My husband's favorite comic book/movie superhero is Superman. Therefore, my son knows Superman. He's never actually watched a movie or cartoon with him. But he has t-shirts, pajamas, capes, Mr Potato Heads, etc... that are all Superman themed. He's knows Superman is cool.
One day we called bread "Superman Bread" and he ate it. He'll eat most of a Hawaiian dinner roll if I tear it into small chunks and put it in front of him. He shouts "Superman bread!!!!" He also loves cheese.
So, the other day we were out at lunch and we thought we'd try something new. We ordered him a grilled cheese and broccoli. I asked the waiter to have them smash the sandwich down as flat as possible when they grilled it so it wouldn't be overwhelmingly thick. The kid will eat at least some of any green vegetable I put in front of him. He was totally excited to eat broccoli. He's played with it plenty of times when he's helping me prepare meals. So, I wasn't shocked when he ate it. The sandwich, I really questioned. To my surprise, after I cut it into tiny bites and told him it was "Superman bread with cheese"...he ate an entire 1/2 a sandwich.
WHAT?! Who are you and what have you done with my child? And, please stay.
Since then, we've tried it two more times at home. We're trying to repeat exposure as much as possible until something is officially "accepted". He doesn't eat it as well at home. Why? I HAVE NO IDEA. Maybe he is just more adventurous at restaurants? Maybe I'm ruining it because I'm sneaking a slice of VERY THIN roasted turkey in there too. I want him to eat more protein. I'm not even sure if he's noticed. He hasn't commented. He just won't eat it without us telling him he has to take bites and even then, he makes it known he isn't happy about it.
Last night was the worst night we've had since this eating real meals thing began. It normally takes us around 45 minutes to get dinner into him. We've been rewarding him with a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie at the end. We discovered he liked those last week. They've been a great incentive to get him to finish what we want him to finish. I'm so not above bribery. Anyway, last night he had: 1/2 a Superman bread with cheese (grilled cheese w/ a slice of turkey sandwich), peas, broccoli and apple sticks. He ate about half the veggies and the fruit before he got full enough and bored enough that he didn't want to eat any more. He ate no bites of the sandwich on his own. He let me put a few bites in his mouth after some pouting. Then, things just deteriorated. But he truly had not eaten enough so we had to press him. He turned his head, threw little fits, played with his napkin and flatware...anything he could do. This resulted in 2 time-outs and eventually I had to to get up from the table and walk away for a few minutes. My husband bravely stepped back in a got him to finish his veggies and three more bites of sandwich. All together this process took an hour and a half. I know that's too long for him to be at the table but we did it. And, punishing bad behavior surrounding a feeding aversion isn't encouraged. But, when he's old enough (and he is now) to understand that his behavior isn't acceptable, something has to be done. There was no yelling from us...just the time outs. I think we did the right thing. At some point he's going to able to understand that he as to eat all of A, B and C and a few bites of D before he can get up. He's not really there yet so we're trying it one x or y at a time and reminding him every bite or two that he has to eat until it's "all gone".
This morning, I think I'm still exhausted from last night. It's kind of soul crushing to have a really bad meal again. But, it will happen. We've just got to figure out how to motivate him better on those nights.
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