Automatic Eating

[blondebombshell]

Gum has been Sooooooo helpful!!! I'm not a big fan of mint but I've been chewing it and it seems to curb cravings and make a lot of other things taste terrible. So I'm stocking up!!!

As far as the food is concerned. I was raised by a registered nurse, and even my mother knows- some things are simply unavoidable. I have caught their vomit in my bare hands, they have sneezed in my mouth, kissed me with snot covered faces, and countless other things. My spoon touching their mac n cheese is seriously becoming an argument point? Im sorry... But that is ridiculous.

They are INSANELY picky eaters and very quick pukers. Nutrition is something that I am very passionate about on the job, and I've always had charges that were fantastic eaters. I have tried very hard to expand their very small list of foods they're willing to eat. Slowly but surely :/

[Arctic Mama]

Haha, I'm so glad the gum worked! I am not a big mint fan either, but it makes everything so much less appetizing. Just try drinking orange juice with mint in your mouth and not cringe

Good luck with their picky eating! At least in this house, I tend to offer more 'fun food' main courses, like sausage, Mac n' cheese, burritos, cheese spread, etc etc, from healthy recipes, and then make sure the side dishes are fruit and veggies (usually stuff like peas, pineapple, carrots, prunes, etc etc). The rule in our home is that you have to try one bite of your main course and finish the fruit and veggies. The servings are small, maybe a tablespoon of each at a time, and you cannot have seconds of the main dish without having first eaten all the produce components. It's little enough food and tasty enough choices that even my pickiest eater complies a good 80% of the time. The other 20% she chooses to go hungry and be re-served the food every meal until she eats it

That doesn't work with all kids, especially those with texture issues, but it is amazing what those little recipe substitutes can do to retrain their palates. Slowly but surely changing them is right on, I wish you the very best in BOTH endeavors

[Chubbykins]

A very important rule that helps is this: NO FOOD outside of the kitchen in the house. Food should be prepared quickly, ingested consciously and then forgotten until the next fixed meal time.
The kids will benefit from less snacking and better food scedules too. They could be the fat people of tomorrow.

[K9Owner]

Originally Posted by GlamourGirl827

I think the gum is a great suggestion. Um, maybe I'm reading this wrong. But you are a nanny, so I can assume these aren't your kids...the way you described it (and maybe I miss read this, I'm sorry if I did), you took several bites from the spoon, so that means you put the spoon in your mouth, then in the mac n cheese, then back in your mouth?? I don't mean to be a nudge but just not "double dipping" in someone else's kids food should keep you from eating while making lunch. I liken that to me eating some of my patients lunch while setting up their tray. I'm not judging you for eating without realizing it, but I'm saying you need to nip this in the bud right away if you are sharing germs with the children you care for because of it.

RN to RN--gotta agree with you on this one! No way I'm touching food off a patient's tray
That just screams CDIFF to me!! EWWE
over the different opinions.

I was going to suggest Vicks Vapor Rub in the nares while making lunch or burning a Peppermint Flavored Candle--both of which are appetite suppressants! I hate gum