out entirely. Lettuce and cucumbers are always a winner.

Being distracted by the TV is still a must. He won’t even touch his food until we’ve put something on. We’ve tried talking to him or reading him a story, and all he says the entire time…on repeat…is, “I wanna watch the dinosaurs on the TV, mama.” So, we acquiesce, because it’s a small price to pay to get some food inside him.

What I found to be more successful than sitting there the entire two hours saying, “Take a bite, Troy,” is to engage him about what’s happening in the show. I’ll pause the TV and ask him a question about the show. Pausing it gets his attention for a few seconds. Asking him a question about the show makes him interested instead of annoyed. All on his own, he’ll reach down and take a bite without me having to bring it up. He tends to eat more, and both of us tend to be in a better mood afterward. It still doesn’t speed the process up, but it’s progress.