Eating/Food Concerns

by sara
(Northern Colorado )

Hi,

My son is 4.5 (he'll be 5 in October) and was diagnosed with SPD about 6 months ago. I've struggled with understanding fully the disorder and the ins and outs of it, realizing that it's very complex and each child is different and that behaviors manifest differently depending on the "branch" of SPD, etc. (I'm not even really sure I'm making sense here!)

I am not really sure HOW to classify my son and his disorder since a lot of "typical" characteristics of SPD do not fit him, but then there are those that do. For example, he loves to spin, he has no problem with squishy slimy or otherwise "gross" feeling stuff (even eating it as long as it tastes like candy!). He doesn't fuss about tags or being touched or anything like that. However, he's nearly 5 and he's not potty trained. We can't sing or dance if he's around. He hates playing with kids other than his brother because he can't control the situation and/or kid like he can at home with his sibling. He also hates going places because he's not in control. There are other things, obviously, but more than anything I wanted to give you a brief picture of him within the disorder before asking my question.

This kid will NOT EAT. I looked at the cookbook on this site and it looks great. However, it wouldn't help me. He won't even eat the things that kids his age would typically eat (pizza? no. mac&cheese? no. lunchmeat? no.), so it would be a waste of money for me. There are only 4-5 things that he WILL eat, and sometimes he won't even eat THOSE things. I often wonder if his behavior is a result of not getting the proper nutrition from food since he won't eat.

I present to you, without further ado, the things that my child WILL eat: pop-tarts (strawberry milkshake, chocolate ice cream shoppe kind and brown sugar/cinnamon), dry cereal (lucky charms, apple jacks, fruit loops, life, corn pops, frosted mini wheats and rice krispies with milk on them, marshmallows, graham crackers, hamburger or hot dog buns (plain), club crackers, mini vanilla wafers, fruit snacks, yogurt tubes (this is rare, though, and always has to be cotton candy or strawberry). He'll drink milk, juice, water. He'll eat candy, of course - he loves gummy candy of any sort, mostly. He used to be off the charts for his weight - the kid would eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. At 2, I felt so blessed to have a child that ate so healthy... his lunches were mostly raw vegetables and fruits. He loved raw peppers and raw onions! He ate grapes and strawberries and apples like they were going out of style! Then slowly, he began to reject everything.

Not only am I concerned for HIS health, but I also worry that he's going to sway my younger son to not eat things. Right now my younger son will eat pretty much anything (he's 3.5). But he adores his big brother and I see him emulating him, refusing to eat the things that I give him the way that the eldest does.

So, here are my questions:

1) Is this, or could this be SPD related?
2) Could the SPD be exacerbated by the lack of nutrition in his diet?
3) How can I get him to eat!? I have millions of resources (the sneaky cookbook or whatever it is? hiding veggies in "normal" food? yeah, but I'd have to get him to eat THAT food first!) but none that tell me how to get us back on track!
4) How can I stop it from affecting my baby? I dread each and every meal time as it is with ONE kid refusing to eat anything I give him, I think I'll go nutty if there are 2 who behave that way!

Thanks ahead of time!

Sara