A groovy guide to nutrition

This blog is not only for your autistic baby, but for you as a parent too.  You take such good care of your child, but who is taking care of you?  You are just as important, if not more so, because you have a special baby who relies on you.

Luckily for me, Max is not a picky eater and pretty much will try anything.  He does have his favourites and as any kid, just loves anything sweet.  Because he has ADHD, giving him sugar is just adding fuel to the fire, so we limit sugar where we can.  He does get sugar free treats which he loves.

I know a lot of you have babies that are picky eaters and of course we give them whatever they want.  This is not necessarily doing them any favours as they (according to studies) need a lot of nutrition which helps with their diagnosis.  Our bodies need all the vitamins and minerals in order to function optimally.  This is a big ask because even if we do try our very best to get it all in, we are still going to fall short.  This does not stop us from trying though.

A groovy guide to nutrition

I like to use the analogy of putting fuel in a car.  Anything else, water, the wrong kind of fuel, substandard fuel means the car is not going to work properly or go at all.  This is what happens with our bodies.  If we don’t give them the right fuel, something goes wrong, we get sick, we lack energy and we get diseased.

Picky eating for our babies, can be reversed and it is worth going through the process to getting them to vary their diets.  A quick guide to doing this:  pick a food that you would like to introduce to them, perhaps some fruit as this is a bit easier as it is sweet. 

Put a bite size on their plates if they are OK with that

They don’t have to eat it yet, just get them used to having it on their plate for now.  After a week or so pair it with their favourite food and ask them to eat the piece of fruit and then they can have as much of their favourite food as they want.  This creates an incentive for them and if they eat it, remember to give them a lot of praise.

This whole process may take you weeks, but keep going, as it is a process that works.  This is just a general tip that you can do.  I do go deeper into specific cases when we work together 1:1.  The important thing is for you to believe that your child is capable of trying and liking new foods.  Coupled with this, research has shown major improvements in autistic children’s behaviour, communication and overall health.

Now you as a parent you can’t duck under the umbrella of picky eating.  Our main excuse for not eating well is mostly lack of time.  But I want to share with you, if you don’t take the time now to look after yourself and your health, you are going to be forced to take down time when you are ill.  Believe me, I was there and it’s no fun.  Having to go to hospital for weeks at a time, depending on other people to look after my child.  Not seeing my child because of risk of infection and then all the emotions that come with it.  The guilt and sadness.  My illness was not directly related to my diet, although it could have been better, it was mostly stress.

A groovy guide to nutrition

A lot of parents also eat on the go, which often means convenience meals or snacks and have picked up weight as a result.  This means you are probably sluggish, don’t feel good in your clothes, emotionally drained and this all has a knock-on effect for your family.

A quick fix to start with that will give you some immediate results is drinking a lot of water.  Bring that bottle of water with you wherever you go.  Go to the grocery store and buy some carrots, celery, fruit and cut them up in bite size pieces so it’s easy to snack on them.  This is just to start, and please don’t stop there.  You family rely on you and need you to be at your best and you deserve to be treated like a queen by yourself.

Till next week

A

Xxx

You are a great parent, yet you are not looking after yourself and you are tired of trying to get your child to eat well.  I am here to help.  You want to feel strong and energetic, you want your child to eat healthier.  Sign up for a consult to see how we can work together to make this happen for you and your child.

Email me at antoinette@lliautism.net

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