PEANUT BUTTER CRAZY

Angela - posted on 01/22/2009

stop buying juice if your son does not need the calories. If he is like my two son's they burn through their calories super fast. I buy odwalla juice and 100%juice. i hope this helps.

Mary - posted on 01/22/2009

My son is 16  with aspergers. He pick a yearly lunch. Same thing every day. He is in 10th gr. now and it is peanutbutter crackers. Every year it has been peanutbutter on bread, crackers,etc. Some things never change.

LINDY - posted on 01/21/2009

Quoting Shelly:

My son really responds to anything silly. I would put a new food on his plate and if he took a bite I would do "a happy dance". This was me acting like a complete idiot - to a really really big extreme. I have actually hurt myself doing the "happy dance". He did not need to eat any more than just the bite. That is all. Sometime he continued to eat it just to see more "happy dance" Continue to offer this same new thing every night with dinner for several weeks until it is not new anymore. It has to be every night or it loses it's momentum. It is not in place of the meal he wants - it is in addition to it - Until he eats enough for it to be a meal all it's own. Then start on a new one. It is a long process but it has gotten my son eating a much bigger variety without any tears. If your son does not respond to silly -or you are not willing to throw your back out doing that happy dance - you can try another reinforcement. A toy or a cartoon on tv. My friend tried a toy in a paper bag on the table and he could not open the paper bag and have the toy until he took a bite. Same concept. Good Luck

hi shelly you cracked me up how funny i can just see all the moms from the circle doin the happy dance heehee great idea though thanks a bunch keep up with the good work sounds like your little man is blessed to have a mother that will throw her back out for him lol we wil do what ever works :)L

Irene - posted on 01/21/2009

What a great idea!  I never thought of that one!  Will try it out and see if it works for me!

Andrea - posted on 01/21/2009

hi , my sone is the same he will only eat tesco p-butter . i went into my local shop yest to get more and to my horror the have stoped stocking it ..........

i spoke to one of the managers and explaned about my son and the kindly said they would get it back in for me .

he is not a great eater , some day he will hardly eat anything .

Shelly - posted on 01/20/2009

My son really responds to anything silly. I would put a new food on his plate and if he took a bite I would do "a happy dance". This was me acting like a complete idiot - to a really really big extreme. I have actually hurt myself doing the "happy dance". He did not need to eat any more than just the bite. That is all. Sometime he continued to eat it just to see more "happy dance" Continue to offer this same new thing every night with dinner for several weeks until it is not new anymore. It has to be every night or it loses it's momentum. It is not in place of the meal he wants - it is in addition to it - Until he eats enough for it to be a meal all it's own. Then start on a new one. It is a long process but it has gotten my son eating a much bigger variety without any tears. If your son does not respond to silly -or you are not willing to throw your back out doing that happy dance - you can try another reinforcement. A toy or a cartoon on tv. My friend tried a toy in a paper bag on the table and he could not open the paper bag and have the toy until he took a bite. Same concept. Good Luck

Irene - posted on 01/20/2009

Hi, my son Ryan who is 6 years old also loves peanut butter spoons (great big spoons of peanut butter).  I realize a lot of his food has to do with sensory issues but I haven't found a rhyme or reason to them.  Just recently he also has started smelling his foods and it has to be the right temperature.  I have him help me make some of the meals, which he does enthusiastically!  In some cases he will then try it (usually doesn't like it but at least he tried something new).  I make sure that he has some things he eats and some things from the rest of our meal on his plate.  What he eats is up to him.  Vitamins are a definite if you can get him to eat it.  He also occassionally likes strawberry Breakfast Anytime which doesn't have any wierd aftertaste.

Angela - posted on 01/20/2009

Hi All! My son is 5 with High Functioning Autism. He will try new stuff one bite only if I bribe him with something he loves! Cheese or Ice cream. Really his diet is very consistently the same. I give both the boys vitamins to make up for what they are not getting. We don't eat process foods and that helps cut out the bad calories. Both my boys love fruit. Benji is 2 he is in the process of being tested for autism. I hope this helps.

Emily - posted on 01/20/2009

I had the same problem with my daughter...she would only eat bread with jelly on it.  She s now 10, but did this from about age 3 to 8.  Our doctor added a vitamin to her diet and had her drinking pediasure to make sure she was getting enough nutrients.  She has been healthy and amazingly has started trying many more foods in the last couple of years. 

Carrie - posted on 01/20/2009

Quoting Nicola:

Hi my son will only eat chicken nuggets and noodles. I was advised to just introduce new foods,by placing them on his plate, and making an issue out it.We tried this for several weeks, and then moved onto the next stage. We asked him to touch the food, smell, touch with his lips then his tongue. After several attempts again, we moved to next stage, asking to taste. This took a few attempts but eventually he nimbled the carrot. Well i jumped for joy lol. The only advice i can offer is patience when your introducing new foods. Hope this was helpful.

I have heard of this approach... I'm glad to hear it works.  My son is nine now and easier to reason with than when he was younger.  He now will try a small, and I do mean SMALL, bit of different foods.  The deal is that he has to give it a chance, but if he really doesn't like it he can spit it out.  For a while we gave him 50 cents every time he'd try a new food.  When he was younger he would throw up if he even thought there was a veggie in it.  He still has a lot of food issues, but has branched out and even started asking to try new fruits.

Carrie - posted on 01/20/2009

Quoting Nicola:

Hi my son will only eat chicken nuggets and noodles. I was advised to just introduce new foods,by placing them on his plate, and making an issue out it.We tried this for several weeks, and then moved onto the next stage. We asked him to touch the food, smell, touch with his lips then his tongue. After several attempts again, we moved to next stage, asking to taste. This took a few attempts but eventually he nimbled the carrot. Well i jumped for joy lol. The only advice i can offer is patience when your introducing new foods. Hope this was helpful.

I have heard of this approach... I'm glad to hear it works.  My son is nine now and easier to reason with than when he was younger.  He now will try a small, and I do mean SMALL, bit of different foods.  The deal is that he has to give it a chance, but if he really doesn't like it he can spit it out.  For a while we gave him 50 cents every time he'd try a new food.  When he was younger he would throw up if he even thought there was a veggie in it.  He still has a lot of food issues, but has branched out and even started asking to try new fruits.

Nicola - posted on 01/20/2009

He will toast, after reading the stories on here i think its a crunch thing with him as well.

Tracy - posted on 01/20/2009

Does he like cereal?  My son will always eat cereal, with Silk vanilla milk.  He craves crunch!

Nicola - posted on 01/20/2009

sorry that was suppose to be NOT MAKING AN ISSUE, typo error..

Nicola - posted on 01/20/2009

Hi my son will only eat chicken nuggets and noodles. I was advised to just introduce new foods,by placing them on his plate, and making an issue out it.We tried this for several weeks, and then moved onto the next stage. We asked him to touch the food, smell, touch with his lips then his tongue. After several attempts again, we moved to next stage, asking to taste. This took a few attempts but eventually he nimbled the carrot. Well i jumped for joy lol. The only advice i can offer is patience when your introducing new foods. Hope this was helpful.

Meredith - posted on 01/19/2009

I'm a big fan of the Sneaky Chef - www.sneakychef.com - it's all about hiding veggie purees in foods. Like, you could probably blend the PB with a white bean paste or chickpea puree without your child noticing. My kid's all about tofutti cream cheese - still trying to figure out what to hide in that.

Dusti - posted on 01/18/2009

I think this is all normal for just about any kid.  my son has autism, my daughter does not, my nieces do not... and when dinner time rolls around all four pick at their food and each one does something different with their foods!  My son loves his carbs, my daughter only eats things that aren't greasy or slimy, my oldest niece won't eat anything with tomato sauce, and the youngest doesn't eat anything with a mushy texture like mashed potatoes.  However, I fix a meal and they all figure out what parts they like and no one is starving to death.  Tonight, i nearly went crazy when my husband picked the carrot bits out of his dinner.  the funny thing is..... my mom came over tonight for a movie night with the kids.  She brought all kinds of snacks.. popcorn, chips, cookies.. and also a bag of fruit.  The kids all ate the pears and bananas.  The only one that ate the cookies was me!  I was worried once about my kids' eating habits and my grandmother told me that when her kids were little my uncle would only eat applesauce and toast for almost a year... then she said, "And he is fat and happy today... kids won't starve with food on teh table."  Don't stress out over it... it is a phase!

LINDY - posted on 01/18/2009

my son ethan only eats chips and bread when we are out when he eats chicken nuggets he only eats the out side of it not the meat when we go to mac [which is his favour] he eats pancakes with syrup and dipped in barbcue sauce or the bread of the cheesebiger never the meat and just the other day he eat the cheese at home i buy all different cheese and he wont eat it so i have asked the local macs if i can buy their cheese i explained about how fussy ethan is and i think they are going to let me and he will only drink milkshake at macs he never drinks milk at home so yes i think for some they expand there eatin habits when they are out even if its only a little bit i have no idea why i think maybe its got alot more fat in it compared to our food we make and they do like oil and salty food but that just a guess good luck we need it lol 

Christy - posted on 01/18/2009

My son, Rob is 7, and he too LOVES peanut butter sandwiches. He also would eat green beans, out of the can even. He would only eat pasta that I made, no chef boyardee. But now it is peanut butter sandwiches and cereal. When we go out to restaurants he only eats chicken and fries, or pizza.  He did eat a chick-fil-a SANDWICH the other day, which as you know was huge. At Mexican restaurants, he will eat salsa and chips. Do your children have problems eating things at home that they eat in a restaurant? Rob will not eat chicken nuggets at home.

LINDY - posted on 01/17/2009

hi kerry  thanks for the advice i will try it out and see how it works he is a big boy so i have bein doin weight watchers chip done in th oven with just spray i have aways done carrot chips with them and mixed them up but every time there will be carrot chips left BUT i keep trying and hopefully one day he will try them i went and seen prof bruce tong he diagnosed ethan i was going to put ethan on a gluten free diet but  he said not to mess to much with his food cos they can get fusser and i dont force ethan to eat anything i dont like that he would only vomit anyway if you eat a fruit salad or apple near him he will dry retch thou he will drink apple and blackcurrant juice i am sick of tryin to work him out i wil just keep offerin him things and maybe one day he will eat it i just have to find new ways to hide things i will try the satay again thou i havnt done that for a while thanks again for replyseveryone its nice to know we are not the only ones:)L

Kerry - posted on 01/16/2009

Hello LIndy, I am also from australia, and yep from another small town.  I have 3 out of 4 kids on the Autism spectrum, all at differeing ends though, so its quite a think tank just about every meal time.   My oldest son was the hardest about food, but i didnt let his likes and wants (smell and texture) rule our meal plans.  I made chinese often as he has a thing for sour tastes, and I made a very easy quiche, which I would have him help with, and load it with vegetables.  It actually tasted very good with tomato sauce so it became the stand by once a week meal so i knew he was getting vegetables.

I used to make him pumpkin chips, cook and fry pumpkin the same as you would make potato chips, and we would make funny names for other veges.  I never said within his hearing that i didnt like a particular vegetable, i jsut gave them all to the kids and if they ate them i would get them as often as i could.  My kids eat choko, squash, brocolinni and even broccleflower!  I think the trick was to just put it on the plate as if it belonged there.

One parent i know used to use food colouring on mashed vegetables because that was the only way her guys would eat potato, blue or red? Bibery and trickery work.  If you hve to bribe him to eat the meal that is in front of him, and it works do it. The promise of ice cream is always a good stand by.  After the initial taste they might find they actually like it.

A big fav in our family is spaghetti bol, my son would not touch it, the mince made him gag.  So i perservered trying and eventually  i found a way.  I cooked it then mixed the spag in with the sauce and put it into casserole dish.  then i covered the top in cheese sauce and cooked it for half an hour to set the bechemel.  viola he loved it and didnt even notice the mince.

At the local hospital one of the lunch sandwiches was penut butter, but it had grated carrot on with it. sounds revolting but is actually good and the carrot is a start.  penut butter is a low GI food so if you get the more expensive low fat version I dont think it would do him too much damage nutritionally.  I think these guys are better at sensing what their body needs so he might one day 'look' for something his nutrition needs.  Try robot vitamins (expensive but worth it) and ease your own mind. YOU had prepared him a nutritional meal and if HE refuses to eat it too bad. YOU did your job. Simple answer is you cannot force it down the throat, you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink.

Feel happy with what you have already acheived, experiment with textures and flavours maybe show him how to make satay flavour using his fav peanut butter?

LINDY - posted on 01/16/2009

thanks for that janell i wil give that a try when they are fuss like this you will try anything ethan eats rice sometimes for me so i try and hide little bits of vegs in them little bugger always knows i think they have got a 6th sense that can find and veg or fruit owel im sure there are other kids that has grown up now and eat only carbs and barbcue sauce lol

Janell - posted on 01/16/2009

Hi Lindy my name in Janell i have a 6 year old boy with autism and when he was about 3 he was crazy over peanut butter and thats all he would eat. I started putting other things on the sandwich with the peanut butter and slowly took the peanut butter away he still has peanutbutter sandwiches but not at all like he use to.

Misty - posted on 01/16/2009

My son used to live on green beans...he would honestly eat them breakfast lunch and dinner. Now it's corndogs. He won't eat *anything*. I asked his doctor about it and he said not to worry to much. He told me to get those little pedia-sure shakes if I was really concerned about his minerals, vitamins, etc. He also told me to grab some flintstone vitamins. :-P



I noticed Hayden doesn't really like the taste of the pedia-sure drinks...they kind of have that ensure taste to them... If you get them really cold, tho, they taste a lot better.





I wish I could tell you how to get him to try new foods. I'm at my wits ends with it here.

I have noticed that he will try new foods for other people. Especially at school, he'll try at least a bit of what they have...so I'm optimistic we may have a few more choices soon! :-D



Good Luck!

Trudy - posted on 01/16/2009

I have two boys with autism (7 and 1/2 and 5).  It's funny, but they are both crazy about peanut butter sandwiches too.  My older son also used to have an aversion to anything soft or mushy (bananas were out of the question!)  We had him on the GFCF diet for about a year and while it didn't help him with his behaviors, it really helped him improve his diet.  Before he would only eat crunchy things - chicken nuggets, french fries, etc.  I would coat everything with breading just to try and get him to eat.  He is no longer on the diet, but  eats very well now.  I think it is because the GFCF diet is so restrictive, he was basically forced to eat what was in front of him.  Then he realized that he like it.  He loves bananas now.

LINDY - posted on 01/14/2009

hi paulette i have the same problem i want to take him to a nutritionist but we live in denililquin in australia and its a small town so the person i would see would have no understanding about autism and i think i would just get extra pressure from them that i dont need right now Do you get from people :what does he eat!doesnt he eat fruit and vegs! i had one person say to me that he will take ethan and by the end of the week he would eat road kill can you believe that i was very upset over that one does your son have to sauce with every thing ethan eat barbcue sauce with everything from bread and peanut butter to chocolate everything has to be dipped in sauce its like he wants to try food he asks for corn on the cob so i make it and he will sniff and lick it for 3hours and open his mouth and gets his teeth on it but the wont eat it poor thing i feel sorry for him cos its like he wants to try it and just cant i think with ethan is texture and he hates to chew i think that why he wont eat meat he did eat everything when he was little then he got to 14months and stopped talkin and stopped eattin things like your boy it is VERY hard i hate meal times it drives me crazy i hope there is someone that can help us good luck

Paulette - posted on 01/14/2009

Hi Lindy, You are not alone. My son who is 7 does the same things. He does not want to try new things either. It makes me crazy too. It is a texture thing I believe. Even his favorite foods that he would eat before, he won't eat now. It is like he is tired of his current diet but I do not know what foods to try. I am thinking about a nutritionist but I am not sure it would work. Because they may come up with a diet but it is getting him to try it that I wonder about. If someone has any ideas or tips for you and me I would appreciate it. Thanks and take care.