Taking Therapy to a New Level

This last week, I've noticed that Tyler will eat his foods better when he's not strapped in his high chair. For example, he wouldn't eat apple for a while after I tried giving him a pear, but I got in the floor with him one day while I was eating apple, and he started eating it again with very little coaxing. Now he comes running if I ask him if he wants some apple. And he'll eat a piece and come back for more when it is gone.

Same thing with the little beans inside green beans. (He still won't eat the hull part.) Last Tuesday, he ate finally ate them late in the evening and then nothing for several days. Sunday night, after thinking about the apple thing, I got in the floor with him and he ate the first one immediately and asked for more. He ate about 12 before he got bored with it and ran off. (Which is, of course, the problem with not having him strapped into a high chair.) Yesterday I put him in the high chair, and he squished the green beans, kissed them and threw them in the floor. But he wouldn't eat them.

And he begged for a Junior Mint yesterday afternoon when I was sitting on the sofa eating them. (Of course, he wouldn't take one I'd bitten in half because he didn't like the mint inside touching his hands, but he ate a whole one without thinking twice about it.)

He's also started eating rice and french fries when he was either crawling around in the floor while Brian and I ate or crawling up in our laps.

So I voiced my concern that Tyler has negative associations for the highchair to Stephanie, Tyler's therapist. This morning, she took us to a playroom rather than a kitchen so Tyler she could see how Tyler plays with food when he isn't strapped into a high chair.

At first, he was too interested in the toys to pay attention to the food, so we had to put them up. We did get him to eat a couple of pieces of apple and three of the little green bean "seeds" (but not the hull). He played with the chicken nuggets but wouldn't eat them, and he didn't even touch the corn (which he ate last week).

Stephanie indicated that we should continue to have structured meal times so Tyler doesn't learn to graze all day, but she said we can start doing his therapy in more of a play atmosphere — in the floor rather than having to strap him into a chair. So I'm hoping that this is less stressful for both of us and more productive, too. But cleanup just got harder!!