S2 | 5. PICKY EATING SERIES: Anxiety, the Nervous System, & Your Child's Complex Picky Eating

 
 
 

My new online course, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Naturally Navigating Picky Eating⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, for parents of children with complex picky eating (with and without developmental conditions), is OPEN for enrollment!

 
 
 

On this fifth and final episode of the Picky Eating Series this week, during the launch of Naturally Navigating Picky Eating, I'm discussing the connections between anxiety, the nervous system, and your child's complex picky eating.

The episode starts with a very brief overview of the nervous system in layman's terms, how it relates to your child's anxiety generally speaking and more specifically with food + mealtimes.

Having a regulated nervous system helps children feel a sense of safety and well-being within their body and environment, which is so needed for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. We want kids to be in a "rest and digest" state for mealtimes.

I’ll share how you can use external supports, like changing the environment or using diet + nutrition and lifestyle strategies to help support your child's nervous system regulation.

We also cover unique cases that can be related to children with complex picky eating, where pathogens are actually contributing to immune system dysregulation and there's a low-level inflammatory response, impacting the nervous system (in PANS/PANDAS conditions, specifically).

Listen in for a variety of ideas to support your child's nervous system regulation to help bring down their anxiety and improve their relationship with food and mealtimes... Starting with supporting your nervous system regulation during mealtimes.

You can listen directly below or on iTunes, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.

 

If you want to keep learning and receive more guided support to help your child overcome complex picky eating, ⁠⁠⁠LEARN MORE & ENROLL in Naturally Navigating Picky Eating today⁠⁠⁠!

S2 | 4. PICKY EATING SERIES: Is Your Child’s Picky Eating Driving You Crazy? The Importance of Staying Neutral...

 
 
 

My new online course, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Naturally Navigating Picky Eating⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, for parents of children with complex picky eating (with and without developmental conditions), is OPEN for enrollment!

⁠CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & ENROLL TODAY

 
 

Does your child's picky eating sometimes drive you a little...crazy? I hear this all the time! I know you know you're not alone, don't you? Let's talk about it!

Tying in the concepts from the previous episodes in this Picky Eating Series, I'm sharing the importance of staying neutral in the times when you're feeling the most annoyed, frustrated, and defeated when it comes to your child's picky eating.

Not only am I discussing why the importance of staying neutral during these times (you can likely already infer why it is), you'll also hear me share actionable strategies and tips that you can implement TODAY, at your family's next mealtime!

You can listen directly below or on iTunes, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.

 

If you want to keep learning and receive more guided support on how to bring more ease and joy to your family's mealtimes, ⁠⁠⁠LEARN MORE & ENROLL in Naturally Navigating Picky Eating today⁠⁠⁠!

S2 | 3. Picky Eating Series: How to "Meet Your Child Where They Are" During Mealtimes

In order to “meet your child where they are” during mealtimes, you need to understand where they are... I encourage you to do that by zooming out, becoming an observer, taking an inventory of your child's current accepted foods, look for patterns and start making a plan that gently encourages them to the next "step". Listen in for action-steps and practical examples of how to "meet your child where they are" during mealtimes!

S2 | 2. PICKY EATING SERIES: Instilling Confidence in Your Picky Eater

Does your child have a lot of food and/or mealtime anxiety that's involved with or contributing to their complex picky eating? Unfortunately, that's not uncommon for the children and families that I serve. You're not alone... and there's hope!

In this second episode of the Picky Eating Series, I'm sharing strategies to help you instill confidence in your child when it comes to food and mealtimes. Learn more about how you can decrease anxiety by building familiarity and instilling confidence in your picky eater - Listen in!

S2 | 1. PICKY EATING SERIES: Reframing the Goal of Mealtimes

 
 
 

The podcast is back! AND...

My new online course, ⁠⁠Naturally Navigating Picky Eating⁠⁠, is LIVE and open for enrollment! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & ENROLL TODAY!⁠⁠

 
 

Have you ever wanted to ask, "How do I get my child to eat [whatever food it is]?" -- It's a question I hear all the time!

Instead of asking how to get your child to eat [this or that new food], I'm encouraging you to zoom out and meet your child where he/she is!

In this episode, I'm offering a perspective shift for parents of children with complex picky eating, encouraging a reframing of the goal at mealtimes... Removing so much of that pressure that's placed on your child, on you, on the mealtimes in general.

The goal should always be: A long-standing healthy relationship with food, mealtimes, and their body... and you, as their parent and/or caregiver! Tune in to hear how to develop this with time, consistency, and patience.

You can listen directly below or on iTunes, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.

 

"Picky Eating": What's Developmentally Appropriate & How to Know When it's a More Complex Issue

 
 
 

Would you describe your child as a “picky eater”? Many parents of young children do!

How do you know when it’s developmentally appropriate vs. when is it a more complex issue to investigate and seek support? I’m here to help you understand this distinction and determine the answer for your child (and/or clients).

As an integrative Speech-Language Pathologist and pediatric feeding specialist, in addition to being a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Epidemic Answers Certified Health Coach, my passion is working with parents who are navigating complex picky eating and/or neurodevelopmental conditions (often overlapping but not always).

The term “picky eating” is so broad and often overused for kids who really do have a more complex issue, like a pediatric feeding disorder. Most pediatric and family health, wellness, and developmental providers are not properly trained to understand the full scope of “picky eating” (like knowing when it’s a real problem for families, how to help, and where to refer them based on the issue).

 

Let’s take a look at what’s considered developmentally appropriate vs. what would be considered a more complex issue…

Screen Shot 2021-07-15 at 10.09.21 AM.png

Please note: The following lists of “picky eating” criteria were largely inspired by, and some contents were adapted directly from, S.O.S. Approach to Feeding, "Picky Eaters versus Problem Feeders", by Dr. Kay A. Toomey.

Developmentally Appropriate “Picky Eating”:

  • Child is within toddler to preschool age and…[see below]

  • Will eat at least 30 different foods

  • Eats at least one food from most food textures and/or nutrition groups

  • May really enjoy a certain food for a while then "burn out" on it, then re-introduce in a couple weeks

  • Is able to emotionally tolerate the sight of new foods on the table and on their plate most of the time

  • Will usually, sometimes hesitantly, touch or taste a new food

  • Typically eats with the family but not uncommon for them to sometimes have a different meal or different variations of the family meal

  • “Picky eating” seems to come and go (it’s not every single meal, every single day)

  • Sometimes reported as a "picky eater" to health providers

 
 
Screen Shot 2021-07-15 at 10.09.33 AM.png

When I use the term complex picky eating, I’m referring to when a child's picky eating / self-restricted eating habits are not developmentally appropriate and are persistently & consistently causing quality of life issues for the child and/or family.

Some synonymous or sometimes co-occurring terms could also be: Pediatric Feeding Disorders, problem feeders, extreme picky eating, severe picky eating, etc.

Note: These terms listed above are not always exactly synonymous and/or co-occurring with what I’m describing as complex picky eating. Ex: There are some children who have Pediatric Feeding Disorders (PFD) who I would not consider complex picky eaters, but sometimes children with complex picky eating have a presence and/or history of a Pediatric Feeding Disorder.

 
 

Complex Picky Eating:

  • Child’s “picky eating” consistently creates a quality of life issue for the child and/or family (unpleasant mealtimes and feelings of stress, overwhelm, defeat, etc.)

  • If your child has a developmental delay(s), neurodevelopmental condition(s), or other special need(s) as well as the presence of “picky eating” that impacts your child and/or family’s quality of life

  • If your child has a diagnosed chronic health condition or the persistent unwanted chronic health symptoms as well as the presence of “picky eating” that impacts your child and/or family’s quality of life

  • Child is outside of those toddler to preschool age years and still has regular persistent “picky eating” tendencies

  • If in toddler to preschool years and...[see below]

  • Typically self-limited down to eating less than 20 different foods

  • May really love a food, eat it often and consistently, then seems to "burn out" on it

    • For these kids, foods that become "food jags" are generally not easily reintroduced once they’re lost or “burnt out” on them (at least not for a long, long, time)

  • Child has a very difficult time emotionally tolerating the sight of new and/or unpreferred foods on their plate

    • May whine, cry, protest, push away plate, take the new or unpreferred food off right away, etc. Full refusal of the new or unpreferred food(s)

    • Child's reaction to new or unpreferred foods causes an emotional disruption in the mealtime

  • Refuses certain food textures or nutritional groups entirely

  • Almost always eats a different meal than the rest of the family and often doesn't eat with the family during mealtimes (sometimes because the family’s food bothers the child)

  • Consistently reported as a "picky eater" to health providers

 
 

Pediatric Feeding Disorder:

Pediatric Feeding Disorder is the official diagnostic term that some of the children with what I’m often referring to as complex picky eating could potentially qualify for. Typically I choose to use “complex picky eating” more often in my content because it’s more “parent friendly” / what parents are internet searching, at least initially.

It is estimated that 1 in 37 children in the United States under the age of 5 has a Pediatric Feeding Disorder.

According to Manikam & Perman (2000), “Pediatric feeding disorders are common: 25% of children are reported to present with some form of feeding disorder. This number increases to 80% in developmentally delayed children. Consequences of feeding disorders can be severe, including growth failure, susceptibility to chronic illness, and even death. Feeding disorders occur in children who are healthy, who have gastrointestinal disorders, and in those with special needs.”

Raising awareness and identification are the first steps!

I hope that this information helps clarify what is developmentally appropriate vs. what’s a more complex picky eating issue.

I encourage you to explore the contents of the site further and/or listen in to Speaking of Health & Wellness: The Podcast where I dive much deeper into this topic and give action steps that you can use at home! You can find the podcast here on the site and on major podcast platforms.

This podcast episode pairs well with this blog:

Are you ready to learn how to help your child overcome complex picky eating and bring more ease and joy to mealtimes?

Enroll today in Naturally Navigating Picky Eating, a self-paced online course + guide for parents and caregivers of children with complex picky eating, with and without developmental conditions…

 
 
 

Autism & Complex Picky Eating: Underlying Causes and Strategies for Support

 
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
 
 

In this final episode of Season 1 of Speaking of Health & Wellness: The Podcast, I'm covering autism and complex picky eating using my signature © Complex Picky Eating Paradigm as a framework to help guide your understanding of the underlying causes of complex picky eating.

We'll explore the overlapping nature of these five domain categories as they relate to autism and complex picky eating:

  • Behavioral / Environmental,

  • Trauma,

  • Biochemical / Nutritional,

  • Structural / Functional,

  • and Medical

Listen in to hear concrete examples, solutions, tips, and insights related to the potential root causes of your child's (and/or client's) complex picky eating, with a special emphasis focus on autism!

Mentioned in the Show:

 

Are you ready to learn how to help your child overcome complex picky eating and bring more ease and joy to mealtimes?

Enroll today in Naturally Navigating Picky Eating, a self-paced online course + guide for parents and caregivers of children with complex picky eating, with and without developmental conditions…

 
 

Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Action: It's Okay to Have Mixed Feelings

 
 
 

Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Action...Can they coexist? I believe so!

In Episode 14, I'm covering the diagnostic criteria and rising rates of autism spectrum disorders, as well as the changes in formal diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5.

I'll be exploring various subtypes of autism, and the "communities" within the overall larger community of autism spectrum disorders (specifically the biomedical community, the neurodiversity community, and the traditional behaviorist community).

We'll talk about the difference between person-first language and identity-first language, and how the language we're using within the autism community really does matter... but it might matter differently to different communities within the larger autism community.

I share my own mixed feelings about Autism Awareness Month / day, and offer validation that it's okay for you to have mixed feelings too, if you do.

While there may be differences among the autism communities, I think everyone within the autism community really wants the same thing: For individuals with autism or autistic people, whichever that individual’s preference, to be able to live their best lives and be fully respected and loved.

Let's raise awareness. Let's teach love and acceptance of individuals where they are - always! But let's not forget: There's action to be taken for their individual health needs, and to move this conversation forward as a collective whole.

Push play below and listen in to Episode 14 to learn more!

Mentioned in the show:

BLOG: “Exploring Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders as Whole Body Conditions”

Episode 5: “Exploring Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders as Whole Body Conditions”

TACA Autism Statistics