Nutrition

Aiden may just be another picky eater, or it could be sensory related, but his diet lacks variety and balance.

If it was up to Aiden, he would drink chocolate milk and eat cereal, bread, crackers, and popcorn all day.   If I'm lucky, he will eat peanut butter with breakfast.  He usually never eats dinner, and the protein for lunch must be beef jerky, spicy pumpkin seeds, or a PB&J, which is the only combo food Aiden will eat.  Aiden hasn't eaten a single fruit or vegetable since he was 1 year old.  He will drink some juice, but he prefers milk.  I'm not concerned that he isn't meeting his calorie or protein needs.  I'm certain he is, but I am concerned with his vitamin and mineral intake, especially iron, vitamin A and folate (thank goodness they fortify grains ((most gluten free grains aren't)) with B vitamins, iron, and folate).  Aiden enjoys whole wheat bread all by itself!  I felt guilty giving him the gluten free kind because I knew he was missing an opportunity to get B vitamins, iron, magnesium, folate, and fiber.  Although fortified gluten free cereals would provide some or all of those nutrients too.  Aiden loves Chex, but where is the fiber???  He doesn't eat seeds every day...

I've tried to "hide" veggies in foods such as muffins and pancakes, and I've made "green" smoothies, but Aiden doesn't fall for it.  He will dip chips in salsa, but the minute he gets a chunk, he spits it out.  Any fruit or veggie I add to something has to be pureed.  I tried squash in mac and cheese, but he doesn't like pasta.  The pumpkin pancakes with whip cream were AWESOME, but nope--Aiden didn't touch them.  Today, I had the boys help me make pumpkin pie. Aiden loves sugar, and he rarely gets treats (except at grandma's), so I'm hoping he will try it!  Finally, some vitamin A that doesn't come from milk!

Some tricks that work to get him to eat more nutrient dense items are:

1. No snacks between breakfast and lunch.  If he is hungry, we eat lunch early.  This isn't always easy when we are at playdates, so I give in occasionally knowing full well he won't eat lunch for me.  

2.  Only 2, 8-10 oz cups of milk daily (the recommendation for his age is 16 oz max/day).  Period--no more!  He gets a cup of juice a day ("experts" recommend no more than 6 oz/day), and the rest is water.  This is very difficult for Aiden.  He gets mad when I don't give in.  He rarely drinks his water (I don't blame him--I've struggled with the same thing for years, but I'm striving to be a good example).  I've found that he eats A LOT more with less fluids, and it gives me more opportunities to add foods into his diet.  

3.  When we do have a snack, I try to give all of us more healthy choices even though Aiden prefers crackers.  Frozen yogurt sticks work sometimes, and he will eat the occasional cheese stick, beef jerky (not happy with the sodium or nitrates, but he needs the iron), spicy seeds, and 100% fruit strips usually work too (ok, so he does eat processed fruit).  Aiden loves popcorn--even the healthy versions, so that is always a good snack too :).  They make sweet potato chips now, and he will eat those, but I still wish he would eat something fresh and unprocessed!

Aiden continues to have no reactions when it comes to foods.  He has no skin issues, no digestive issues,  sleeps great, and has no ear infections, or anything else that make me want to try the GFCF diet again.  He is rarely ever sick.  Part of me is curious what would happen if I tried it for 3 months as recommend, but now is not the time financially or otherwise to start it!  The holidays are coming up, and there may be a lot more changes coming our way that we are currently pondering and praying about.  This may be another year of great change for our family...or not.