Hi
I came to your meeting last night, I was the one wearing the red cardigan, who had a 12 year old daughter who had a fruit and veg phobia.
At the age of six months I tried to introduce lumpy food, I remember chopping up a necterine finely and putting it in a yoghurt, she gagged and spat out all the bits (did try other things to) . Up until the age of 12 1/2 months I was mashing up vegetables with her potatoes, I tried to get away from doing this but could not get her to voluntary try any fruit or veg. I went back to mashing up veg in potatoes but once she had learnt to talk she protested about what she was eating. From the age of 3 I have tried to get some advice/help, trying all sorts of ways, being firm, being nice, bribary, giving praise, doing charts, sticker rewards, helping me to prepare meals, growing own veg, brought a childs book on the human body explained why important to eat healthy, warned her of health risks i.e cancer, heart attacks. At age of ten she was able to touch them without freaking out, At age eleven got to a stage where she will lick, taste and swallow a very small piece of fruit or veg. But we have not been able to progress any further.
This has been a very long and tireing battle, listening to family and friends they all think I am making a big deal out of nothing and that I should just ignore it. At the end of the day I want the best for my daughter and I cannot give up. But saying that coming away from your meeting made me feel like got to make a decision been going on too long and it has been getting me down. When I went home I wrote out a questionnaire for Becky to answer, asked questions like Do you understand why it is important to eat F & V? Do you want to eat F & V for you or for mom and dad? Asked why is eating F & V so different from eating any other foods as she eats lots of different textures? The outcome was that she really wants to do it but can't. I told her that I feel like giving up now, and if she wants me to leave her alone I will (I must point out I am not constantly on to her, every now and again I try to encourage eating F & V). We both shed a little tear and she hugged me and said I really want to overcome this, she then asked if she could have some grapefruit, I thought here we go again I will cut a tiny piece off she will turn her nose up at it, gag then throw up on my kitchen floor, but how shocked was I when she ate the piece said it was nice and ended up eating half the grapefruit. I then opened a tin of mandarin oranges and she ate 4 segments. She was so pleased with herself and I was over the moon too. She said that she is really going to try hard and does not want me to give up on her. After seeing the specialist at the hospital Clarissa or Rowna she always comes back with a positive attitude but it never lasts very long, I hope that this is the start of something new, and her enthusiasm will last she has drunk her orange juice this morning which is classed as one portion of fruit and veg and hopefully she will eat the other half of grapefruit after school.
I think your group is such a good idea because parents do need support, as I have felt not had support from family and friends. I do understand how hard it is to try to overcome a phobia as I have a phobia of snakes, but fortunately snakes are not a part of my everyday life. I have also put myself in Becky's shoes and tried to eat a prawn (which is a food I think is the most disgustingest thing I could put in my mouth) I went through all the anxieties that Becky goes through, smelling it, lifting my noes up, squirming when its in my mouth, gagging, quickly swallowing it washing it down with a drink as if its a tablet. So I do have some symphathy for her and have tried putting myself in her shoes.
I will keep you posted on our progress, I look forward to the day when she eats what is on her plate without creating a fuss.
Kind Regards
Nicky Moore
Update from the previous email.
Still making great progress.
Friday she had a whole portion of carrots and peas
Saturday we went to a party and she tried cheese and pineapple on a stick + had some strawberrys from top of a gateaux.
Sunday Had a portion of runner beans from my dads garden, enjoyed them and had some more!, also had rhubarb crumble and a piece of strawberry flan.
Beckys whole attitude towards trying fruit and veg has changed totally. In my last email I said that I look forward to the day when Becky eats a meal with vegetables without making a fuss, well today (sunday) that has happened!
Kind Regards
Nicky Moore.
Please continue to send us your own stories and experiences. They really do help other people.
Take care
Gemma x
0 comments:
Post a Comment