Allergies and Eating, Oh My
Jaimie on Jan 13th 2009
One of the things the allergist told us at Alexa’s appointment is that letting a child eat the same food all the time leads to food allergies (regarding the food they are overloading on). That sounds odd. But accept that as true - I am in So. Much. Trouble.
Both of my children (especially CJ, but Alexa to a big degree too) like to eat one food all the time. Then after a few days, they want to eat another (different) food, all the time. They are bingers. they request the exact same snack (or meal) for days on end.
I blame Matt. He is like this too, but he can be reasoned with.
Alexa is tiny. She doesn’t eat enough in the first place. Deny her her current favorite, she just goes on a hunger strike. Right now, current favorite is South Beach High Protein Bars. She stole one from Daddy a few days ago. Deny her that as a snack, she just drinks water and pouts (or screeches, whichever).
CJ’s even worse. Give him something he’s unsure of, he’ll just gag himself. Sigh. Sadly though, he can somewhat be reasoned with (as long as the thing you are trying to replace it with is something he accepts as edible).
Ah, it is a FUN time around here regarding food, let me tell you.
And hey - the allergist made a tape recording of fully 40 minutes of specialized instructions for what to do for the house, regarding the cats, food, etc etc etc…. yikes. The idea just makes me cry. Literally.
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When he says ‘all the time’, does he really mean “for weeks at a time” and not “for a few days”? Because my son will go through these times - where for 5 days, he only wants fig newtons for dessert, or he only wants pb&honey sandwiches - and we’re concerned about food allergies. She said it’s only when we’re talking about prolonged (3+ weeks) of eating the exact same foods, over and over, with little variation.
Jaimie,
You may want to confirm with your allergist that what he means is a sustained diet of some food, not just two-to-three days, but months and years of steady consumption. My brother became allergic to dairy for a while (and is still sensitive to it) after eating yoghurt almost daily as a child.
It may not be easy, but consider talking with your husband about doing new food days where, as a family, you explore new foods. They can still be yummy foods, but just new and different to your diet. Try to make it a family experiment and experience.
I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old and when we told them that we were going to eat out less and start eating healthy the 6 year old in particular was upset. Our 3 year old also can gag herself is she doesn’t like something (gross!). I know the trials of parenting stink sometimes, but the good thing is that by even being aware and trying to do something you’ll more than likely make better choices now and throughout their lives.
I’ll be praying for tears of joy instead of sorrow
–Randy;