Birds of a feather....

Apparently, eat like birds.

When you have a kid, one of the things you try to do is avoid having your children go through the same hardships you did as a kid. As a child I was a horrible eater. Picky is an understatement. I only liked "number nine" spaghetti. Basically, I only liked vermicelli and angel hair or linguine would make me gag until I threw up. Most foods that I "didn't like" made me gag because of the taste, but mostly it was the texture or smell that got to me. I wasn't an unhealthy eater, I just had a very small list of foods to choose from.

Twenty nine years later I am dealing with myself but in a smaller form. A few months ago I noticed Kayleigh would start gagging if I tried to get her to eat something she claimed she didn't like. The first time it happened I knew it was what I went through as a child but since I didn't want her to go through what I went through I pushed through and pretended like this wasn't happening.

Then, she stopped liking pasta. All except for spaghetti. Which, she will only eat with marinara sauce...just like I used to do! This was like an episode of the twilight zone. Things that I hated as a kid she now hates! She only likes peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich, no other sandwiches but she loves cold cuts. She isn't a fan of cheese but she LOVES pizza. These are just a few examples.

So I turned to the only thing that could possibly provide an answer: The Internet. If you have extra time on your hands you may want to read this article about sensory food aversions in infants and toddlers. This article made me realize that I was never crazy. That the fact that I wouldn't try eggplant because it had the word egg in it was completely normal because the smell of eggs would literally make me sick to my stomach and I, for some reason, associated eggplant with getting sick. The fact that I made myself suffer many times because people would want me to "try a food." All it made me do was gag or feel sick to my stomach and then get anxious over the fact that they thought I was weird, rude or about to throw up on their carpet. Actually I felt anxiety anytime I ate in public or around people because I feared they would make me try something that would make me sick. It wasn't fun and I think people thought I did it on purpose. My roommates in college cooked pasta for me which was a different "number" spaghetti. It was ok because it was still spaghetti, it was usually any other kind of pasta that would make the gagging, tearing up and vomiting occur.

On page 47 of the document, the author says that "children with this aversion have more taste buds and sensory receptors for taste texture and smell which gives the child a more intense experience of some qualities of certain foods." I am glad that I know that Kayleigh probably isn't a "picky eater" but instead is suffering the same issues I did growing up. I am not happy that family members, friends along with everyone else will probably judge her for this. I grew up hearing from family members how they were happy I wasn't their kid because I was such a bad eater. Little did they know that I could try and make them happy by eating the meal they prepared but it would probably make me sick to my stomach. I also got made fun of at school, or on play dates. How could I like cheese on pizza but not regular cheese. Prove it. Gag. Get laughed at. The sad thing is I wanted to like these foods but I was scared of getting sick and this all lasted until I was about 18-20 years old. I think my taste buds probably eased up a bit earlier but I was too scared to try anything. I eat everything now, except some cheeses, fish and eggs. So that's what makes Kayleigh showing these same signs of reluctance so fascinating and I knew there had to be something more than me just being a "pain in the ass eater."

So I will continue to try and get her to eat more foods (actually her list of food has gone down since she was 12 months). I think I will use the advice of this author and use a rewards/point system. I will have to alter it since she is much younger than the seven to ten year olds this program was meant to help. I know that if I ate a food enough, I would get used to the texture and begin to love it. Mushrooms are a great example of this and I only started loving them a few years back. It took maybe twenty times of trying a mushroom before the gag reflex didn't show its face and I could enjoy the actual food.

I know, this isn't really that big of a deal. Like I said, she is actually quite a healthy eater, there just isn't a lot that she will actually eat. I should be happy that she loves things like chick peas, beans, vegetables, fruit, meat and not just chicken nuggets and french fries. I know there are children out there like that but she also doesn't get those kinds of food a lot.

So since I know what she feels when she sees a new food. The anxiety. Then the sudden rush of vomit when the texture is not what you expected. I know how it feels so I will be supportive. Maybe I will tell her mommy used to feel the same way but now mommy is ok and likes all food. She'll be ok. I guess that apple didn't fall far from that tree at all.