A few days ago, we posted our top 15 tips and strategies for dealing with a picky eater. Today, we would like to share some of our favorite products to help you along the way.
Some of these products for picky eaters are suggestions from our friends at a local hospital feeding clinic, some are suggestions from the continuing education course that we mentioned in the last post, and a few are items that we have used in our own homes and therapy practices.
Have you tried any of these in with your child? What are your favorite tools for promoting healthy eating in kids?
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1 – What’s in Ned’s Head – Fun game for tactile exploration.
2 – Munchkin Stay Put Feeding Bowl – These bowls with a strong suction base keep your child’s food in place. This bowl also has separate compartments to keep food from blending together or “touching” as many kiddos tend to dislike!
3 – ARK’s Basic Bear Bottle Kit to Teach Straw Drinking – The honey bear allows you to control the flow of liquid into a child´s mouth and encourages children to learn how to drink through a straw. It can also be used to transition from bottle-feeding to cup drinking.
4 – Duospoon: This flexible spoon has silicone bumps all over it for a great oral sensory experience! Once your child becomes interested in the texture of the spoon, it easily becomes a bridge to introduce purees and from purees into textured foods. Use it as a dipper with favorite smooth purees. It can also be used as a tool to help improve upper lip movement and removal of food from a utensil.
5 – Munchkin Food Feeder Mesh Bags – These are awesome for oral stimulation and exploration of tastes without having to worry so much about textures of foods.
6 – Dinner Winner Plate – This creative product makes eating just plain fun! See who can make it to the end and “win” the game by trying foods both new and old!
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Can you talk a bit more about the Dinner Winner plate? I am reluctant because feel it may lead my child to want to win rather than pay attention to his body. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Marnie,
Great question. I would definitely lean away from using the plate to measure the quantity of food the child has eaten. Instead, I would use it as a tool to provide exposure to new foods. I would alternate tried and true favorite foods with new/less desired foods in each of the plate’s spaces. Then, I would encourage the child to taste, touch, smell, or take a bite (depending on how severe the child’s picky eating is) of each of the foods to get to the end. So “winning” wouldn’t be about finishing everything on the plate, but about exploring all of the presented options in some way (hopefully by tasting eventually!). Does this make sense? I totally agree with you about supporting a child in knowing his or her body when it comes to how much food to eat. Thanks for bringing up a great point!
thanks for posting! I’m researching assessments for our center to use and it seems like the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory (BAMBI) and the Pedi-EAT are reliable and lit reviewed. Do you use either of these or recommend something else to measure progress? Thanks in advance!